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Past Events |
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| Solo to Global
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October 2008 |
At the annual HomeBiz Business Breakfast, Catherine Cervasio of AROMABABY(C) shared her journey with us.
Catherine Cervasio is a local businesswoman who has taken her business from a small solo operation to one that exports to Asia and the USA. She started her company AROMABABY® 14 years ago, after the birth of her first child, Jacob. Catherine had always been interested in natural therapies and health care and believed there was a market for expectant mothers and babies.
AROMABABY ® is now a global business and has been nominated for numerous awards in Australia and overseas. Catherine works up to 10 hours a day five days a week and spends around 30% of this time working from her home office. This means she can juggle her busy work schedule with parenting her two children.
Catherine believes that business people need to love what they are doing. They also need to be innovative and protect their intellectual property. When her products had reached a plateau in Australia, Catherine recognised the need to find new markets and for that reason moved into export. She now exports into a number of Asian countries including Japan, Taiwan and Korea. She has also broken into the US market and has ‘shared’ her products with high profile celebrities there including Tom and Katie Cruise, Tori Spelling and Leonard Di Caprio.
As well as being a successful and very busy business woman, Catherine is a freelance writer for numerous magazines, has a Diploma in Aromatherapy and is a trained Infant Massage Instructor. |
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| One Page Business Plan workshop |
September 2008 |
Business plans don’t have to be hard or time consuming! Come and learn how to prepare a painless One Page Plan to make a big difference to your business today. More than just a traditional business document, a one page plan is an essential, practical and functional business tool. Industry leader, Mike McNamara, will take us through step by step so everybody can start to develop their own one page plan.
After years of experience in government and corporate roles, the completion of an MBA prompted Mike McNamara set his own small business, Strategia Consulting, aimed at providing SME’s with advanced business and marketing strategies. Mike now presents business workshops and courses throughout Victoria, including for the Office of Small Business.
In 2007, based on 9 years of property investing, Mike founded Melbourne Property School to become the only provider of independent, non-selling, short courses for property investors in the State of Victoria.
In 2008, Mike takes to the Melbourne airwaves on Radio 3WBC 94.1 FM presenting “Bricks and Mortar- the real estate show for homeowners and property investors”. |
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| Healthy Life - Healthy Business! |
July 2008 |
Achieving a health/work balance is not always as easy as it sounds. This session was presented by business coach, Diane Petty and gym manager, Wayne Brooker.
The session discussed practical and realistic ways to incorporate a healthy lifestyle to ensure a healthy business. |
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| Invest in Networking! |
June 2008 |
Get the most out of your networking! Maeve Clonan showed us how to build stronger networking relationships and more importantly, how to explain the benefits of what you do to people and not just tell them ‘what’ it is you do.
Maeve of Start Your Own Business presented a valubale session on how to plan networking, and refine your networking ‘approach’ rather than just ‘selling.’ |
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Accounting & Tax Issues
for Home Based Business |
May 2008
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While many small business operators prefer to ignore accounting and tax, many also know just how important it is to stay on top of. Justin Penkethman of Base Accounting and Tax Pty Ltd covered many of the issues relevant to members. His presentation was thorough and as simple as it could be, considering the material he was delivering. When members sometimes appeared nervous of the detail he reassured us we just need to be aware of the issues, and discuss them with our Tax Accountant.
Presented by Justin Penkethman of Base Accounting & Tax P/L
Download Justins Power Point Presentation
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| All Things Email |
April 2008  |
The session was on all things ‘email’. Emailing is a valuable but inexpensive tool for businesses, and it’s right there at your fingertips. We were shown how to use it efficiently and effectively with Craig as our guide. There wasl also networking opportunities to meet other people during supper after the session.
Presented by Craig Reardon of The E Team
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| The Art of Networking |
March 2008  |
Networking is essential for every business, especially when it’s based at home. It’s also one of the most cost effective ways to promote your business. At the March Network night we looked at how you can become more effective at building business relationships in a way that suits your own particular style, and abolish some of the myths about what networking is. We received some networking tips and ideas based on Robyn Henderson’s 3 networking principles.
We’ll followed it up with a short speed networking session.
Presented by Julie French - Nillumbik Shire Council
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| Does your business need a Marketing Health Check? February 2008 |
How aware are you REALLY of your marketing? Start your year with a marketing health check - an interactive marketing workshop to help every small business to assess their own marketing and learn some valuable marketing tips along the way. A must attend for any small business owner that wants to be a smarter marketer!
Presented by Jenny Clarke of Raising Expectations
Download Marketing Health Check PDF |
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