The Business Wodonga Connection September 16th , 2022
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THE BUSINESS CONNECTION
Message from CEO
Hello Members,
A short week coming up for many of us next week with two Public Holidays. This new holiday may be written into our constitution to recognise the recent passing of the Monarch. Public Holidays can often be a drain on business, especially the lost production. We are very interested in the perspective of our members with changes such as this. One of the biggest benefits from being a member of a chamber is representation and we are best capable of representing you if we know how changes like this will impact you and your business. Please get in touch with any of us to pass on your personal and professional experiences as we value every voice in the room.
We have so much happening in the next few weeks. Have you booked in so you won't miss out?
With all the holidays this month, it's fitting that the Business After Hours this month is Enhance at Willowbank on September 28. This evening will be absolutely spectacular and you will not want to miss out on this on. Tracey always puts on the some of the region's top tier events and this is sure to be one of the best of the year with the recent renovations to such a picturesque venue along the banks of the Murray River. Get an inside look before it is booked up to all of the best events of our region as this location cannot be topped!
One of our most requested informational supports for business is grant writing. It can be incredibly powerful skill to change your business and your community and we are very happy to announce that we have engaged our loyal member and local expert, Pat Grosse to conduct a session on October 14. This will be an informative event empowering you to know where to start in finding and applying for business grants.
We are also excited to have the new CEO of City of Wodonga, Matt Hyde, at a lunch meeting on October 12 at the Birralee Tavern. He has 25 years in local government in Queensland and NSW, holds a Masters in Business Administration, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a director on the board of Local Government Professionals NSW. This will be a fantastic opportunity to network and engage with someone who is sure to be an integral part of our business community.
Due to the two days of Public Holidays, next week’s Business Connection will be an abridged version, but will still be in your inboxes as usual next Friday morning.
-Graham
Upcoming Events
Coming up soon! Don't miss out on seeing this stunning location!
An exclusive and inspiring location for seminars and conferences, corporate functions and cocktail parties, as well as a perfect and private venue for weddings or any celebration.
This truly unique location right on the banks of the Murray river is less than 5 minutes from the centre of Albury, yet offers you the opportunity of feeling that you are indeed “a million miles away”.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2022 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Grant Writing for Beginners
Curious to know about grants and if you can get one for your business or your community activity?
Where do you starting looking and what should you know before you start writing?
Come along to the Grant Writing for Beginners Workshop where Pat Grosse will introduce you to some fundamental truths about grants, how they work, and how to go about writing applications that get funded.
As the Albury Wodonga Business Awards were put on hold this year, we are planning to celebrate local businesses a bit differently in a unique one-off event. Hear from past winners, connect with like-minded businesses and celebrate all that is amazing about our Albury Wodonga business community. You’ll get a sneak peek at the exciting developments and update to the Business Awards program and key dates to get involved in 2023.
Best Western Plus Hovell Tree Inn
614 Hovell St, Albury
18 October 2022
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
90 Day Planning - GrowthCLUB Workshop
Focus on working on the "RIGHT THINGS" in your business by creating a 90 Day Plan that will save you Time, Energy and Money
If you want to raise your business to that next level, then I invite you to join my upcoming GrowthCLUB 90-Day Plan Workshop.
This workshop presents you the perfect opportunity to take some time out of working IN your business, to work ON your business.
During the workshop, I will work with you to identify your top 3 to 4 goals that you then must achieve over the next 90 days. I will also provide you with the tools and materials to help you develop a strategic one-page 90 Day Plan.
REGISTER FOR LIVE WORKSHOP
Where: Albury Business Connect
When: Friday 28 September
Time: 1:30pm – 5pm
REGISTER FOR VIRTUAL WORKSHOP
Where: Via Zoom
When: Thursday 28 September
Time: 2:30pm – 5pm
Information
State Election Platform 2022
The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s 2022 State Election advocacy is centered around Powering Victoria’s Future and building the best state for business.
Victoria needs a plan to turbocharge the industries that will set us up for success including ensuring we have the appropriate skills, training opportunities and infrastructure to help power Victoria’s future.
The Victorian Chamber’s election platform is based on four pillars: Strengthening Victoria’s jobs and skills, Building Victoria as the best state to operate a business, Driving Victoria’s economy and Growing Regional Victoria. This platform comprises 61 recommendations, including 20 primary recommendations.
Our members helped shape the priorities and recommendations presented in this platform at metropolitan and regional roundtables and participation in an online membership survey that gathered more than one thousand responses.
The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions is surveying businesses in regional Victoria to get a better understanding of the business environment.
If you are a regional business, or have operations in regional Victoria, you are encouraged to complete the survey via the following link.
Please note the survey closes COB Friday 7 October 2022. Feel free to distribute the link further, as required.
As we are all aware, last week the Australian Government facilitated a National Jobs & Skills Summit with participation from invited attendees.
Some key initiatives from the Summit are:
- Age Pensioners being able to earn up to an additional $4,000 before pension income is reduced.
- Permanent Migration Program being increased from 160,000 people to 195,000 in 2022/23.
- Extra funding of $1 billion dollars for free TAFE training courses in 2023.
Australians have until 20 September 2022 to seek priority allocation of an .au direct domain name that matches their existing domain name.
Anyone with an Australian presence (including businesses, organisations and individuals) can now register a new category of domain name, known as .au direct. These shorter simpler domain names will end in simply ‘.au’ (e.g. mybusiness.au) and will complement existing namespaces such as ‘com.au’, ‘net.au’, ‘org.au’, ‘asn.au’, ‘id.au’, ‘gov.au’ and ‘edu.au’.
Existing domain name licence holders have been provided priority to register the .au direct equivalent of their domain names until 20 September 2022, after which domain names that have not been allocated will become available to the general public.
Additional Support
The Victorian Skills Plan provides a skills roadmap for Victoria.
The industries and jobs of today will not necessarily be the same tomorrow, as innovation and disruption lead to new products, services and changes to work and lifestyles.
The Skills Plan provides comprehensive, robust data and analysis – tested with industry and other stakeholders. In addition to reliable occupational forecasts, it outlines the actions to be taken in response to the skilling challenges Victoria faces and to realise the opportunities before us.
A new approach to connecting industry, learner and community insights, providing evidence for the provision of training and skills across Victoria.
New Member Spotlight
Just Doing My Own Thing
From laser cutting and resin to printing to sewing, just doing my own thing so you don't have to ;-)
This member is absolutely rocking our socks off with her creativity and talent! Her products are exquisite and innovative. Christie has everything you could want for every event on your list from birthdays to Christmas to custom pieces for any occasion. We are so happy to welcome her to the Business Wodonga membership, just in time to get our orders in before the crazy holiday season ramps up. Get in touch with her today for something truly unique and special to give to your coworkers or employees.
Allison's Business Blog
Hi all,
Hope you all have had a great week. Going to a very short week next week with two public holidays!
And .... school holidays! Oh joy I can hear a lot of you saying.
School Holidays can be hard on all workers and businesses. Staff need leave, getting staff coverage ... the list goes on.
How to survive the school holidays as a business owner for anyone who run's their own business, the school holidays result in even more juggling around family life, whilst still trying to run a business. As a business owner it’s hard to take time out when your business needs to still be up and running throughout the year.
There is no correct way to navigate this. If you are lucky to work from home, there are some simple steps to help you survive.
Plan ahead
The week’s leading up to the school holidays is a good time to spend time putting together a plan to help everything go as smoothly as possible. Spend time not only focusing on what needs to happen in your business, but also what you want to do with your kids, where are you going to go, what are you going to need etc.
Prioritise what needs to be done
We all have what feels like a never ending to do list of what we want to achieve but use your planning time to split your list into what needs to be done and what you would like to be done. Anything you can get done before the school holidays begin will help, but ensure the only things you need to worry about are the important tasks.
Scheduling
As part of your planning, spend time scheduling your social media posts; or regular emails that need to be sent out so you can set and forget.
Delegate and outsource
If your kids are old enough, can they get involved to help with little bits and pieces, even some chores around the house whilst you catch up on emails? Or maybe this is the perfect time to consider outsourcing some tasks to a Virtual Assistant to give you some more time.
Family and friends
Do you have family or friends, that you could call upon to help out by taking the kids for an odd day and give you a full day to concentrate on your business? In turn you can then arrange to take their kids for a day to ease the pressure from them.
Set an out of office on your emails
Set yourself specific times throughout the day that you can check your emails and put on an out of office advising senders that you are available between x and x time and will respond to them then. If they need to speak to you urgently, they can call you. Anything that is not urgent can then wait until you are free to focus. Make sure you set those boundaries clearly.
Remember to take some time out
Don’t forget you do need to take some time out of your business to spend with your family and for yourself. Plan to take some time out where you can focus your attention entirely on your family without the distraction of your business.
I'm sure there is many other ways to get through the holidays, but we do what we can. I do understand from chatting with many of you that staffing is a massive issue .... for everyone.
However you survive, just keep smiling.
I hope these may help a few of you. Remember, I am happy to come out and chat with you further how we can help support your business.
I welcome all the new members and followers to Business Wodonga. Don't forget to use our hashtag
#strongerwodonga
Remember, if you think a business needs some help, please give them my details and I will get in touch.
Until next week,
Please, we would love reviews, so if you could take some time out to write one, we would be very thankful.
Please contact Business Wodonga with your business needs, concerns or questions on 02 6056 8302 or mail@businesswodonga.com.au.
#StrongerWodonga
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We would love to share all the fabulous things your business has to offer. We just need a few things from you.
- Description of your business, maximum of 80 words
- Corporate logo, Hi-Res JPG or PNG format
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- An image/s of your workplace or you or your team to use on social media (optional)
- Link to appropriate website, phone number and/or email (if desired)
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