Be.Bendigo has launched the 2018 Bendigo Small Business Festival, with this year’s focus on how emerging technologies impact small businesses.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Be.Bendigo CEO Dennis Bice said the festival was an opportunity for small businesses to get involved and network with others within the industry.
“Throughout the festival there will be numerous events during the month, hosted by a range of different providers,” Mr Bice said.
“The workshops will help attendees work through some of the challenges faced by small businesses and will provide them with ideas they can take away and apply within their businesses.
“It’s about giving them information and connecting them with people who have been through the process before or who also deliver services."
Throughout the festival, which concludes on August 31, there will be 24 business related workshops covering topics such as eCommerce, digital communication, Facebook strategies for businesses and how to operate a home based business.
Other highlights of the festival will be to celebrate the contribution of women in business and support for trades.
“At Be.Bendigo one of our main roles is to ensure we have a prosperous economy and a strong small business community,” Mr Bice said.
“They’re very important, they make it all happen.
“We need to continue encouraging small businesses.”
Member for Bendigo West Maree Edwards said the festival was a great event which supported small businesses within the City of Greater Bendigo.
“We want to encourage small businesses to get involved in the festival, it’s an important way to think about innovation, the challenges they face, learn about the importance of the digital economy and look at how they can work together in the future,” Ms Edwards said.
“Small businesses here in Bendigo make up 97 per cent of our businesses, they are vitally important to our economy and tourism.
“We are very proud of their commitment to Bendigo and we want to do everything we possibly can to support small businesses.”
Small business owners get involved
Small business owners from the City of Greater Bendigo attended the festival launch to network with others from within the industry and discuss the challenges they faced.
Possum Works Bendigo and Turncode Productions owner Marcus Turnbull said small businesses made up a large proportion of businesses within the city.
“They employ a lot of people and there is approximately 7000 small businesses,” Mr Turnbull said.
Turncode Productions is a business which develops software for small to medium size businesses.
“Local businesses are sometimes hesitant to spend money on consultants where as in Melbourne, it’s fairly common.” Mr Turnbull said.
Camera House owner Matt Hourigan also believes small businesses were crucial to the local economy, however not without challenges.
“Retailing in general at the moment is a struggle for a lot of businesses, some of the policy decision making in the Bendigo CBD leaves you to wonder sometimes, it could be better,” he said.