More than 200 women will be offered free training in small business and leadership skills after Inverell Shire Council successfully applied for funding to run a series of ‘Investing in Women’ workshops.
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Five distinct workshops, ranging from one day to one week, will cover the subjects of work, education, financial security and leadership.
Council’s general manager, Paul Henry, said the sessions were designed as a total package but “people who are a bit time poor can attend as many or as few as they like”.
Council applied for the NSW Government program following the success of a series of small business workshops delivered in the first half of last year. More than 90 percent of the participants were women and Mr Henry said feedback expressed interest in developing more networking opportunities for women and training for managing the competing demands of business and personal life.
“We put together the workshop program,” Mr Henry said of the training series set for delivery over a 12 month period from February 2018.
The workshops are:
- ‘Tech-Up Time Management’ which is aimed at developing skills in juggling work-life balance, tips and tricks to curb unnecessary hours at the computer;
- ‘Digital Marketing’ will be a workshop for developing an effective marketing presence for small business which is not hungry on resources;
- ‘Empowering Leaders’ is a one-day workshop and motivational presentation by professional speaker Sue Currie on forging a personal brand;
- ‘Turning Towns Around’ is a one-week series of workshops and one-on-one small business consultations to establish a point of difference and lead economic renewal; and
- ‘Taking the Leap’ is a workshop delivered in conjunction with Department of Industry Small Business team to provide information and pathways for start-up businesses.
Council is one of ten organisations in the state to be awarded funding for the program that targets women in small business, young women nearing the end of their high school studies and Aboriginal women.
Inverell Shire Councillor Di Baker is a former small business owner who successfully operated her business for 26 years while also raising a family, helping to run a farm and volunteering for charity. She said the workshops would appeal to women of different ages.
“Women of any age should continue their education,” Cr Baker said. “The leadership is so important. We need entrepreneurs and new ways of looking at things. And most of all we need skills.”
While the course hopes to attract women from as young as 16-years-of-age, Cr Baker said older women can also benefit.
“I think older women have commitments outside their own interests, perhaps elderly parents and children needing their assistance,” she said. “There can be great problems with time management when running a business and household and just [balancing] life’s issues.”
Cr Baker said keeping pace with changing technologies, meeting the demands of bureaucratic red tape, tackling the challenges of importing overseas goods, and knowing that small businesses don’t get as much support as large businesses in Australia, meant there were many hurdles to leap.
