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What businesses out there do you think are doing incredible things?
Venture HB has provided assistance with many businesses, some of which have been profiled in HB Today. It's great to see these businesses getting recognition. The Westpac Chamber of Commerce Business Awards are another great way for businesses to be recognised for thier achievements and there's many great finalists this year.
Do you think businesses get the support they need or should they in fact not get too much support at the beginning but later once they're established and done some of the hard yards.
Do businesses really know who to go to for support - is it Venture HB, the Chamber of Commerce, the council's economic development units or a mix of all?
12:21, 16.10.2009
This is the point – so many great HB business go under the radar. One of the key purposes of Fruitbowl is for all of us to share the successes of the businesses we know about – so that more people can know about them.
And to answer your question Damon – No, I don’t think businesses know who to go to for support. And I don’t think businesses know how VHB or the Chamber can help them.
Which is a really good reason for VHB and the Chamber to connect and engage using Fruitbowl, so everyone gets what they do and how they can help.
12:34, 16.10.2009
The problem with all this is that so many HB businesses start very small, as a sole trader or similar. And then many go under before they get to a stage where they even think about how they could get support or are too busy struggling to stay alive. And no doubt there are some businesses amongst those that actually had a great business idea.
I guess you could go to the Chamber to find out where you can get help. But isn’t part of the problem that people don’t ask help that easily. It is a bit like admitting “failure” already.
I personally did not know that Venture HB does business support. I would never have gone there. I do notice you don’t mention Trade & Enterprise and their options for workshops or business mentoring though. So there is a lot out there, probably more than we think of.
If Fruitbowl can become so well known that everybody would come looking here what help is available, that would be great.
23:09, 19.10.2009
I have just signed up for the Fruitbowl thing and thought I would try my luck in posting a reply.
I agree with your comment Gerard, that a big part of the problem is that people don’t ask for help that easily. As a personal coach for business owners, I see that all the time.
For a new (or old) small business to succeed, the right skill-set is far from enough. What is also required is the right mind-set.
In other words, all the business structure support, marketing support, etc. will only work if the business owner’s mental “Operating System” is capable of supporting it.
And where do the business owners go to get their mental “Operating System” up-graded so they can successfully implement the business advice they get?