Sydney Greater West aspiring business owners or entrepreneurs are being offered free mentoring and resources to turn their dreams of running a business into reality.
The free Self-Employment Assistance program, delivered by IntoJobs, offers practical, and confidential guidance and support on all aspects of starting and running a small business – from coaching, registering business names, website domains, business plan development, health checks, setting up an ABN through to financial, marketing, and strategic advice.
Services are designed to offer maximum flexibility and are tailored to individual business needs, with training delivered by highly qualified and highly experienced business coaches across a range of industry and service-based professions.
Single-mum Terri-Anne Daniels is one existing business owner who took her hobby of baking cookies into the commercial realms. She used the Self-Employment Assistance program to launch her online business, Coo-ee Cookies, “I started this because we are all becoming a lot more diverse with our foods by eating ethically, vegan, gluten-free, celiac, nut and dairy-free, I wanted cookies that catered to that market,” Terri-Anne said.
IntoJobs helped Terri-Anne create a business plan which gave her the confidence to know what direction her business should take, “It’s been a journey and a half but I would definitely say if you are passionate about starting your own business you should grab it with both hands and run with it. Working with IntoJobs has been amazing, I got a new sort of spark of passion about where I’m taking the business and that positivity has really come through. I’m getting more sales and really enjoying the journey now,” she said.
IntoJobs Business Navigator Debra Wylde says it can be very overwhelming to start a business, which is why IntoJobs offers a coaching program which provides up to 12 months of support, with fortnightly income support available to those who are eligible. For the first nine months, $300 is also available to help with set up costs such as equipment, insurance or stock.
“The advantage of our program is that we offer the opportunity to talk to a real person in-person or online, brainstorm your idea and talk through the things you need to consider,” Debra said.
“Once we understand where someone’s at in their small business journey, based on their needs we can do further one-on-one mentoring with them or refer them to other relevant programs and services, remembering our services are completely free.”
For more information about the Self-Employment Assistance program, go to https://intojobs.com.au/business-startup/self-employment-assistance/ or email [email protected] or call 1300 11 JOBS (5627)
