Go Global: Australian women urged to expand their businesses

In the lead up to International Women’s Day 2010 on 8th March, Austrade is holding its ‘Women in Global Business’ seminars in capital cities around the country. The seminars encourage women to make connections and build strong, sustainable international businesses.

According to Austrade’s Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner for Singapore, Kirsten Sayers, creating a network for your business is key to its success.

“The importance of building a strong and useful network for international business cannot be underestimated; for many women, these seminars represent a first step in their construction of that network. By sharing success stories, advice and insights, women are encouraged to take their business success to the next level,” she said.

“ABS figures reveal over the past 10 years, the number of women running their own business has increased by nearly 20 per cent, compared to a 6 per cent increase for men. Research has also shown that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) run by women are generally less likely to export than SMEs run by men; so this presents an opportunity to grow Australia’s international business links by encouraging more women to think global.” Read more

Skill up during January slowdown

While the Christmas season is traditionally one of the busiest times for businesses, January by contrast, can be the slowest. Instead of riding the slow wave, take control of January by using the time to plan and train yourself and your staff.

There are a number of great resources available on business.gov.au that can help January become a period of up-skilling and planning for growth for the year ahead.

Catch up on training
To begin, visit the Employing people topic at business.gov.au to assess your training needs. Here you can also find training information for your state and territory, as well as a list of providers. There are also a range of funding and incentive programs available, especially for employers of apprentices.

It’s also important to begin investigating training events that can help you and your employees up-skill for the new year. You can search for business events and workshops around Australia using the Events calendar. Read more

Free Small Business Workshops in Canberra

Small business operators in Canberra are invited to learn from industry experts and plan for success by attending a number of free ANZ workshops this month from Wednesday 18 – Thursday 26 November 2009.

ANZ is offering the free workshops to Canberra small business operators to help them start, manage and grow their businesses and plan for more prosperous times ahead.

Held in partnership with Google™, Marketing Angels® and BusinessPlans.com.au, ANZ will hold five small business workshops for business operators covering topics such as: building brand awareness, generating and nurturing sales leads, generating online traffic, unlocking the power of email marketing and building a business plan to get small businesses heading in the right direction.

Canberra workshops will be held on the following dates:

• 18 November: Online Marketing (9am – 12pm) and Brand Awareness (1:30pm – 3:30pm)

• 19 November: Generating and Nurturing Sales Leads (9am – 11am) and Email Marketing (12:30 – 2:30pm)

• 26 November: Building a Business Plan: (8:30am – 12:30pm)

The five free workshops will be held over three days at Cliftons, Level 2, 10 Moore Street, Canberra.

Both ANZ customers and non customers can register for the workshop now via ANZ’s small business hub at www.thesbhub.com.au.

Commonwealth Bank to Provide Support for Women in Business

The Commonwealth Bank has launched a new program designed specifically to support women in business, called Women in Focus.

The Women in Focus program will offer tailored, flexible business coaching and networking opportunities for women to help achieve their business, career and personal goals. Introductory Sessions for those interested in learning more about the program will commence in late September in each capital city.

Head of Women in Focus, Ms Gail Hackett, said a key feature of Women in Focus is a tailored business coaching program targeted towards business owners or partners, and women in corporate senior executive or management roles. Read more