ARE YOU AWARE OF THE LATEST BUSINESS GRANTS AVAILABLE?
This webinar is tailored to providing SME business owners with information about the latest business grants currently available and how to apply. The session will include a Q&A session and some planning strategy tips for business owners as we emerge out of lockdown.
“Most business owners are good at their core business but struggle with business management. We help them put in good systems so they feel in complete control and make more money.”
Prime Strategies Group was founded in 2013 with a goal to help SME businesses move forward with the right strategies for growth and to support busy owners and managers. Today, the Prime network includes over 40 business advisors across Australia and New Zealand who are all passionate about helping entrepreneurs to reach both their business and personal goals. Our company and employees prides ourselves on integrity and honesty to provide the best service to our clients where we help businesses with their growth objectives including tackling topics in areas such as finance, cash flow, sales, marketing, productivity, future planning and sustainable growth.
WHEN:
Monday 27th September 2021
12:30pm – 1:30pm
WHERE:
Online
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Tricia Ong has over ten years of senior management experience in the mining and resources sector, both in Western Australia and Victoria. Prior to joining Prime Strategies, Tricia spent the last four years managing the Melbourne operations of an industrial business, working alongside owners and operators in the mining, civil, construction, earthmoving and recycling industries.
Armed with a strong understanding of business operations across a broad spectrum, Tricia also holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Master’s in Business Administration degree. This combination of experience and knowledge allows Tricia to provide specialised support, balancing management vs operational matters to benefit small and medium businesses.
Be sure to stay up to date with all of our upcoming events online.
These events will still go ahead if the relevant state is in lockdown – they will just be moved to online events, so you will still have your chance to network, socialise and unwind.
We look forward to seeing you at one or more events from this exciting list!
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Victory Offices Business Development Manager
I’m sure you will all agree that this working from home thing is getting overwhelming and tiresome – in fact it’s hard, really hard!
Our days are all kind of blending into one, we haven’t been able to shake a hand, have a coffee or talk about football in our workplaces for such a long time and we are chomping at the bit to get back to some kind of normal.
This got me thinking about why it is so important for me to get back to my workplace, and I’m sure it will resonate with so many of you who are feeling the same kind of emotions that I am.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my children, my husband and my animals… But, I want to go back to my place of work and here is why:
1. I really need to reclaim my “home as my home”
I have spent years trying to create a beautiful space to call my home, my sanctuary, my party palace, my headspace. This is where I play with my children, entertain my friends, cook dinner with my husband, play music loud, dance and love. It has now become everything – my workspace, my husband’s workspace, school for our three children still schooling, a psychologist/therapist suite, a gym etc. It has lost its meaning of “Home”, a sanctuary where all that live here can be themselves without tip-toeing around or feeling anxious about interrupting or making too much noise. Our homes need to be our homes, and our workspaces/schools/gyms/doctors/therapists etc need to be kept at different locations.
2. Nothing beats face to face
We perform better face to face, that is a medical fact. No matter how you look at it, whether from a business perspective, student and teacher, lovers, friends every which way, if you are face to face not only do you communicate differently, but both also talking and listening, you behave and react differently. From a business perspective, you are more inclined to succeed or have a positive outcome when you face to face with your clients and co-workers – you are more productive. This doesn’t mean that I am going to hug everyone I see when I go back to work… well actually, it might! I miss being on location and hearing the hustling and bustling of the workplace, listening to the laughter from my co-workers and having conversations with my clients in the breakout areas.
3. Disconnect from distraction
I don’t know about you, but I think I have the attention span of a 3-year-old! It was once referred to me as “Shiny Object Syndrome”. I will be the first to put my hand up and say that I am definitely less productive when I am working from home during lockdown, but not the case when we are not in lockdown. The difference? DISTRACTIONS!!! Children, husband, puppy, cat, music, food, the sun outside, the photo on my walls etc. I think you get the picture! Being distracted isn’t necessarily a bad thing especially if it helps you re-focus, but if it’s constant it is unproductive, and causes anxiety and frustration.
We need to get back to work to be the best versions of ourselves – our work self and our home self.
All Victory Offices locations across Australia remain open even during lockdown, So if you do find you’re having one of those days and just need to get out of the house and get back to some form of normality in an office, talk to our team and we’ll be happy to have you come in to an office closest to you (even if it’s not your normal business location).
School holidays are coming up, so for those with kids (and especially those still in lockdown AND with kids) the thought of keeping the kids busy all throughout the day may seem a little daunting.
And while it’s important to get your work done, keep in mind that this is a ‘once in a lifetime opportunity’ (hopefully) to spend that extra bit of time with your children that you may not otherwise get to have.
So in the spirit of ‘staying optimistic’ and enjoying the extra time we get to spend at home with our families, here are some lockdown-friendly activities for the holidays.
Spring weather and easing restrictions put picnic season front of mind. Even if restrictions prevent you heading out to your usual favourite picnic spot, a backyard picnic or even a blanket spread out on the loungeroom floor can help break the monotony. Spend the morning making some treats and packing a basket. If you are able to venture further than your own back yard, remember to wear a mask when not eating and keep 1.5 metres’ distance at all times.
Take inspiration from TV show Ninja Warrior and get the kids moving through an improvised obstacle course. Use your local playground (they’re open again) or set up in the backyard or indoors, using chairs as ‘floating steps’, swinging off tree branches or door frames, jumping over or limbo-ing under a tied rope, and adding skill tests like landing a ball in the wheelie bin. Time each run and crown your winner.
Spring is the perfect time to get kids into growing their own herbs, vegies and flowers. Many nurseries are open throughout the state, at least for delivery or click and collect, so you can order seeds, seedlings and any other garden supplies you need. Give the kids a garden plot to plant and look after, or pot up a planter box or even a big Milo tin (make nail holes in bottom for drainage) with hardy nasturtiums, poppy seeds, basil or lettuce seedlings. The Diggers Club’s tomato expert says late September and early October are ideal for planting tomatoes, so order some seedlings while you’re at it. If you can’t access a nursery, ask a neighbour for a geranium, rosemary or succulent cutting to repot, or grow vegetables from scraps you would usually throw out. Or celebrate Sunflower September and order a pack of sunflower seeds as a symbol of hope, connectedness and solidarity. Proceeds from sales help fund playground equipment for disadvantaged schools.
Parenting and family wellbeing expert Professor Julie Green suggests a DIY bowling alley as a way to pass a few fun family hours. “Line up some empty plastic bottles and use an old pair of socks wrapped into a ball to create a quick and easy game of indoor bowling,” says Julie, executive director at raisingchildren.net.au. “Make it harder by adding some weight, like sand and water, inside the bottles.”
“Get creative with what’s in the pantry,” says Julie Green. Use online apps for some recipe inspiration – some allow you to enter the ingredients you have to hand then suggest suitable recipes. Younger children can be your ‘kitchen assistant’ as you cook, grating cheese, peeling potatoes and setting the table.
Head online to find exercise video classes to do as a family, or you could focus on kids’ individual interests with a high-intensity workout for one and a yoga class for another. Try The Body Coach TV’s five-minute workouts and Mr Yoga Australia’s earnest Oz-themed sessions with poses called Desert Dingo and Sydney Swan.
Assemble some paints, paintbrushes, fresh paper or canvases and let the kids unleash their inner artists. Set them up in the backyard or garage with drop sheets in case things get messy. Or you can arrange your own still life with fruit, flowers and household items and get everyone in the family to have a go at drawing or painting the still-life arrangement.
Tick off three school-holiday boxes in one by posting a list of one-off jobs you’ve been putting off, and price them to appeal to cash-savvy older children or teens. You might want a garden bed weeded, cupboards cleaned and organised, or a garage or laundry cleared out. If you have, say, a major painting project, negotiate an attractive rate to get them working alongside you. You get the job done, keep them busy, and they’ll have their own money to spend.
