Sharing my Story with Newcomers to Business in Australia

As a successful business woman who myself immigrated to Australia one of my big passions is helping other newcomers to Australia find their feet.

I was honoured recently to be able to present a Newcomers to Business in Australia workshop, hosted by the City of Canning in collaboration with the City of Belmont and the Town of Victoria Park.

The evenFinancial Literacy Speaker and Coacht attracted over 100 attendees with a mix of those thinking about starting a business and those who have just started. The feedback that has been received in the days afterward has definitely reinforced my opinion that workshops like this are imperative for our business community.

I was fortunate to speak alongside representatives from many wonderful organisations and I learned some fantastic tips along the way.

First up was the Small Business Development Corporation, who delivered a presentation about the 8 steps to starting a business including, making sure you are ready, doing your research, understanding your finances and much more

Also on board with useful advice was a representation of the Australian Tax Office  who spoke about the different services they offer and clarified that much confused topic – claiming coffees with clients.

Next up on the list was Curtin University Centre for Entrepreneurship who talked about their programs and what they have to offer newcomers in regards to their business.

And then it was my turn!

I shared my story of how I started my business while still working full time and today I want to share with you a bit of what I presented to the group:

• When I was in the first stages of my business I would wake up at 4am to work through my vision, mission, pricing strategies, market research, target market, creating templates and then head off to my job as Senior Accountant at Rio Tinto. It was hard work at the time but I was clear on my goals and the path to get there. Looking back now I am glad I worked so hard because I can now make the impact I dreamed of.
• Marketing is not my greatest skillset so I took advantage of the one on one advisory session from Business Station  which helped to create an action plan and understand how best to market my services.
• To finish off, I provided the audience with advice based on my experiences so they don’t have to make the mistakes that I did. One of the biggest being to surround yourself with supportive people who understand your vision and share the same values. This is important to me because when I first started I had many nay sayers who couldn’t understand why an accountant would leave a good paying job to start a business helping women. Personally for me, living a purpose driven life and being of service to others is more important than society’s expectations of what an accountant should do.

The feedback I received from my presentation was so humbling.Newcomers to Business in Australia Presentation

One group of women who met each other at the event decided to start an accountability club based on me sharing that having an accountability buddy was very helpful for me.

A gentleman who had his ABN registered for the last year but had not known the next step, approached me after the event to thank me for inspiring him to take action. He called me last week to tell me that he had booked in an
advisory session with the SBDC..

Another lady told me “I’ve only ever heard the doom and gloom of workingfull time and trying to start a business. Your story gave me hope that it can be done and the hard work is worth it..”

There are so many migrants with fantastic ideas. WA offers so many free and subsidised resources. Let’s have the confidence to build the lives we want in Australia because this is an amazing country with endless opportunities.

And for those of us who have lived in Australia for a long time let’s support the newcomers we have joining us and remember there is room and space enough for everyone to thrive.

If you have a speaking opportunity related to financial empowerment, migrants, women in business or not for profits that you would like me to consider please contact me here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *