Running a business requires the wearing of many hats, and for most operators there’s a massive learning curve involved in setting up, growing and successfully tending an enterprise.

That means calling in the cavalry every now and then to assist with business fundamentals like planning, structure, staffing and growth strategies.

Luckily, there are many experts willing to lend a hand, and here’s a list of those offering free services to assist across a variety of business management fields.

Business advice and planning

Goals, planning, and growth strategies are the basic tools that allow business to expand, succeed and embrace new opportunities, but often business owners are so busy working in their business, they have little time to work on it.

The following free services can help you look at the big picture of business, rather than the day to day tasks:

  • Clive Enever – The Business Mentor offers a free discovery call to work out the goals and strategies required to take your business to the next level.
  • The NSW Government’s Business Connect provides NSW businesses with four hours of tailored business advice offered with no cost and no catches as it’s funded by the NSW Government.
  • Jacob Aldridge of the Business Depot hosts Blackboard Fridays  – a short weekly video program for business owners. Whether you’re starting up, scaling up, stepping up, or selling up, these business strategies, tools, tips and case studies deliver a moment each week to truly focus on your business instead of dealing with the demands of working in it.
  • Fontenot & Associates offers a free business toolkit for entrepreneurs and business owners focussing on business structure, writing a business plan, and drafting policies and procedures.
  • Wealth advocate Marion Mays and the Thalia Stanley Group provide a free money mindset consultation to Increase your success by addressing the beliefs and attitude you have about money and wealth.
  • Rebecca Carroll-Bell, the Everyday Mediator offers a free video course on How to Handle Difficult Clients.
  • Amy Hooke of Off the Hook Bookkeeping helps bookkeepers break out of the “employee mindset” and start to think like business owners with her free guide “10 things you must implement in your bookkeeping business if you want to build an asset instead of a job.”

 

Human resources and staffing

Staff are the backbone of any business but successfully finding and then managing a workforce involves leadership skills, hiring nous and and a perspective of where your business is headed in the future.

If you’re looking for assistance on the staffing and HR front, the following free services are available:

  • The HR Dept has a free HR Health Check for your business and other complimentary resources.
  • Melissa Daniels and Meld Business Services offers an Easy 5 step workbook to identify the tasks in your business to outsource.
  • Apprenticeships Matter offers ongoing recruitment, information, sign ups and mentoring services for Victorian businesses and potential trainees and apprentices. There are no fees and they administer government incentives.

 

Public speaking and networking

The role of business owner often involves stepping outside your comfort zone to embrace networking and public speaking activities that raise your business’ profile. For some people these come naturally, but even the most seasoned social butterfly can occasionally use a refresher.

Here is assistance that’s freely available:  

Caring for the business owner

As any entrepreneur knows, while business can be incredibly rewarding it can also be intense, demanding and at times fatiguing. As a result it’s essential business operators pull back occasionally to engage in a little self-care and relaxation.

  • Business coach Sonja Balzarolo accommodates this with an eBook on Creative self-care, noting creativity can actually help with focus and mindset.
  • Entrepreneur Rachel Allen provides insight and tips on balancing business and lifestyle in her free eCourse Getting Closer to Balance.

 

The final word

In any profession the right tools make all the difference, and we hope the free resources so graciously provided by our Business Business Business community have provided an essential toolkit to renovate, extend or reinforce your business.

We’d like to thank the Business Business Business community for enthusiastically embracing this opportunity, and if you’re looking for even more great tips, useful information and business knowhow, see the Business Business Business Learn Magazine.