Where were you raised and what/who influenced your career?
I spent early life between Scotland and Australia. My early life big influence was my football coach who was also what you would call an avid entrepreneur in all senses of the word.
What was your pathway after school?
Apprentice professional footballer in Scotland as a 16-year-old, then a career as a teacher and manager in the education and training sector, then owned and operated three businesses and now the CEO at The Business Centre.
When and how did you come to be involved at The Business Centre?
I did some work initially at the Business Centre as a consultant almost seven years ago after I exited my last business and then ended up staying because going to work each day and helping other people at all stages of business is not such a bad thing to be doing as a job.
How does the Centre operate from a funding and operational point of view?
The Business Centre has been responding to the needs of entrepreneurs and businesses across our region with the support of government funded SME programs for more than 35 years. We also do projects commercially but we are a not for profit with a mission and purpose of creating sustainability in job creation through SMEs in urban and rural communities.
How did the Centre respond when COVID-19 prompted the lockdown?
We took an approach that recognised that a crisis brings both danger and opportunity. So we transitioned to being able to provide COVID-19 safe business advisory and business support for SMEs at every point in the spectrum of this crisis within in one working week.
What were the biggest challenges to its operations?
I think we very quickly realised not only the financial impact of this event on the SMEs we support, but also the enormous emotional and mental health impact this event had on SMEs and indeed on all of us as a community at the same time and that this happened in so many different ways.
What positives came out of COVID-19 for the Centre?
We like many organisations rapidly deployed our use and reliance on digital and online forms of service which only accelerated our capability and, in the end, expanded our reach and diversity of our client base.
And for the startups and businesses it assists?
As a direct result of COVID-19 we developed a "Business Disruption to Recovery Tool Box" which allowed us to distill all the key actions and steps for a Start Up or an existing SME to get their heads around and survive, reset and sustain their business and all its future operations in response to COVID-19.
The Centre is offering up to 60 hours of free business advisory services until the end of the year. How is this funded?
Through the NSW Government's Business Connect program we are funded to provide fully subsidised business advisory services of up to 60 hoursforbusiness negatively affected by COVID-19.
What do you think is driving more people to seek advice on starting their own business?
COVID-19 as I mentioned previously has thrown up a whole lot of opportunity in business, from people having more time to initiate a long held desire to start a business through less hours of work, or being made redundant, to truly new opportunities for supply of local and reliable services and products that are not dependent upon the pre-COVID-19 supply chains or products and service providers - meaning local products are good again.
COVID-19 has thrown up a whole lot of opportunity, from people having more time to initiate a long held desire to start a business through less hours of work ... to truly new opportunities for supply of services and products.
Steve Wait
What is the mood among the businesses you are dealing with, given government incentives have been reduced and it's been a pretty tough year?
The continuing benefit from the ATO Jobkeeper and cashflow boost schemes have without doubt been of great benefit to SMEs however, the June quarter in 2021 when these benefits are due to end, is going to be significant. This is well understood by all in business, but still is of great concern as to "Well, what's next ?"
The Centre's former King Street headquarters is being utilised to help businesses with peppercorn rent. What are your long-term hopes for the site?
The Business Centre owned and operated up until the end of 2018 a subsidised rent small business serviced office hub at 265 King Street, however the building has aged and while we are getting plans to renovate the site our Board wanted to help SME's and are giving at King Street well below market rent access to struggling or starting business owners, to have a place to start, re-start or recover their business by getting a space under a Project called the Small Business Support Centre which is funded by Newcastle City Council's City Taskforce Industry Response Program.
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