A collective of local business owners are changing the game for established and emerging businesses in the city, with their latest networking conference selling out weeks before the big day.
Around 120 Logan business owners will be attending the seventh Logan Small Business Conference & Showcase on 1 May this year, networking, sharing ideas, learning new skills, and joining a growing community of like-minded folk.
“We have 40 new business conference attendees,” conference committee member Tanya Chaplin, co-owner of Chaplin Screens, said.
“That equates to 32 fresh businesses joining our community.”
For those participating in the conference, the greater the diversity of businesses, the better.
“[Businesses] will come along and bring new services, products and skills,” Ms Chaplin said.
“It is a great way to expose your business to the wider community.
“We can network, intermix and refer businesses that provide the services and products that our business community is looking for.
“For example, we have invited a local photography business to take headshots for businesses at the conference. These can be utilised in their business profiles and promotions.”
Attendees will also gain insights from speakers across multiple categories, including artificial intelligence and technology, mental health, marketing, advertising, social media and finance.
“A skilled plumber may not have the marketing and financial knowledge of running a business?,” Ms Chaplin said.
“So, we provide the opportunity to connect the skills and knowledge of these businesses, within the network.
“There are a lot of elements that support a successful business, that aren’t just related to the skill, that we need to know about. So, we try and provide that back-end support in managing their business structure with available resources.
She said the network supports business-to-business connections.
“These business owners see the value in taking the time out of their day – some are closing their own business to come along and learn, support, and contribute.
“It’s a different concept where its focus is not just about what can be taken away from the day, but where you can give back and be involved.”
Without this networking opportunity, Ms Chaplin said it was easy to become insular as a business.
“Take our business for example (Chaplin Screens). We’re a husband and wife team, we’re a small business, if I don’t have that input externally from within the business community, I would become claustrophobic in my own industry, and isolated to what’s really happening in the business world.
“I think the same can be said for many small businesses in our network – and they are not all sole traders or family businesses, but they can be a small business that is in the growth stages, or businesses with up to 20 staff members and still growing.”
