The One Business program is designed to create more pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) people to have increased participation in Queensland’s economy. It’s an opportunity for you to work with experienced Indigenous trainers and other businesses from your wider community, to consolidate your business skills, network and explore new opportunities for innovation and business change. The One Business program is available to all Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders who are innovators, entrepreneurs and/or own a micro to small and medium-sized business.
Building Connections
One Business encourages participates to build networks with other participants in the workshop sessions, participating in the online Alumni group and utilising the networks of the trainers to expand your networks across the state and throughout Australia.
Participating in the entire program is not required - you can decide which workshops are relevant to your needs. But focusing on your business, business idea or innovation through all stages of the program will ensure the best outcomes, allowing business consolidation and honing of your skills for better and more innovative performance.
The program in detail
The Queensland-wide One Business Program consists of 5 key elements:
1. Online specialised content each week
2. Face-to-face workshop programs
3. Online support and networking forum
4. Phone and one-on-one support
5. Showcasing and Meet the Buyer Expos
Our Full Curriculum
The comprehensive One Business workshop program has been developed to support innovators, entrepreneurs, start-ups and business leaders in their business journey.
- Foundations
o Strategy and Planning
o Marketing and customers
o Finance
o Legal for small business - Futures
o Small Business Technology
o Cybersecurity
o Social media for small business
o Showcasing your business with media - Showcase
o Pitch Training
o Regional Small Business Expo - showcasing your business at the regional Indigenous business expos, allowing you to pitch and promote your business at an event and to grow your capability talking about your business. The Expo also provides an opportunity for all businesses to promote themselves to the wider community, including council, corporate, government agencies and industry bodies.
Upcoming Workshops
July 2023
Finance: Getting ready for the year ahead
In this session, we look at how to get ready for the year ahead.
August 2023
Finance: Common bookkeeping mistakes
Many small business owners where lots of hats. Not everyone can outsource all their finance work so they're doing it themselves. What are some common bookkeeping mistakes you should keep an eye out for?
Tech Tips: Capturing better images with your smart phone - Part 1
Images are an important part of promoting your business. When you're first growing your business, it's a good idea to get a professional photoshoot. But we know that not everyone can afford it. Over the next three Tech Tips sessions, we will unpack your smart phone and your business - we'll look at the technology, what to look for in your photography, and finally accessories. In this session. We will explore:
- what do look for BEFORE you start shooting photos
- unpack both Android and Apple Phone settings
October 2023
Finance: Your first employee
There comes a point in your business where you can't do everything yourself. If you want to grow your business, you will need to increase your team. One way is through engaging sub-contractors, another way is through employees. In this session we will explore
1) Why do you subcontract?
2) At what point in your business is an employee the best option?
3) Let's do the maths! Can you afford it?
Tech Tips: Capturing better images with your smart phone - Part 2
You have a powerful computer in your pocket; let's keep looking at how to use it effectively for your business. In part 2 of our Capturing better images series, we will look at
- how form follows function
- visual 'rules', eg. the rule of thirds
- explore phone apps you can use to edit images.
November 2023
Finance: Pricing
Having other businesses sell your stock is a common practice (think Coles and Woolies), and it's a great way to increase your brand reach. But are you pricing your products correctly? In this session, we look at wholesale and retail prices, and balancing leaving enough margin for profit, but also enough room for others to sell your stock.
Tech Tips: Capturing better images with your smart phone - Part 3
Taking hand-held images with your phone is good, but there are a range of accessories that you can use to make your images pop.
In this session, we will explore:
- accessories you can buy to improve your images
- hacks and tricks for taking images with what you've got at home.
Finance: Recovering from a slow period
For some, the Christmas and New Year Period is busy, while for others, it's really slow. The coming months will be slow for a number of businesses. In this session, we look at strategies to recover from a slow period in the business.
December 2023
Tech Tips: ChatGPT
You've heard of it, you may even have given it a spin. Let's chat about LLMs (large language models) or AI (artificial intelligence) and how it can improve your business productivity. In this session we will
- briefly explore ChatGPT and other LLM products available
- demonstrate a range of business uses for AI products
January 2024
Finance: Introduction to Profit First
When you look at the formula, it's Revenue - Expenses = Profit. But instead of profit being 'what's left over', what if you start the year saying "this is the profit we will make". The profit-first or bottom-up accounting is about planning your business for your desired profit.
Tech Tips: Is this legit? Identifying fraud messages
It's not an exaggeration to say scammers are getting better at their jobs. Let's look at some of the latest scams and what you need to keep an eye out for.
February 2024
Finance: The path to profitability / Building a financial plan for your business
A financial plan is essential for your business success. In this session, we look at what goes into a financial plan and how you can get started.
Tech Tips: Introducing Sheets (or Excel)
As Google Workplace users, we're heavy users of Sheets, Google's version of Excel. While Sheets may not have all the power of Excel, it's still a fantastic tool for your business. In this session we will look at
- Set up a Google Sheet
- Set up a simple cashflow
- Demonstrate basic financial formulas
- Invite other users to collaborate
We'll also demonstrate a range of non-financial reporting uses for Sheets.
March 2024
Finance: Cyber security
It can happen to anyone! Fraud and scams are ever-present. In this session we look at some simple strategies to protect your business finances.
Tech tips: Introducing Sheets - Let's create pivot tables for your business data
In our second Sheets session, let's look at Pivot Tables. Pivot tables are a tool you can use to capture and report on data. In this session we will
- Set up a Google Sheet
- Set up a data model
- Demonstrate conditional formatting, data validation, to create customisable pivot tables
April 2024
Finance: Getting ready for the EOFY - tax deductions
Do you know exactly what is and isn't tax deductible? Tax time doesn't have to be awful. Not if you're planning and learning about what you can and can't claim. In this session, we look at different tax-deductible purchases for employees and business owners.
Tech Tips: Creating an IT Risk Management Checklist for your business - Part 1
As your business grows, policies and checklists are vital. It may be time for you to develop an IT Risk Management Checklist for your business. Over the next two sessions, we will do that.In this session we will
- unpack your business technology (hardware)
- review your business data
- interrogate your business processes
May 2024
Finance: Understand debt and how to get out of debt faster
Debt. Are you in business or looking to start a business but know you have debt? In this session we look at 5 ways to get out of debt faster.
Tech Tips: Creating an IT Risk Management Checklist for your business - Part 2
As your business grows, policies and checklists are vital. It may be time for you to develop an IT Risk Management Checklist for your business. In this session we will develop an IT Risk Management Checklist for your business, and identify where additional support may be needed to ensure you are following best practice for you, your staff, suppliers and customers.
June 2024
Finance: Runways and burn rates
Understanding our financial position is essential for every business. In this session we will explore runways and burn rates.
Tech Tips: When do you need outside help? Is it time for an MSP?
Your business is growing, and it may be time to get outside help for your IT needs. When is the time to engage an MSP (a managed service provider).In this session, we will look at:
- review how much time you spend on taking care of your IT needs internally.
- what are the key aspects of an MSP service
- assess if the time to engage an MSP now or in the future.
One Business 2020 - 2023
Muriel Wymarra, Peak Social Work
Group Accountability Sessions (GAS)
Participants will meet regularly and share their dreams, frustrations, and the goals they are working towards. Group Accountability Sessions are business related. Participants are supportive, like-minded business owners who meet frequently to tackle tricky tasks. These sessions are particularly useful for tasks that require concentration but aren’t super urgent; those pesky actions that slip out of focus when more time sensitive matters arise. Examples could be:
- General admin
- Updating your business plan
- Creating content.
You could have one-off requirements each time or be chipping away at a longer-term project. Ultimately, if you’re ready to try something different to get productive, then this is the session for you
Small Business hotline - coming soon
Do you need advice and support?
Our dedicated phone service is available to all Queensland Indigenous Businesses and can provide online coaching/mentoring and provide resources, services, tools and support to help you start, run and grow your business in Queensland.
