At Friday’s
launch of the Trader support program, Trader Connect, we were able to meet some
of the Business Partners and learn how they would connect with traders and offer
their assistance.
SBMS (Small
Business Mentoring Service) is an incorporated not-for-profit association that
started its journey in 1986 with just 14 members. Today there are around
130 Mentors, both male and female, who have the skills and experience to help
small businesses. Mentors have diverse and interesting backgrounds and have
either owned their own small business or worked in an organisation that has had
strong links to small business.
I was lucky
enough to meet David Gregory who is CEO of SBMS and one of his opening
statements was that humans are born with two ears and one mouth and his
philosophy was to use them in that proportion. Essentially the Business
Partners are there to listen and learn as they attempt to understand the
incredible variety of different businesses at QVM. There will be no first up “fill
out this form” or “give us your business plan” as they sit down with traders
and find out about individual needs and then work through options that may
assist the trader.
I had two
specific questions for David –
1. How much will
the service cost? – happily there is no cost to traders. The service is free.
2. What about
privacy issues? Can traders comfortably reveal private financial information?
David told me that each Business Partner signs a declaration that what is
discussed with clients remains confidential. Although they are funded in their
work, they remain completely independent from outside organisations.
SBMS have
recently worked with businesses impacted by State Government railway and level crossing
works, so they are familiar with scenarios where infrastructure changes can
impact on fragile small businesses.
Representatives
of Trader Connect will be around the market over coming weeks to ensure that
traders have access to their services and we will publish links and information
on Victraders as they come to hand.
Click here to go to the SBMS web page where you will find a link to QVM Trader Connect.
Click here to go to the SBMS web page where you will find a link to QVM Trader Connect.
By Greg Smith