Introduced by Casandra Trauki, General Manager Western Sydney Business Centre, NSW Department of State & Regional Development.

Presented by Bijai Kumar. Local Economic Development Program Manager Penrith City Council

As a regional city Penrith services and economic catchment of some 500,000 people from Blue Mountains, Hawkesbury and Central Western NSW, providing a wide range of retail, commercial, professional, educational and medical facilities and services. Penrith offers a unique lifestyle that is built on harmonising its urban and rural qualities unmatched in the Western Sydney region. It boasts the cosmopolitan and cultural lifestyle of a mature City and the casual character and charm of a rural community.

Penrith's businesses have grown to meet the challenges of a regional marketplace and this experience has helped some to go beyond Western Sydney and indeed nationally and in some instances internationally. Already some 31 local businesses have won the highly coveted Western Sydney Industry Awards demonstrating excellence in such areas as innovation and global success. While we recognise and applaud international business success we also appreciate the hard work that lies ahead for many other businesses, particularly small businesses, which have embraced innovation and new pathways to growth and expansion. Business growth and investment brings to the city new employment and job creation is the cornerstone of Penrith City Council's economic development program. While the city provides some 52,000 jobs an equal number of our residents leave the city everyday to work in other job centres and this comes at a very high economic, social and environmental cost. It is Council's objective to work with local businesses to create more local jobs opportunities, including jobs that attract knowledge workers to the city, so that this trend can be reversed and the local job market can be enriched.

Mr Kumar will be exploring this subject in further detail

What does the future hold for business in Western Sydney and beyond? Over the next ten years the region will face significant growth coupled with major government policy and regulatory changes that business must address.

This forum is designed to address the issues that will impact on all businesses, large and small, against a backdrop of mounting pressures on business conditions, climate change and international markets. As a business owner you have a choice to meet those changes head on, secure the future and viability of your organisation, or stagnate and deteriorate.

A range of topics will be discussed by an expert panel from the Sydney Business Consultants Group with questions invited from the floor on the major issues affecting business.

The panel and audience will be presented with an entertaining and informative future scenario, i.e. issues for your business in 2014. The discussion will centre on business options & action plans organisations can implement now to be well placed and thrive in the future.

Issues covered will include:* globalisation

* skills shortages & Gen Z workforce

* succession - stay or go early?

* business governance

* financial volatility

* natural resource shortages

* Planning & Development

* Operating in a carbon constrained marketplace

Have you run out of ideas and money for product promotion? Are you needing some inspiration and bright ideas? Then this is the seminar for you. Promotion is one of the most expensive components of marketing. If it's done well, it's a magical business ingredient and forms a strong base for new sales. Done badly, it is expensive, time consuming, frustrating, but worst of all ineffective. The good news - it ain't brain surgery and it doesn't need to be expensive!

Ailsa Page from AP Marketing Works will provide you with some jargon-free handy hints and tips on how you can make your promotion more powerful for less money from advertising tips to sponsorship, direct-mail and everything in between.

Companies work on their customer brand, but few invest the same focus on their employee brand. Yet, the employee brand will have an impact on how long people stay with them, how productive they are at work and how attractive they are when recruiting for new talent. Many local buisnesses already offer great benefits - they're just not accustomed to articulating it: So the top talent is going elsewhere.

In this session, Catherine will outline simple steps that you can take to ensure that your business is appealing to current and potential employees - to turn you into an "employer of choice".

In this, the first of four Master classes focusing upon Customers, Debra Templar will delve into the world of customer service - or lack of it!

Good customer service is actually about customer focus. Good customer service is not about spending all of your time, money and resources on the latest bells and whistles.

How often have you been amazed by the systems and processes that the businesses that you deal with have on hand, from voice recognition software, to impressive CRM systems - and yet, that is not what you want and adds nothing to the service experience.

If you are a business wanting to provide great customer service than you need to be focused on what your customers want and make sure you give it to them - just that bit better than the competitor.

In this session Deb will share her tips on how to keep focused on your customer needs whilst staying in front of your competitors in satisfying those needs.

Fortunately customer service is not what will cost us and the customer more, but what will provide the customer the most value - and us the healthiest revenues. You don't have to be the best. You don't have to be all things to all people. You just need to deliver the elements that YOUR customers want that little bit better than anyone else does.

Any progress in your business involves change. And with any change there is risk. Usually the bigger the risk, the bigger the potential reward. And risks cannot be ignored. They must be acknowledged and managed.

In this workshop we review the need to accept that risks exist and explore ways to avoid, reduce or transfer that risk to minimise the possible consequences on your business. We will work through a practical and questioning approach to identifying and analysing risks and most importantly how to focus on mitigating the negative impact on your business. You will leave this workshop with practical knowledge that can be applied to your next project.

Workplace Culture has the reputation of being all that "feel good" stuff that Human Resources departments come up with from time to time - Adventure Training, Employee of the Month schemes, even "Bring your Pet to Work Day"! Certainly, these sorts of initiatives can have their place, but surely there's more to it? Your presenter for this session, Greg Mitchell of HR Success, certainly believes so.

In this session, you'll learn just what workplace culture is (and what it is not), and how to begin to create a culture that not only supports, recognizes and values people, but also drives real results for your business. You will leave the session equipped with knowledge of the key drivers of workplace culture and the common cultural features of high-performing businesses. You'll also be armed with practical tips to assess the current culture within your workplace and begin to shift your business into the High-Performance Zone.

This is culture that's warm and fuzzy, but with an edge !

Do you regularly network? Or do you have a list of excuses why you don't? Networking is a fantastic way to build your business, as well as your business profile, once people know what you do they are more likely to think of you next time they need what you offer. Networking can be meeting people at organised networking events, social functions, through friends, through online forums or at work.

Many business people find networking daunting, they are not sure where to start, what to go to, what to say when they get there or how to follow up. In this seminar Jill Woods will cover all these topics and give you some hints and tips about where to start in networking, from things as simple as your business card and what is says about you.

(This session was originally to be presented by Lara Fletcher of GrowCo who unfortunately is not able to attend.  Thanks to Jill Woods for offering to share her advise and skills with regard to networking).  

For a business to grow it must develop strong relationships with its customers. This seminar looks at the process of developing a Sales Strategy then establishing control measures to review implementation. We look at the process of determining the total business value of a customer group and how to orientate your sales effort on the target group including managing Key Account relationships. Finally we look at the why and how of developing a sales budget.

The reason that so much small business marketing is a waste of time, effort and resources, is that it is purely tactical. Business operators recognise the importance of marketing and jump straight to booking an ad, or printing a brochure, or sponsoring an event. Unfortunately, this is the stuff that should be done at the end of the marketing process. Great marketing starts with creating a marketing strategy - and then everything else just follows.

In this session we will go through the basic steps to create a marketing strategy - a strategic framework that you can take back to the office, and immediately start creating a strategy for your business.

Every business aspires to having loyal customers.... and why not?! Loyal customers are not only a delight to serve, they help find you even more customers by recommending you to their friends and associates. And they are 'cheaper' to keep than having to continually find new customers.

Ailsa Page, Managing Director of AP Marketing Works, will help you discover the secrets of achieving customer loyalty and lead you through the maze of official loyalty programmes that are on offer. Unless you already have 100% customer loyalty - this presentation is for you.

In this very timely presentation Rob and fellow Sydney Business Consultants Group Member John will discuss the key issues relevant to operating in a carbon constrained environment.

Rob & John will provide coverage of the main issues relevant to business addressing the immediate challenges faced by climate change legislation as well as touch on strategies that can be used to promote ‘green' brand value for increased returns. Topics will include:

• Carbon Footprints - Measure, Monitor & Manage
• Emissions Reporting - Obligations under NGER Legislation
• Creating a Carbon Neutral Business - leveraging carbon offset programs
• Value Creation in a Carbon Constrained Business Environment

Now is not the time for having your head in the sand on what is one of the fastest growing issues facing business today. Now is the time for action. Let Rob and John help you take the necessary steps toward future proofing your business.