BNCC Celebrates Small Business

To celebrate Queensland “Small Business Week” the Brisbane North Chamber of Commerce hosted a Trade Show for the business community. Thirty small businesses had their products and services show-cased so that members and guests could network and get a real feel for what those organisations had to offer.

The Chamber was grateful for the sponsorship of Bank of Queensland Aspley – itself a small business. Around the relationship building there were also three informative presentations from Tony King, James Woodland and Terri Cooper.

Tony King, Executive Director - Business Services & Market Insights, Office of Small Business, Department of Tourism, Major Events, Small Business & the Commonwealth Games spoke about the tremendous opportunities available in South East Queensland in particular in the lead up to the Commonwealth Games being held at the Gold Coast next year.

The Australian Taxation Office may be not be the favourite “go to” organisation for many but James (Jim) Woodland, Small Business Engagement & Support & Small Business Line gave an enlightening presentation and then was happy to take questions from the floor. In one of these questions he clarified issues around claiming expenses for a home office and the subsequent Capital Gains Tax implications of selling the property.

Lastly, Terri Cooper – the newly appointed Small Business Liaison Manager for Brisbane City – provided valuable information on help available to the business community including an amazing phone service. The “Business Hotline” (133BNE or 133263) is manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer any Brisbane City Council business related enquiry including: licensing, advertising signs, development applications and business zoning.

We’d like to thank the BNCC members who took part in the event:

Special thanks also to Judi Turner-Buzer of Buz Photography (www.buzphotography.com and www.facebook.com/buzphotography ) for being our "official photographer".

Visit our Facebook page to view the photos.

The feedback about the event has been extremely positive.

Jo Hassan from PinkWise said of the evening “I was really pleased to be involved and have a trade table. I made some quality connections and hope the trade show will become an annual event”.

“Great evening and great energy in the place. Definitely got to learn plenty about other businesses in the group”.

Grant Mason, Oracle Group

“Really enjoyed the trade show last night, it was great excuse to catch up with everyone again”.

Alex Cumberland, Synergy 8

“Enjoyed the evening, great to get a better understanding of what it is that fellow members do”.

Mark Cusack, Cusack Communications

“Excellent speakers. Great to see local businesses supporting each other and having a few of the big government departments physically out and about, sharing helpful ideas and genuinely connecting with the SME community. Thank you to everyone who got involved”.

Dan Buzer, Profit Mechanic

“Really enjoyed meeting new people, learning about other local businesses, and discussing common challenges and opportunities. Great presentations from three Government representatives who work .

Jason Borody, Vividus