#business connect program

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Reinventing Australia’s Economy with Innovative Thinking: Insights from the Honourable Minister Damien Tudehope

As Australia begins the slow exit process from lockdown, it’s important for businesses to take stock, get advice, think about opportunities to restructure and look at online opportunities.

Netstripes Founder – Dinesh De Silva sat down to discuss all this and more in detail with the Honourable Damien Tudehope – Minister for Finance and Small Business.

Australia’s Federal and State Governments have been working on economic relief packages on a massive scale since the pandemic started. With several initiatives implemented to provide a safety net to businesses that have been severely impacted by covid-19.

According to Minister Tudehope, the Government is focusing on two main strategies; the first is the financial impact on SMEs and the stimulus packages the government have passed to alleviate the financial burden.

NSW current financial relief for businesses

$10,000 grants for severely impacted businesses

Jobkeeper program

Payroll tax reductions

A lift of thresholds that accompanies payroll tax

Land tax exemptions or deferrals

The second strategy is state funded initiatives – including that of a billion dollar spend on employing more people into government programs such as cleaners, manufacturers, and business advisors to facilitate SME owners. All this in addition to opening up public courses for people to reskill.

Seek the right advice for your business model

More emphasis has been placed on the Business Connect Program which provides advice to business owners who need help getting through this period.

The minister went on to state that all business owners should be seeking advice on their business model right now, whether it be from their lawyer, accountant or a business advisor. “This strikes me as something really important because of all the packages that are available. Whether it’s the federal or state government, it is really important for people to get advice.

They need to know what benefits they are entitled to. If their business model has the potential to restructure, and if so, what financial packages can they claim. These are the sorts of things that they should be doing now to make sure they reach the other side of the crisis,” he further added.

State sponsored negotiators

The Office of the Small Business Commissioner has enrolled an additional 80 mediators for lessors and lessees who can’t reach an agreement in relational to rental obligation. The aim of the mediators is to be a facilitator, rather than a Government imposer.

By facilitating arrangements between the two parties for the best solutions, it provide equal opportunities and benefits for both parties. Minister Tudehope stated that this is the best conclusion for business. Whereas if the two parties were to appeal to the government to impose solutions, it would inevitably end with one or both sides failing to reach a satisfactory outcome.

Innovation is the key to business reinvention

One of the biggest questions is how do we look at our businesses and restructure? NSW has already seen plenty of innovators emerging from the pandemic. From the liquor industry turning their manufacturing model from producing alcohol to producing sanitizer. To the food industry engaged in the ubereats or deliveroo type economy, now delivering items beyond F&B.

There’s opportunity for more people to be a provider to government. The state is looking for businesses that can manufacture ventilators and other essential items that are in demand.

Increased funding for government programs

NSW has increased funding for programs like TAFE which now provides free courses for anyone interested in learning new skills. So far, the state has seen over 80,000 people take up new opportunities to up skill.

Minister Tudehope explained, “We’re potentially asking people ‘have you looked at opportunities of having either you or your staff take advantage of a TAFE course to gain some accounting skills or some other skill?

While business is potentially down, they can use this time productively, pivot the business, and make it more effective for when they come out of this. Or alternatively, look for more business opportunities in a cyber-world we’re potentially living in at the moment?”

Innovation driven economy

The blueprint for the future of NSW, which was created by the Productivity Commissioner, prior to the Covid-19 crisis, identified that a major necessity in 2020 was to be an innovation driven economy. Commenting on this research, Minister Tudehope stated, “We have had a very large emphasis on innovation hubs both at universities and the CSIRO.

As a government, we ought to look at opportunities for startups and innovators to be a great contributor to the economy of NSW going forward. Potentially, to reinvent ourselves in the manufacturing space because there is a shift in the world economy at the moment, and Australia will have to become more reliant on its own manufacturing industry.”

“Just as we came out of the GFC, the way out of Covid-19 is going to be the innovation industries, and those things which they bring in terms of ideas for the future.” – The Hon. Minister Tudehope

SB- Netstripes

[netstripes]

Bizruption Sydney At The Star – Futurising The Way We Do Business

February 17th marks the first Bizruption for the new decade, and it was certainly an evening to remember. Bizruption Sydney at The Star welcomed over 200 entrepreneurs, industry leaders, investors and guest speakers to connect through discussions on innovation.

It was also a memorable evening for us at Netstripes as we unveiled our new branding and a new, exciting bootcamp designed for business reinvention.

But, the excitement doesn’t stop here! Keep reading to check out the highlights of Bizruption Sydney.

As always, the event started with our fabulous MC, Ms Sonia Wray welcoming guests to Bizruption and getting everyone pumped up and enthusiastic with her amazing energy. She made sure everyone shook off their Monday blues and was focused on the great presenters and invaluable stories being shared.

Kicking Things Off With Pitchfest

The Pitchfest challenge was a great way to kick off the evening and get the room buzzing. Business owners were separated into small groups and challenged to do a quick 30-second business pitch to their peers. Not only was it a fun and adrenaline-rush activity, but really a chance for them to practice, practice and practice.

Indeed, the finalists did an incredible job, some so convincing it had the room intrigued and ready to visit and support their businesses. Hopefully, finalists’ pitches have inspired others to work on and improve their business pitch.

Discussions On Technological Innovation In 2020

Our first guest speaker for the evening was Christina Gerakiteys – Co-CEO of SingularityU Australia. Christina spoke about the influence of exponential technologies like artificial intelligence and digital biology, and how businesses can benefit from innovative thinking to improve not just the way we do business, but humanity as a whole. Some interesting food for thought!

Next up was Alexandra Sloane, Head of Marketing at Facebook for ANZ, who spoke on the critical role social media plays in breaking down communication barriers and helping to share new ideas and businesses with more people around the world.

She also touched on the importance of accessibility to digital tools and the positive impact that it can have when used to create meaningful change to communities, especially to those affected by bushfires.

It was an honour to have our guest speakers attend Bizruption, and both Christina and Alexandra shared lots of great advice with the audience during a panel discussion and subsequent networking session.

Introducing The New Netstripes! Bizruption Sydney set the stage for the launch of our new brand identity. Netstripes Founder Dinesh De Silva spoke about the dawn of a new decade, and how it was time for SMEs to assess their goals and think about how they can do things differently to keep up with the changes in digital innovation.

At Netstripes, we practice what we preach, which is why we completely reinvented and repositioned ourselves in the new decade by changing our brand identity and the services we’ll be offering in the New Year and beyond.

We changed the way we do things so that our core vision and what we really stand for is clear – to empower small and medium businesses to innovative and grow their business.

In addition to our new branding, we also reinvented our services and introduced our new 3-day power-packed bootcamp ‘futurise’.

“We looked at reinventing our business because we practice what we preach. So we wanted to create something that the small and medium businesses whom we serve can come and learn how to reinvent their business. However, instead of taking months or years doing it the hard way through trial and error, they can do it through immersive learning in a transformational way in just 3 days.” Said Dinesh.

Designed exclusively for small and medium business owners, futurise covers 14 modules, each created to impart business owners with the knowledge they need to enhance their business.

To Learn More About Futurise, Click Here.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our amazing guest speakers for joining us at Bizruption. It was our greatest pleasure to have them at our event, yet alone address the small business community.

Also extending our thanks to our fabulous sponsor The Star Sydney for providing us with a great venue for Bizruption. Special thanks to Alison Smith – Group Executive of External Affairs and Jon Stewart – Head of External Affairs at The Star for their support. Thank you to our inspirational MC Sonia Wray for hosting the night and giving our guests the best Bizruption show possible.

And of course, not forgetting all the business owners who made the time to come and attend our event. Thank you for attending and helping us spread awareness on the urgency of digital disruption and business innovation. We hope Bizruption has inspired everyone for even greater success and connected like-minded entrepreneurs together in our business community.

For more information on how Netstripes can help your business become digitally engaged in the New Year, check out our Innovation Suite package or book a free consultation with our digital specialists.

To view more photos, check out our Facebook page and don’t forget to like and follow us!

Source by – The NetStripes Team.

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Digital Bootcamp And Become A Digital Innovator

The life of an entrepreneur isn’t easy, especially in today’s digital age where everyone is chasing their own vision of success online. While the internet has opened up amazing opportunities for small and medium business owners, it is also filled with thousands of other businesses all fighting for attention.

Business owners have been told to get a website, get on social media, create Google ads and SEO, and having done all that; after spending all your time and thousands of dollars, when you don’t get results it can be very frustrating.

This is a big issue for business owners and entrepreneurs alike. How do you get results – how do you exploit the opportunity the internet presents every business? There are few basic principles of success and there is a process, most importantly it’s about understanding digital strategy for your business.

With 57% of the world’s population now digitally connected, digital marketing and innovative thinking plays an important role in ensuring your business stands apart from competitors and thrives online. And with digital innovations and technology constantly evolving daily, it’s so important to get the ‘right knowledge’ to keep up.

Now, hold on! You don’t need to go and spend thousands of dollars learning from the best. The Netstripes Digital Bootcamp was created specifically to assist the needs of Aussie small and medium businesses in need of a digital transformation.

At Netstripes, we believe a successful business should always start with a strong digital foundation to meet the needs of the online market, that’s why our CEO and Founder, Dinesh De Silva has carefully curated a 2 half-day program intended to deliver awareness and deep insights on what’s needed to succeed in the digital world.

The digital bootcamp program is also a part of the Business Connect program, a dedicated and personalised NSW Government program that provides trusted advice to help start or grow small businesses, but more on that later.

The digital bootcamps are held regularly throughout New South Wales and are customised to suit the needs of each community and industry we work with, whether it be farming or wineries to consulting services such as legal and accounting. So you can be sure the unique challenges your business faces are being addressed.

Still not convinced this might be useful for your business? Here’s a peek into our Digital Bootcamp itinerary to help you decide:

Day 1:

Small Business Digital Readiness We will be kicking off the bootcamp with digital readiness and innovation for small businesses, and why it’s so important for your business. We’ll also learn how to build a roadmap to your business goals by going through several aspects of digital readiness such as the do’s and don’ts, marketing traps to avoid and the essentials steps of digital engagement that all small business owners should know to be able to reach prospective customers.

By understanding the skills and knowledge needed to build a strong digital presence, it becomes much easier to develop your own strategy and become a digitally ready business within the frame of you budget.

2nd Session: Customer Personas & Buying Cycle Do you know who your ideal customer is? It’s a simple question, but one that a lot of small businesses haven’t asked themselves yet. Unless you work in the FMCG industry, no business has a “one size fits all” solution. There are just some people who won’t value your product or services.

That’s why it’s so important to identify who your ideal customer is, what are their needs and wants, and their buying behaviour—and that’s exactly what we’ll be covering here. From defining what exactly an ideal customer looks like, to actions you can use to discover and connect with your own, this segment is sure to have you channelling your focus and reworking your strategy.

Day 2

3rd Session: Design Thinking & Lean Startup At this stage, we’ll be focusing on innovation principles for every business, and take a look at case studies of businesses that have implemented these principles to achieve success. You’ll also be introduced to the validation board and how it plays an important role in converting a business idea into a tested product or service that makes you money.

By using the board correctly, small businesses can put together all their ideas, propositions and assumptions into one ‘blueprint’ that can be tested and measured. Through this method, you can find and eliminate bad assumptions that could be harming your business model and then set your priorities and watch your startup ideas quickly take off.

4th Session: Growth Hacking for Small Business As a business owner, building your company is one of your top priorities, but as a small business owner, you know that’s easier said than done. You might lack the budget for major marketing promotions or the time to focus on strategic growth, especially when there are so many other areas you have to oversee. So, how do you overcome this?

The answer is growth hacking. This refers to the widely used method of combining and experimenting with your marketing channels, sales segments and multiple strategies to identify the most effective and efficient ways to grow a business.

In the final segment, we’ll be looking at growth hacking and why it’s so important for every small business to master it. We’ll also discuss how to start the growth hacking process, decide on what strategies work best for different businesses and how to implement them in a way that is measurable.

All the digital bootcamps are very interactive and are presented by Dinesh himself, so you know you’re learning from someone with years of experience in the industry.

In addition, you can follow up the bootcamp with our Growth Advisory Sessions – these are a total of four 1-on-1 sessions with our digital specialists, and they are funded by the Business Connect program so they are completely free of charge for small businesses in NSW. You can even book an advisory session without attending the bootcamp, to discuss your business goals and concerns with our specialists.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us for more information.

A Holistic Digital & Marketing System

A 12-month program that uses digital strategy, online branding, expert guidance and professional marketing to help you achieve your goal.