Team Member Profile | Microenterprise Development | Community Economic Development

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Sam, business coach, Adelaide SA

Meet Sam Drummond, a Many Rivers business coach who is located in Adelaide, South Australia. Sam has been working with Many Rivers for four years…

Colin, business coach, Perth WA

Today we are introducing you to Colin who has been a Many Rivers business coach for five years. With a wealth of business knowledge and…

Meet a Team Member | Joy

Meet Joy, the Many Rivers business coach who covers the north side of Perth. She brings Joy to WA. Joy has a background in financial…

Meet a Team Member | Dylan

Meet Dylan, a Many Rivers business coach working with clients in the Newcastle and Central Coast regions. Dylan has a background in welfare as well…

Meet a Team Member

Meet a Team Member | Ofelia

Meet Ofelia, Many Rivers’ longest serving business coach, located in the North Coast Region of NSW. Ofelia has over 25 years experience in financial, administrative…

Do I need a Facebook page for my small business?

Facebook is a form of social media, an online ‘community’ where people connect. But it can also be a great simple marketing tool.

While you don’t need to have a Facebook page for your business, I’d highly recommend you do get one. Here are 4 reasons why:

It’s free – A Facebook page is free to create which means it’s a great first-step for small business owners. It’s a way to have an online presence without having to invest in a website. You can include contact details, opening hours and a short description of your services.
Facebook is good for your search engine optimisation – Search engine optimisation (also called ‘SEO’) relates to how easy you are to find on Google. Ideally, if someone searches for your business name they will find some information on your business. Facebook has good SEO which means if you have a Facebook page for your business, it will likely be on page 1 of Google, making it easy for your customers to find.
Humanise your business – You can use your Facebook page as a place to share products, contact details and business news, but also as a place to express your personality. It’s a way for you to interact with some potential customers and show them who the person behind the business is.
It’s easy to share content – Facebook makes it easy for users to spread message, images and content amongst friends. You could post a great discount or a beautiful new product and that post can be shared amongst your followers, and those people can share it with their friends, and their friends’ friends etc. Before long, your posts can be seen by hundreds of people!

Many Rivers’ 8th Annual Monitoring and Evaluation Report conducted by Deloitte Access Economics is now available.

We are on a 10-year journey to understand and strengthen the economic and social value we create for individuals, their families and wider communities through annual evaluation reports.

Deloitte Access Economics reports the outcomes and impacts achieved each year by drawing on quantitative and qualitative data.

“Many Rivers is supporting clients and communities to move out of structural disadvantage via a journey of growing self-belief, accountability, networks and business acumen.” Deloitte Access Economics

Microenterprise Development Program:

Many Rivers works with a diverse range of people that are traditionally underserviced. We are engaging with clients who will benefit the most from our support.

Female business owners make up 49% of our Many Rivers supported businesses which significantly exceeds the industry average of 35%. Further, 38% of our clients are Indigenous and 13% have an ethnicity from outside Australia.

Source: 8th Evaluation & Monitoring Report, Deloitte Access Economics, 2020

Our clients often look to us for help with record keeping, business planning and tips on how to manage their business finances.

An analysis of client stories reveals that most clients were positive about their future business stability and their future goals were most commonly based around expanding their business.

Many clients are motivated by personal achievement, fulfilment, happiness and the autonomy and flexibility that is offered by owning their own business. However, they identified that the biggest change to their lifestyle since opening their own business is the increasing work demands.

In addition to providing access to financial support, clients highly valued the support and reliability of their business coaches. Through general guidance, mentoring and support, clients were provided with pastoral care and motivation. The constant presence and support offered by business coaches builds a relationship of trust between the client and Many Rivers. Clients build a sense of self-belief to overcome challenges. Clients valued the support from Many Rivers business coaches more than their business and financial knowledge and financial support.

Welfare Dependency:

Initially, 45% of clients are largely independent of welfare before working with Many Rivers. Over five years of business operations, this significantly increased, with the largest increase during the first year of business operations. After five years of business operations, 80% of clients are largely independent of welfare. Indigenous clients are less likely to be dependent on welfare.

Source: 8th Evaluation & Monitoring Report, Deloitte Access Economics, 2020

COVID-19 Impact:

The second half of FY2020 was impacted by COVID-19 with 195 businesses ceasing their operations in the 6-month period, of which 39% ceased temporarily. We continued to support these businesses and a number have resumed operations since June. In October 2020, 551 businesses are operating well compared to 242 in April 2020.

Source: 8th Evaluation & Monitoring Report, Deloitte Access Economics, 2020

Client stories showed that Many Rivers business coaches played a role in supporting clients during the unprecedented economic and social challenges of the COVID-19 crisis.

Community Economic Development (CED) Program:

The CED Program was reported to provide a trusted and independent voice and to support the efforts of community leaders to strengthen their self-determination in addition to supporting economic development. This shows that the CED program is building results above and beyond the immediate target areas.

Deloitte has identified that land and asset ownership, community cohesion, access to markets and exposure to economic development projects are significant enablers of community progress, which will improve the CED program’s ability to support outcomes.

Source: 8th Evaluation & Monitoring Report, Deloitte Access Economics, 2020

Here are some other key points from the CED Evaluation.

Five supported communities are in a position to report on the financial and economic outcomes. They demonstrated an increases in revenue, profit, asset and employment gains, including:

$2.7 million gain in revenue
$1 million gain in profit
$10.3 million gain in assets
$1.1 million gain in employment expenses
23 additional jobs were created

Find more information on our CED program and other Many Rivers programs here.

Ngana Malngkanichi Pama Aboriginal Corporation from Lockhart River, with Andy, a Many Rivers CED Manager.

Evaluation Summary

Many Rivers supported clients and communities are generating increasing economic value and improving their economic and social outcomes.
We support these clients and communities out of disadvantage by helping them to grow their capabilities for creating and expanding sustainable businesses.
Microenterprise Development client stories and Community Economic Development Manager interviews demonstrate that Many Rivers’ long-term partnership approach is defined by trust, confidence and aspiration.

More information, including the full Many Rivers Evaluation report, can be found here.

Take a read of our client stories to see the impact of Many Rivers beyond the numbers.

If you would like to stay updated with the latest Many Rivers news, make sure to follow us on Facebook or Instagram.

Sam, business coach, Adelaide SA

Sam, business coach, Adelaide SA

Colin, business coach, Perth WA

Meet a Team Member | Joy

Meet a Team Member | Dylan

Meet a Team Member | Ofelia

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