“It costs money, but it could save you a fortune” – Keryn Angle
The Chamber has been sharing a series of interview videos we shot over the past week with knowledgeable people in business here in Gympie. The purpose of the videos was to unlock some information from these generous individuals that may help get your business through COVID-19.
The over-arching theme of all the interviews is that you need to have all of your ducks in a row. Now. This is not the time to bury our heads in the sand or hope things will get better. Truth is that only hard work and preparation will show a path out of this. One standout piece of advice came from Keryn Angle from One Agency Gympie. Investing in professional services like a great accountant may cost some money upfront, but it could save, or make you a fortune.
Nic Millard from Tenacious Digital said “If you are closed at the moment and you intend on reopening, make sure you stay in peoples minds”. Nic was referring to working on your social media presence, even if you are closed.
Ben Ellingsen from Kingdom Financial was a wealth of knowledge on the Cash Flow Boost and JobKeeper schemes from the federal government. He also eluded to the fact that being up to date with your financial affairs is paramount to being eligible for any support.
The Chamber would like to formally welcome the new Mayor and Councilors of the Gympie Region. Congratulations to all and we look forward to working with you all. It was great to watch the first meeting broadcast live. There was over 200 people watching at any given time so support for the idea is obvious. Hopefully, the GRC continues live streaming even after the Government mandate is lifted.
In more news from the GRC, they quietly launched a really great support measure on Friday. The program has the very unpretentious title of COVID-19 E-Commerce Grants For Business.
Despite the unsexy name, this grants based offering may hold the keys they will put your bricks and mortar business on a path through COVID-19 and out the other side. The grant comes in two tiers and is only available to businesses based within the GRC boundary.
In order to apply for the grant, you need to tick the following boxes.
You need to be a Retail Business* that is located within the GRC Local Government Area.
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- You need to an owner/occupier or tenant of an owner and you or the owner needs to be paying Commercial Rates to Gympie Regional Council.
- Trading from a physical retail shopfront premise for a minimum of 6 months (as at 16 February 2020)
- Either currently not selling goods or services online (no website capacity and no social media presence) OR goods and services are online but with little to no capacity to sell goods and services other than over the counter.
- You need to be able to prove a downturn in your sales over the counter or service sales since Feb 16 2020.
- Have a current ABN
- Registered for GST
- Hold $10M public liability insurance
Brendan Allen from Tenacious Digital and Gympie Carpentry
*DEFINITION OF RETAIL BUSINESSES: Businesses that sell goods and/or services to the public from a physical shopfront location for use or consumption by the public rather than for resale.
The grant applications are open now until the 30th of May or until the funding has all been allocated. So get your application in here.
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