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Coasting To Business Expo Success

Announcement posted by The Audacious Agency 17 Jul 2016

Two business expos are helping to support the thriving economic culture on the Gold Coast.

 

Expo founder Paula Brand said more than 50,000 small businesses drive the Gold Coast’s economy now have two outstanding opportunities to help themselves and each other grow. "Thanks to the North and South GC Business Expos," she said.

 

Following the inaugural success of the North GC Business Expo last year, the model was replicated in April.  A new Business Expo is gearing up for the South GC region on the 12 August.

 

Paula said this year's North GC Expo received a success rating overall of 4.22/5 with 94 trade tables and 350 small business owners attending. "The trade tables were in such demand that sections of grassed space were sold to accommodate everyone," she said.

 

"Now the South GC Expo will focus on homebased, micro and mobile businesses of which there are 20,000 on the Gold Coast. Sometimes these businesses are seen as inferior because they don’t have shop fronts, or they are looked down on because they don’t have a lot of staff, but they are crucial to our economy and they really do need a shop front, as this Expo is for them for a day or two a year.

 

Paula Brand, a Miami-based small business owner, is an indefatigable champion of small business. "Small businesses are the backbone of the Gold Coast and are a vital player in the local economy, especially with the huge increase in the number of start-ups," she said.

 

“The Gold Coast is leading the way, and well above the Australian average, with 20% of its workers owning their own business.

 

“Our city’s economy is driven by small business. I applaud the large-scale businesses that have invested in our city but at the same time, small business has been at the heart of our economic engine for decades.

 

“The national failure rate of small business is at around 80%. So it’s vital that such a large, important – and growing – section of our economy receives real, practical support. I launched the North GC Business Expo last year to give small business owners a place to capitalise on each other’s experiences,” says Paula.

 

“What I witnessed was the incredible power an event like this has to inspire people, give them practical tools to get things done and streamline their operational efficiencies so they can enjoy the freedom that was one of the key motivators to starting their own business in the first place.”

 

McGraths Real Estate owner and local South GC identity, Maria Hobbs said the Expos are a highly professional event. "Last year's  really showcased the diversity and size of many business which are doing outstanding things in the city’s north and the growth corridor,” she said.


“I’m active within my community but the Expo even introduced to me some of the small businesses which are working in innovative spheres. It’s proved to be a very important event on the professional calendar for our business community.” 


Paula said she knows first hand just how valuable these experiences can be for small business owners. “I vividly remember the day to day struggle to build my business Living with IT beyond the pivotal one year milestone," she said.

 

“I often found myself both seeking out the support of other like-minded business people who can help ease the journey and a mechanism to share some of my knowledge with people trying to build their small business.

 

“Gold Coast City's Gross Regional Product was $25,744 million (30 June 2014)* and small business makes such a significant contribution to this figure. So I cannot wait to see what partnerships and bottom-line results we will see following this year’s two Expo events.”

 

The Expos work because they are run by a committee of small business owners and are run in the community where the small businesses live and work.

 

Trade Table bookings now available for businesses - $300

Visitor tickets are $25 pp and are available http://south.goldcoastbusinessexpo.com.au/

 

2016 South GC Business Expo

Friday 12 August

10am-4pm

Tallebudgera Leisure Centre