Digital Engagement Program

[Fiona Napier, Lease Detective]

Hi, I'm Fiona Napier, the Lease Detective. and one of the mentors for the Queensland Government's Mentoring for Growth program.

I help small business owners navigate leasing and landlord matters. And as a business broker, I also support their needs when it's time to sell.

If you're looking to sign a commercial lease, it's very important to understand what you are agreeing to before committing. Here's 3 key tips to consider.

Tip 1, understand all the costs involved in a commercial lease.

It's not just about the rent and whether you can afford it. There are often additional costs that can have a real impact on your budget and cash flow that are easily overlooked.

Take the time to understand how outgoings will be charged. Are they included in the agreed rent? Will they be a fixed monthly charge? Or will the landlord invoice you as each expense occurs?

Energy costs are another important factor to consider. The cost to run lighting, air conditioning, and refrigeration can really add up, especially during our hot summer months.

These costs can vary quite a bit depending on things like the age and energy rating of the building, your chosen fit out design and layout and what your business needs to operate efficiently.

Understanding these costs will help you avoid surprises and allow you to plan your cash flow more effectively.

Tip 2, timing is key.

Plan ahead as the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games isn't far away.

So, when considering a commercial lease, it's important to think carefully about the lease term that will best suit your business, now and into the future.

Ask yourself a few key questions before taking the next steps.

When will the lease expire and how does that fit with your business plans?

Does it have an option for a further lease term? And how will that align with 2032?

And how can you avoid a market review or lease expiry around this time?

Major events like Brisbane 2032 can have a significant impact on market rent and the availability of commercial space, particularly in key locations, so thinking ahead and strategically planning your lease expiry with this in mind could give your business a real advantage.

Tip 3, get professional advice before you sign.

A commercial lease is a binding agreement, so it's important not to rush the process or feel pressured into making a quick decision.

Consider engaging a commercial tenant advocate to negotiate the terms on your behalf and help secure more favourable outcomes.

It's wise to seek financial advice to help assess whether the lease commitment is sustainable for your business model over the term of the lease.

Always seek advice from a solicitor to ensure you fully understand the lease terms and what you're agreeing to before signing.

A solicitor can help identify any potential risks, explain complex clauses, and make sure the lease agreement is fair and clearly understood.

Taking the time to get professional advice up front can help protect your business and set you up for long-term success.

Visit Business Queensland for more information on support available for your business.

Hello, my name is Fleur Madden and I am the CEO of the Ginsburg Firm.

Across our state, women are running businesses every day.

More than half a million small business owners are putting in the hard work to build something of their own.

I wanted to share with you some of the key elements that have made my businesses successful across different industries.

First, if there's something I know for sure after 23 years in business, it is the women who are building the most successful businesses know they need to build businesses with a strong brand that people want to be part of. To buy from, to work for.

Businesses that have a magnetic brand. Because in business, people do business with people they connect with.

They buy what they trust. They buy what they remember. They buy what they believe in. They buy what they feel inspired by.

A magnetic business brand is not about having the perfect logo, the perfect website or the perfect Instagram feed.

It is about being clear on who you are, what you stand for, what your mission is, and the problem that your business is here to solve.

Your net worth is your network. If you aren't making growing your network and business community a priority, this is your sign that you need to.

You do not win new business sitting behind your desk.

So, it's time to make a commitment to yourself to start attending events where your customers, your next hire, or your business partnership opportunity could be in the room.

Make your business development strategy top of your agenda.

A business development strategy is about intentionally creating meaningful opportunities and relationships for your business to grow.

It might mean attending events. It might mean creating your own event, big or small, so you can create a powerful brand moment.

It could be targeting business developmental outreach, digital ads, PR, social media, speaking engagements, sponsorships, or a strategic partnership.

It's about thinking strategically about how people will connect with your business and remember your business.

Because when an opportunity arises, you don't want to be invisible. You want to be front of mind.

To find out all the ways that our great state supports business, visit the Business Queensland website.

My name is Haley Gorletz-Wilson and I am the founder and educational enthusiast behind Purposeful Pursuit.

My topic today is Breaking Barriers: Helping young entrepreneurs get started.

Have you ever had an idea but talked yourself out of starting?

Felt like you needed to be ready before you could begin?

Or found yourself overthinking, worried you'd get it wrong and so you did nothing at all?

If you're nodding along, you're not alone.

And it's more common than you think.

Because what I've seen time and time again is this: It's not a lack of ideas that holds people back, it's the step of actually starting that feels the hardest.

If you're waiting until you feel ready to start a business, you might be waiting forever. And I share that as a recovering perfectionist.

A mentor once said to me, "done is better than perfect." And I remember thinking, "yeah, easier said than done."

But I wrote it on a post-it note. I stuck it on my wall. And I decided to take action. Imperfect, messy action.

And honestly, it changed everything because perfection keeps you stuck, but action moves you forward.

And one of the biggest shifts I learned is this: You don't need confidence to start. You start and confidence is built along the way.

I work with entrepreneurs from all over the world, and what I see is this: They're full of great ideas. But where they get stuck is turning those ideas into action.

So if that's you, you're not behind. You're just at the beginning.

And here's the good news. You can learn almost anything now for little to no cost through YouTube, social media, and even AI can be used as a thinking partner.

And here in Queensland, there are also free programs like Mentoring for Growth, where you're paired with experienced business mentors who will support you with your ideas and the next steps.

And that's awesome because you're not doing it alone.

The challenge isn't access to information anymore, it's action.

So, here's something that you can do today: Take one small step on your idea.

Please don't keep your business a secret. It might look like letting people know what you're doing. That's how my first opportunity started.

It could be getting into a room, attending events, and connecting with the right people.

Testing something, something really small. Put it out on social media, share your idea, and get some early feedback.

Or simply just writing it down. It's amazing what getting it out of your head can actually do because the most successful entrepreneurs aren't the ones who know the most. They're the ones who take action and they learn as they go.

And remember one thing, F.O.C.U.S. What is F.O.C.U.S.? Focus on One Course Until you are Successful.

You don't need to do everything all at once. You don't need to chase every idea, just focus on that next intentional step and keep moving forward.

So, if you've been waiting for everything to be perfect, this is your sign to start. Not perfectly, but intentionally.

You don't need to feel ready. You just need to be willing to start.

If you'd like to find out more about Mentoring for Growth, visit the Business Queensland website.

I'm Shyaam Raivadera, a partner at EY, working alongside Queensland Government.

AI is already a part of everyday work and life, often more than people realise.

According to EY's latest research into AI sentiment, 77% of Australians have used AI in the past 6 months.

But what's changing now is how it's being used. AI is moving from giving advice to actually taking action.

In fact, 14% of Australians are already using AI to make decisions or act on their behalf.

For small business owners, the starting point isn't technology. It's about learning how to use it in simple and practical ways.

First, get familiar with AI in your day-to-day work. You don't need to become an expert to get value.

Start with tools you're already using. Email, accounting systems, marketing platforms, many have AI built in.

Use it to draft emails, summarise documents, or generate ideas. The goal here is confidence and familiarity, not mastery.

Second, focus on the right use cases. AI works best when it solves real everyday business problems.

Our AI sentiment study shows it's already widely used in daily activities. For example, 61% of Australians are using AI in customer experience settings and 33% in financial activities.

For small businesses, that means faster customer responses, quicker content creation, and less time spent on administrative tasks.

Third, use AI responsibly. While adoption is accelerating, trust is still catching up. EY's Responsible AI survey showed that 97% of organisations have already experienced financial losses from AI-related risks from errors, bias, misuse and poor data practices.

That includes how data is collected, stored, shared and used.

Responsible AI means being deliberate about privacy and data handling. Understanding what data your AI tools access, where it's stored, and ultimately who controls it.

The message is clear: Responsible AI isn't just about compliance. It's about protecting your business, your customers and your reputation.

Be clear where AI is used and how data is handled, and where people remain accountable.

Finally, experiment, measure value and scale. Start with one use case, test it, refine it, and expand where you see results.

Whether that's saving time, reducing costs or improving customer experience.

AI is already here and it's starting to act, not just advise.

The businesses that benefit the most will be the ones who start early, focus on real value and use it responsibly.

And the opportunity to start is now.

My name is Simon Dell. I am the CEO of Cemoh.

We are Australia's largest fractional marketing network and I've been lucky enough to be a mentor for the Mentoring for Growth program for the Queensland Government for about 8 years.

I'm going to share some ideas and some tips for you when it comes to planning your business for the next 12 months.

A key part of business planning is to understand your numbers.

There are about 5 or 6 different numbers that really are important to your business and that you should know on a month-to-month basis.

Yes, your revenue and your profit are really important, but one of the key drivers is cash.

How much cash is in your business? How much cash is in your bank account? How much cash is owed to you?

Cash is the survival mechanism of every business. And understanding how much you have and how much you're owed is really important.

It's also important to keep an eye on things like expenses: How much things are costing you to buy, all the things that drive that bottom line of the business.

And those things can fluctuate month-to-month. So, it's important that every month you go back and have a look at the numbers and understand the health of your business from what is on the bottom line.

Another key part of planning your business is to understand your target market.

Not every business can advertise or appeal to every particular customer.

There are certain different things that drive the purchase behaviour of a 25 year-old woman versus a 50 year-old man.

And it's really important to understand what information these people want, where they're getting their information from, and how you can communicate to them in a way that makes them want to purchase from you.

Another key part of planning your business is the digital aspect of your business.

At the end of the day, irrespective of where you advertise and where you communicate for your customers, a lot of people always go back to the website as the centre point for where they want to find information from, from a customer.

Make your website really easy to navigate. Make it look good. Use lots of pictures. Use lots of helpful text and headlines.

Whatever you do from a digital perspective, whether it's social media or Google ads or search engine optimisation or even more traditional advertising like billboards or the side of a bus or flyers out somewhere, everything will always come back to the website.

One of the other pieces of advice I like to talk about is for businesses to understand the sales funnel. And the first step in the sales funnel is making more people find out about your business.

And if you're not doing anything to drive more people to find out what you do, what you offer, and who you are, you need to have a serious think about how you go out there and connect with potential new customers.

Often a lot of businesses get very complacent and are happy with the existing customers or word-of-mouth. And word-of-mouth is a really important driver when it comes to business.

But from a growth perspective, you cannot rely on word-of-mouth alone.

Have a think about other ways that you can get your business out there and new customers can find out about what you do.

And don't forget, you can go to the Business Queensland website for all the support and information that you need.