Queensland Small Business Week is in the last week of May each year. This year Tambo Teddies participated in a Goal Setting workshop delivered by the Tambo Tourism and Business Assn Inc.
The process was enlightening and empowering for us, we had our strategies in place and after participating in this workshop we are pretty sure we know where we want to go! Early in the year a business mentor told Alison, ‘you girls know the steps of what you want to do….but I don’t think you have really defined where it is you want to be.’
Well, we know now! Our big picture goal was there all along and participating in the workshop really helped us focus our thoughts and gave us the courage we needed to articulate our ‘Big Hairy Goal’.
But one thing we did discover about ‘Big Hairy Goals’ is that you aren’t meant to share them with all and sundry.
So for the time being we are keeping our biggie to ourselves and repeating it like a mantra, so just watch this space!
A week later, Alison was invited to be a key note speaker at a seminar run by Eidos at the QUT Business School. Eidos is a not for profit, social purpose organisation, that seeks to change the way Australia’s important social and economic issues are solved, beyond simplistic answers and quick fixes. Eidos operates on the basis that the development and survival of truly innovative ideas—whether in business, the community or politics—relies on exposure to diversity and the unorthodox, plus the adaptability to learn and to successfully turn ideas into action.
Alison was asked to speak about our business and how we have adopted new ways of working, being agile and adaptable to ensure sustainability of our business. Giving the inside story of how we have thought outside the box and created a diverse workforce to enrich our regional Queensland small business. Of course our digital presence is a key factor to our successful operation, and Alison touched on how we balance a strong online presence with the shopfront/tourist attraction, indicating that businesses can adapt and operate both effectively.
A bit daunting at first, Alison sailed through the presentation (which was required to be 40 minutes long!) and then took questions! But of course the wrap up of it all was just a different method of conveying the message, ‘Everyone needs a Tambo Teddy!’
So for us it was a fortnight of small business reflection, and all in all a fairly productive time. And of course Alison returned to Tambo with a car packed to the rooftop with Teddy Bears from Toowoomba.