Thank you to everyone who attended, and the candidates who participated in our Meet The Candidates State Election Forum this month.

As a Chamber we feel it is important to hold these events prior to local, state and federal elections so that you can meet the people who are putting their hand up to represent you and our electorate, and to have the opportunity to ask questions about that things that matter to you.

Business challenges are high on the list of concerns right now.  The latest Business Chamber Queensland Pulse Report shows business confidence continues to be weak in a persistently challenging business environment where historically high operating costs and a restrictive employment and regulatory environment are having  a compounding impact on Queensland businesses.

You can download the full report here

We have two more awesome events before the end of the year so stay tuned!

I look forward to catching up with you all before the year comes to a close.

Terri Cooper

President

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Andrew Stone was our guest speaker and one of the best we have had for a long time.  He has worked with groups ranging from Air Force Recruits to top CEO’s in rehab.  Andrew focused on changing your mindset to think very big and not to be limited by the obvious. Want to know more about what Andrew can offer your business, check out his website:

https://www.stonecreative.com.au/about-us/

August

The Politician’s Forum is always an interesting one and Peter Williams did an excellent job keeping candidates on track with questions from our members

Present were:

MANSFIELD

Corrine McMillan   Labor
Pinky Singh            LNP        sent her apology
No Greens Candidate for Mansfield

GREENSLOPES

Joe Kelly                   Labor
Andrew Newbold.     LNP
Rebecca White         Greens

Good luck to all of the candidates in the upcoming State Government Election.

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Become a Committee Member!

OUR AGM 

The committee of the Brisbane Southside Chamber of Commerce have called an Annual General Meeting (AGM) for members.

The Brisbane Southside Chamber of Commerce AGM will be held via a Zoom meeting, meeting link:

https://tafeqld.zoom.us/j/61740252184

on Thursday 17^th October, 2024 at 6.15pm for a short meeting.

The purpose is to elect new office bearers and team members to serve on the Brisbane Southside Chamber of Commerce Committee for the next 12 months.

More details and nomination forms to follow

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New Members

Rebecca Lloyd Fair business Australia          401992759           yes@fairbusinessaustralia.com.au BSCC Website Link: https://www.brisbanescc.org.au/member-profile/?usid=113

Paul & Sharon Millist Renew Dental           07 2141 7835        hello@renewdentallounge.com.au BSCC Website Link: https://www.brisbanescc.org.au/member-profile/?usid=79

Samuel Sandford Signarama                     0733439588             mtgravatt@signarama.com.au BSCC Website Link: https://www.brisbanescc.org.au/member-profile/?usid=103

Amanda Rosazza 0422854704           amanda@amandarosazza.com BSCC Website Link: https://www.brisbanescc.org.au/member-profile/?usid=104 Vivian Crick Viv’s Place                      0416679879                 vivcrick@gmail.com BSCC Website Link: https://www.brisbanescc.org.au/member-profile/?usid=105

Sumith Meegama MB Labels                        07 3117 9378                sales@mblabels.com.au BSCC Website Link: https://www.brisbanescc.org.au/member-profile/?usid=109

Margaret Balfour Diligence.                         1300485941                    diligence@aapt.net.au BSCC Website Link: https://www.brisbanescc.org.au/member-profile/?usid=107

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Click on the image icons below to see what support all three tiers of government can offer small business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Cost-Effective Marketing Activities That Actually Work

 –  Jane Toohey

We understand that businesses operate with limited marketing budgets and need to maximise their return on investment. South Brisbane Marketing Agency, Outsource2Us, outlines cost-effective marketing strategies to help boost your business.

Want to know more, click the here to read our article.

Outsource2Us member profile

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 Pixelbird

Government Agencies and Large Employers are increasingly reliant on digital platforms to serve their teams and customers effectively. However, many face challenges in integrating their internal Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems with their external customer facing solutions.

At PIXELBIRD we specialise in the integration and delivery of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and membership systems to help enhance operations and improve customer engagement.

The Importance of CRM / Website Integration

Streamlined Operations:

• A well-integrated system helps streamline interactions with team members and customers more efficiently by consolidating data from various departments, facilitating better decision-making and service delivery.

Enhanced Customer Engagement:

• Customers expect responsive and personalised interactions with government and large businesses. Effective system integration enables them to track inquiries and feedback, ensuring timely responses and improved satisfaction.

Data-Driven Insights:

• Integrated systems provide valuable analytics that can inform policy decisions and resource allocation. By understanding needs and preferences, agencies and big business can tailor their services more effectively.

Prioritising these areas can enhance engagement, improve operational efficiency, and maintain trust leading to better outcomes for the customers they serve.

If this is of interest to your organization, contact the team at Pixelbird – Dustin Gray & Paul Lomas.

Email: dustin.gray@pixelbird.com.au

BSCC Website Link: https://www.brisbanescc.org.au/member-profile/?usid=1

Phone: 1300 650 813

Pixelbird Homepage here

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Renew Dental

 

Meet Paul & Sharon Millist. These are the driving force behind our local dental practice, Renew Dental.

 

Sharon Millist

Sharon was born in Stoke-On-Trent in the UK. This area is famous as the home of pottery luminaries such as Royal Doulton, Wedgwood, Spode & many more. And of course, most recently, the home of Robbie Williams. She studied Dentistry at Leeds University before moving back to work in her home town.

Wanting more from life than cold, grey England, Sharon embarked on a world tour, arriving in Australia in 1995. Working first in regional Victoria, then NSW, she settled in Rockhampton where she established both her own Dental practice & a family.

When her eldest children moved to Brisbane in 2016 to start university, Sharon followed. Initially working for other businesses, she decided, with her new husband Paul, to re-establish their own practice where they could implement their concept of best-practice Dentistry, keeping patients as the focus of the business; Renew Dental Lounge has just recently celebrated its 1^st birthday!

Sharon has three children, loves cooking, reading, Pilates (& exercise generally).

 

Paul Millist

Paul was, until 2019, a Sydney boy. He started his working life as a Dental Technician, making false teeth. By 1996 Paul had realized that sitting at a bench with his head stuck to a microscope was not at all fulfilling, and fell into sales, first in retail then into Healthcare, with stints in Pharmaceutical & (mostly) in Dental. He has been fortunate that many of his positions entailed travel both within Australia, New Zealand & overseas.

Paul moved to Brisbane to be closer to his parents who had moved up a few years earlier, arriving just in time for covid! After many years working with Dental practices, and having met Sharon, they decided it was time to pool their knowledge & experience & build the business they wanted, run the way they wanted to. So, Renew Dental Lounge was born.

Paul has two children, both living in Sydney. His interests are music, reading, gym, model aircraft & miniatures.

 

So if you are looking for a local dentist, you are in safe hands.

BSCC Website Link: https://www.brisbanescc.org.au/member-profile/?usid=79‘

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Big Sign Company (Perminder Thind)

 

Perminder Thind’s Journey from IT to Billboards: How He’s Helping Businesses. Get the Attention They Deserve

When you meet Perminder Thind, you might never guess the unique path that led him to where he is today. With a background spanning 15 years in IT and 18 years in hospitality—a tough gig by any measure—Perminder stumbled onto something that transformed his business and career trajectory.

Back in 2019, a national billboard company approached Perminder with an offer: they wanted to place a billboard on his land. However, after negotiations fell through, Perminder’s curiosity was piqued. He decided to explore how to set up his own billboard, and just six months later, there it stood—a towering advertising space with no client. At first, it felt like a missed opportunity. But with a restaurant to promote, Perminder decided to advertise his own business. The result? A remarkable 30% boost in sales (29.6%, to be precise). The numbers spoke for themselves, and Perminder triple-checked them just to be sure.

This success led to a significant realisation: billboards work. They command attention in a way that digital ads can’t. People can’t skip, pause, or block them. Whether they want to or not, drivers on the road see the message, and it lodges itself in their minds, waiting to be recalled later. It was a penny-drop moment for Perminder, who now believes that billboards are one of the most enduring forms of advertising.

In fact, Perminder often shares the story of how billboards date back to the 1800s. The first known billboard in the U.S. was created by Jared Bell to advertise Barnum & Bailey’s Circus in 1835. However, the roots of outdoor advertising can be traced back even further—to the ancient Egyptians, who etched large public notices in stone.

So, what kind of businesses use billboards today? Large corporations, for one. Even companies as massive as Coca-Cola still invest in billboard advertising, and for good reason. When Coca-Cola scaled back their advertising, their sales began to decline. The lesson is clear: attention leads to sales. If your business isn’t top of mind for your customers, you’re losing opportunities.

Perminder is passionate about sharing this knowledge, particularly with small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). He emphasizes that many business owners don’t realise they’re doing their customers a disservice by not putting themselves out there. Without attention, there are no leads. And without leads, there are no sales.

He often recalls a story about one of his restaurant’s landlords. After not visiting for six months, the landlord suddenly appeared for dinner with his family. Why? That same morning, he’d seen the restaurant’s billboard go up on his property—front of mind, top of mind. That’s the power of outdoor advertising.

Perminder likes to challenge people with this question: When asked to name a toothpaste or social media network, what comes to mind first? Whatever the answer, that’s the power of being top of mind. If your business isn’t recalled in your category, your competitors are getting the attention you deserve.

So, does the best product sell the most? According to Perminder, no. The product that garners the most attention is the one that sells the most. In Australia, where the population has grown by 20.4% over the last decade, the Out-of-Home (OOH) audience has grown by 31%. Last year alone, OOH saw 27.2% growth, and 93% of Australians see outdoor advertising every day. These stats don’t lie.

After the success of his first billboard, Perminder decided to make a major shift. He left the hospitality industry and became the Managing Director of Big Sign Company—a boutique billboard business that is agile, responsive, and laser-focused on providing excellent customer service. Today, Big Sign Company has eight billboard faces along major roads, with plans to add three more by year’s end.

Perminder is selective about the clients he works with. He’s not in the business of selling billboard space unless he truly believes it will benefit the business. As he puts it, “It worked for me, and it has worked for every business that’s used our services.”

If you’re interested in seeing how billboard advertising could work for your business, Perminder invites you to get in touch. His billboards are often booked months in advance, so if you’ve ever considered giving it a try, now’s the time to talk.

His contact details are:

Perminder Thind
0414230919
perminder@bigsigncompany.com.au
www.bigsigncompany.com.au

BSCC Website Link: https://www.brisbanescc.org.au/member-profile/?usid=114

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YourTown

Scan the QR code below or click on the flyer to register your expression of interest.

 

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