Business assistance

2011 Energise Enterprise

Victoria's Small Business Festival, coordinated by Small Business Victoria, is designed to provide small business people with practical business advice and assistance.

The 2011 festival runs throughout August and features a program of informative seminars, exciting exhibitions, networking events and expos.  Events are tailored especially for small business to deliver thought-provoking insight and inspiration on marketing and sales, online business, business planning and more.

To find out how your business can benefit contact Victoria's Small Business Festival or visit the Victoria's Small Business Festival website.

The City of Melbourne assists business through grants and general business support. We provide support through development programs and activities that encourage a prosperous and innovative city.

Supporting activity and investment

The City of Melbourne offers Small business grants. We also offer occasional seminars, often in conjunction with bilateral chambers of commerce and representatives of trade organisations from some of our sister cities, BPC members and strategic partnership cities.

Such seminars inform and provide advice on Melbourne businesses that might be interested in exporting to particular destinations.

The networking events we conduct from time to time allow for the exchange of information and aid contact with like-minded businesses and service providers, domestically and internationally.

We also assist  with introductions between international companies (or those looking to partner or source supplies or customers) and Melbourne-based businesses.

We organise introductions to overseas companies and government officials using our networks and contacts. And if you require business matching, we can do that too.

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Avenues for assistance

If you have a proposal for assistance from the City of Melbourne that fits into one of these categories, please Contact us.

There are also several other organisations located in Melbourne that seek to assist businesses and potential investors:

• The Small Business Mentoring Service is an independent not-for-profit organisation providing experienced volunteer business counsellors, mentors and coaches to Victorian businesses.
• AusIndustry is the Federal Government's agency for delivering products, services and information that support industry, research and innovation.
• INNOVIC is Victoria's leading provider of services to innovators, inventors, entrepeneurs and small- to medium-sized enterprises who are in the early stages of getting their ideas to work. 
• Business Victoria developed by the Victorian Government, is a comprehensive online resource designed to help start, run and grow business.
• Social Traders is a social enterprise development organisation providing business planning resources, workshops and coaching services for individuals and organisations seeking to start or grow a social enterprise.  They also run The Crunch program provides the possibility of an investment by Social Traders to be made to assist great ideas into thriving social enterprises.
• Social Ventures Australia is a non- profit organisation investing in social change by helping increase the impact and build the sustainability of those in the social sector. They provide funding and strategic support  to carefully selected non-profit partners, as well as offering consulting services to the social sector more broadly.

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Small business complaints and dispute resolution

The Office of the Victorian Small Business Commissioner (VSBC) promotes a genuinely competitive and fair business environment for Victorian small businesses.

The VSBC aims to promote greater fairness in business through its four main functions:

• information and education
• reviewing government practices
• investigation of small business complaints
• dispute resolution.

For more information, contact the VSBC on 9651 9316 or refer to the SBC website.

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Big help for small business

Big Help for Small Business is a handy guide to the services available for Victorians to run and grow their businesses.

The Big Help for Small Business will assist an estimated 240 new businesses that are starting up in Victoria each week. The guide brings together all the information and resources needed in one easy to use format. 

Big Help for Small Business covers starting or buying a business, finding the right licences, managing and growing a business, financial management, employing and managing people, managing risk, and networking and support.

The guide helps Victorians get the most out of Business Victoria Online, which saves businesses time and money. The guide will be distributed through the Victorian Business Centres and is also available by contacting the Victorian Business Line.

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Small business clinics

The City of Melbourne in conjunction with the Small Business Mentoring Service is pleased to offer a new initiative for small businesses located within the City of Melbourne municipality.

Two mentors from the Small Business Mentoring Service will be available at Council House 2, 240 Little Collins Street to answer your marketing or finance related questions.

• There is no cost associated with this service.
• One-on-one sessions will be held for a maximum of 45 minutes.
• The sessions are held on the last Thursday of every month.
• Each business can select one session from either marketing or finance only.
• Session times are limited and registration is essential.
• To request a session, please fill in the registration form below:

         Small business clinics registration form (PDF, 17kb)  
         Small business clinics registration form (Text only, 52kb)  

On completion, please send the registration form to:   smallbusinessgrants@melbourne.vic.gov.au.

• You will receive a confirmation note if your registration has been successful.

After your free one-on-one session with the mentor, you can also book a mentor to visit your business at an additional cost through www.sbms.org.au  

For more information, please contact the Business and international team on 03 9658 8664.

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Export Market Development Grants

The Export Market Development Grants (EMDG) scheme is a key Australian Government financial assistance program for aspiring and current exporters. Administered by Austrade, the scheme supports a wide range of industry sectors and products, including inbound tourism and the export of intellectual property and know-how outside Australia.

The EMDG scheme:

• encourages small and medium sized Australian businesses to develop export markets
• reimburses up to 50 per cent of expenses incurred on eligible export promotion activities, above a $10,000 threshold
• provides up to eight grants to each eligible applicant.

To access the scheme for the first time, businesses need to have spent $10,000 over two years on eligible export marketing expenses.

Small and medium sized businesses can find out further details by contacting Austrade on 13 28 78 or visiting www.austrade.gov.au/exportgrants.

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