This year we’ve continued to strengthen our brand and our team to offer a stronger service offering through membership, networking events, workshops, business advice and Mastermind.
We also continued to deliver on our existing advisory contracts and were successful in securing two new contracts — Parramatta Light Rail and the Australian Government Digital Business Solutions contract, specifically catering to businesses seeking digital marketing advice.
Growth and Strategic Direction
I’m proud of how far we’ve come in the last year, in growing our business, services and our revenue. We’ve further embedded the 2017 rebrand to Realise Business and successfully delivered our Business Connect Contract.
In the last twelve months we’ve provided services to over 2,100 clients through advisory, workshops and networking. We’ve also re-energised our membership packages and diversified our portfolio to include new advisory contracts with more providers, separate to our Business Connect funding.
In continuing with our strategy and trajectory of growth we saw the need to restructure our business to remain sustainable with the high level of growth we’ve achieved in recent years. The restructure enabled us to enhance our advisory offering and increase the team of advisors to 18; delivering clients a diverse and specialised pool of experts to meet all their business needs.
I’d also like to acknowledge each member of our Board for their commitment to our vision and for their help in guiding the strategic direction of our business. Outgoing Chair, Lindsay Munns, has been a constant source of knowledge and support for the business and I’m confident our new Chair, Peter Holtmann, will likewise provide excellent leadership for myself and the Board in the coming year.
Investment back into the business
Building on last year’s success, we made further investment into giving back to our members. We’ve invested into the reinvention of our membership offering, expanded our geographical area and created our own network of small businesses throughout Sydney.
In reviewing our service offering it became apparent we needed a bigger support team to ensure we deliver the highest level of support and a truly positive experience for our members. Through this strategic investment into the business, we expanded our support team and recruited specialists in sales, marketing and operational functions. The new team has brought fresh expertise to help deliver on our strategy and our revised service offering.
Specialists in disruption
Our past success in helping businesses affected by disruption resulted in securing a new advisory contract for businesses in the Parramatta Light Rail construction zone. Our passion for helping businesses find new ways to promote, engage and be profitable outside of their traditional methods has certainly been acknowledged in the advisory industry.
We continue to achieve great results with clients in the Sydney Light Rail area and through our work with the Taxi Council. Many businesses will experience disruption, not only through construction but through changes in technology and legislation etc. We have certainly cemented our specialisation in this area and it’s very rewarding to deliver to the Sydney business
community.
We’ve also been diligently delivering advisory to clients looking to become an NDIS provider as well as those who’re already working in this space.
National Virtual Coaching Programs
In line with our new strategic direction we’ve successfully commenced our Associations Partnerships Program with the launch of the Virtual Learning and Business Coaching Program for Occupational Therapy Australia. The feedback we’ve received on this project has been incredibly positive and we’ll soon be rolling out similar programs to other Associations.
Stakeholder engagement
We continue to work closely with the NSW and Federal Governments and local Councils in our service region. I personally appreciate the support of our local Councils and I specifically want to
thank Georges River, Sutherland Shire, Canterbury Bankstown, Ryde, Ku-ring-gai and Northern Beaches Councils for their consistent and ongoing engagement in all our endeavours.
In conclusion, I’d like to thank our members for being open to change as we grow and expand our service offering. My vision as CEO has been to constantly demonstrate consistent and sustainable
growth in our business by using the methods we share with our clients every day.
Our strategic plan has certainly paid off as we’ve achieved another year of steady growth. It’s fair to say that the success of our business is a reflection of the great team we’ve assembled — a team
which I feel privileged to lead.
There’s certainly room for businesses to grow and prosper in the current climate by continuously refining their strategies to remain relevant in an ever-changing marketplace.
I’m confident the new financial year will bring a similar level of growth and success for our members. On behalf of the Realise Business team I thank you for your support and we look forward
to helping you achieve new heights in the year ahead.
Jacqui Attard
Chief Executive Officer
