Find out more about the Into Business workshops at www.iba.gov.au/itb

IBA is privileged to share the stories of its customers who have created successful businesses out of things they are passionate about. Central to their success is:

An exciting new initiative of IBA’s Business Development and Assistance Program will enable Indigenous Australians to explore the viability of their business idea, and make an informed decision about whether business ownership is right for them.

The Into Business workshops are a series of three one-day, self-paced workshops being offered in locations around Australia, including regional and remote areas.

Facilitated by a business specialist, participants learn how to thoroughly research a business idea, determine whether it is commercially viable, and discover what is required to manage the finances and operations of a business on a day-to-day basis.

The three workshops are spaced apart over several weeks, enabling participants time to undertake the research that must be completed in order to attend subsequent workshops.

The Into Business workshops will enable aspiring business owners to assess their personal and professional readiness to both make the leap into business, and assume responsibility for the success of that business.

Following successful completion of the Into Business workshop series, participants may be eligible for one-on-one assistance from an experienced business consultant (funded by IBA) to help them take the next step towards business ownership.

Find out more about the Into Business workshops  or Freecall 1800 107 107 and follow the prompts to discuss your business idea with one of IBA’s staff.

Business by the book

Kym Wiley and her dog Nelly in the Coyote K9's hydrotrailer.

Busy mum and owner of mobile dog washing service Coyote K9’s, Kym Wiley is happiest when she’s out and about in her hydro trailer visiting her Townsville clients, or at home spending time with her three children.

Kym says she enjoys the autonomy and freedom of being her own boss, and values the flexibility it gives her to juggle work and family commitments. After attending the IBA Into Business workshops though, Kym realised there’s one more thing she needs to find time to juggle – book keeping.

Kym was already building up a client base and promoting her dog washing services when she heard about the workshops. She said: ‘I was getting my business built up but actually got to a point where I didn’t know where to go, what my next steps were. I had a full book but I wasn’t keeping the accounts properly, and I just knew I needed a bit of guidance… Going to those workshops really made me think, am I really ready to be in business. The workshops make you think about why you’re going into business, and is business really for you, right now’.

In determining her own readiness, Kym had to answer some uncomfortable questions about her willingness and ability to juggle the demands of a young family with the realities of running a business. She says the workshops helped her find the answers to those questions for and within herself. ‘I’d ask the presenter Keith Murray a question’, said Kym ‘and he’d ask me one straight back and I’d find myself answering my own question… They got me to go away and think about things and research this and that, and it really made me think about it, and take ownership of it’.

Kym said she valued the interactive nature of the workshops, which require a high level of input from participants. ‘I have these big exercise books where I write my ideas down’, she said, ‘so I was taking those in with me… There were all these different businesses and although they were very different to mine, the concepts were all the same, so we were all listening and contributing to each other’s ideas’.

Following her completion of the workshop series, IBA provided Kym with the services of business consultant Dean Rowley. Kym said: ‘By the time I had my business mentor Dean come in, he could take away all my notes from the workshops and he could pretty well nut out the basis of a business plan and see where I wanted to go’.

Kym believes attending the workshops has made her feel confident and excited about being in business, but has also reinforced that she is ultimately responsible for how successful her business will be. She said: ‘I know that whatever I put into my business is what I’m going to get out of it… And I love it – I love the business, I love the dogs, I love being out and about and not stuck in an office… And the possibilities are endless – it’s about how much I want to put into it. If I was happy working every day going out washing dogs, having a fairly good income I could stop at that. But I want to build it, make it bigger… My children love dogs and animals as well, so there’s the possibility of getting them involved in this, and leaving something for their future’.