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…

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.

Many Rivers has 38 local business coaches throughout Australia. We asked them their top 10 tips to protect your business in uncertain times.

Connect with your networks

Building your own small business takes a lot of time, energy and effort; creating a network of friends and mentors around you to support your business journey can help to provide extra motivation, professional support and lead to increased business sales.

Jamie McMillan, Many Rivers local business coach in Toowoomba QLD suggests, “Work with all those around you, unite and bounce off each other”.

There a number of benefits to networking and we’ve included some practical tips on how to connect with your network in a virtual world.

How does networking benefit your small business?

Sharing ideas and knowledge. You will get new ideas and points of view that can give you a new perspective on how to do something. Someone may have gone through a similar issue before, and they can share what they did and the changes they made to their business.
New opportunities. The more people you’re talking to about your business, the more likely a new opportunity to partner and promote what you do.
New connections. As well as the people you’ll meet directly from any networking you do, you’ll also get the benefit of introductions to their networks too. If you and your business make a good impression on someone, they are very likely to introduce you to other people within their network. Don’t forget that it’s your role to do this in return too!
Build your confidence. The more you talk about what your small business does, the more your confidence will grow.
Raise your profile. As you get your name and your business’s name out within the networking group, this will build your reputation within your local community.

How can you continue to network whilst we’re in social isolation?

Go through the contacts in your phone, social media account or email and create a list of people or organisations who you would like to connect with. We are seeing competitors reaching out to see how businesses can work together – sharing ideas, opportunities and resources. Who can help you and your business to get through? Who do you want in your corner coaching and supporting you?

What questions do you need answering, and what questions might you be able to answer?

Ask questions, listen to responses and answer questions. Share challenges, ideas, stories and as appropriate, laughter and tears. We are business owners and we are people, often conversations contain a bit about both. Remember that networking is just as much about the things that you give, as it is about the things that you get.

Think about what questions or support your business needs, this might determine what kind of networking you do, or which group you join.

What’s the best way to network? It depends!

Phone (don’t forget to leave a message!), text, email, Facetime, Messenger, Teams, Zoom….? Not everyone is good at checking messages and some people have limited connection. You may have to try a few ways, a few times and allow time. Sometimes people won’t respond.

Find a local business network group, or social media networking group

Many communities have business networking groups that get together to share ideas, training and provide support to each other. Sometimes there’s a small attendance or membership fee, but many are free to attend.

Social media business groups are another way to connect with other businesses who might not be in your town or region. These forums are great opportunities to ask questions from your peer network, share ideas and ask for help. Business groups may be general in nature, or specific to your industry and can spark wonderful collaborative opportunities between members. They are free and fantastic for the small business owner who often works alone.

After connecting with someone, if you or the other person is in emotional distress then refer them to a service that is equipped to help such as Lifeline or Beyond Blue.

Thinking about how you can connect with your network is always important, even more so now. If you are an existing Many Rivers client and have questions about who or how to engage with your community, please get in touch with your business coach, they are here to help. You can click here to read a summary of the top tips to protect your business.

For new clients, Many Rivers is here to help people start small businesses and grow existing businesses. We are here to support you the whole way. Please take the Small Business Self Assessment and see if we are right for you.

Download PDF

Thanks to the following article for inspiration for this post: https://smallbusinessbc.ca/article/five-benefits-networking/

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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