St.George Bank has launched the St.George Business Mentoring Program, a nine-month series of business coaching workshops, to be offered for free to more than 1,200 Australian small businesses.
The workshops, valued at $2,500 per participant but free to customers, begin 17 March at 24 locations across Australia. The workshops will be held in local community locations to provide convenient access and networking opportunities to participating businesses.
St.George CEO, Greg Bartlett, said the expanded St.George Business Mentoring Program will offer small business owners practical advice on how to realise the full potential of their business.
“Many small business owners are so focused on the necessary day-to-day operations and functions of their business that they find it very difficult to give proper attention to some of the key ingredients for business success, including forward-planning and strategising, up-skilling and seeking the right advice to improve their business performance,” Mr Bartlett said.
The Business Mentoring Program workshops begin with advice on the steps small business owners can take to structure their business for growth. This workshop is followed over the next eight months with sessions dedicated to business planning, finances, marketing, sales, customer service, team development, systems and business improvement. The workshops are delivered for St.George by international business coaching firm ActionCOACH.
“At St.George, we are committed to partnering with our small business customers to help them achieve their goals. We are delighted to be delivering this added-value service to more than 1,200 businesses across Australia. Our Business Mentoring Program is a fantastic way for small businesses to gain valuable insights in key areas such as planning, sales and marketing, managing employees and customer service,” Mr Bartlett said.
Local St.George Branch Manager and St.George small business experts also attend all of the workshop sessions to answer any questions business customers might have about banking and business finance.
“St.George is committed to meeting the needs of small business customers, through our specialist Business Contact Centre that is now open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in addition to our 320 branches around Australia,” Mr Bartlett said.
St.George offers a choice of business packages to help customers manage and grow their business, combining day-to-day business bank accounts, merchant facilities, loans for business and business insurance.
