Supporting Small Business in The Hills

With over 90% of businesses in The Hills having less than five employees, small business is well and truly the driving force of The Hills economy. Local small businesses certainly deserve as much support as possible, and my strongest piece of advice to small business owners is to network and reach out to others for support. The Hills is home to many organisations that can help your business, whether that is with networking, growing your business, education, collaboration and more. If you are a local business owner in The Hills, I would recommend you get in touch with any of the following groups below. In the interests of transparency, please note that while I am not a member of any of these groups, I do have friends and family who are members of some of these organisations.  

 The Sydney Hills Business Chamber is the region’s peak business organisation, offering support, education, advice and advocacy for its members. The chamber has hundreds of local small businesses among its membership and aims to connect, promote, develop and amplify their members. The business chamber regularly runs networking events, industry specific lunches, educational programs and information sessions, giving members plenty of opportunities to learn and expand their connections. For more information, please see https://www.sydneyhillsbusiness.com.au/

BNI Sydney North–West and Penrith is the largest BNI region in the country, featuring over 600 members and 27 chapters across The Hills, Parramatta, Blacktown, Penrith and Hawkesbury areas. Members are part of the world’s largest and most successful referral networking organisation, where people increase their sales by referring each other work. BNISNW members are well known to develop long lasting and trusted business relationships, both within their chapters and region wide. The BNISNW region are also well known for their charity collective, where members raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for local causes in the BNI Givers Gain spirit. For more information, please see https://bnisnw.com.au/

 Hills District Business Women are the community for female business owners in The Hills. HDBW are a thriving community of over 8000 members, where business womenconnect, learn and grow. HDBW host local in-person events where you can connect with likeminded female business owners and business leaders. The organisation holds monthly masterclasses for members with business experts from around the country. Hills District Business Women also dedicate one full day each quarter for you to work ‘on the business’ at their business workshops, guided by their resident business strategist. For more information, please see https://www.hdbw.com.au/

Mentor2Mentor offers businesses the facilities to collaborate and communicate with other likeminded businesses, to discuss, and find solutions for their business issues and future planning. Situated in The Hills and Hawkesbury, Mentor2Mentor features small groups of 6-8 business owners, that meet monthly to work on their business. Members parktheir problems on the team’s “whiteboard”, enabling businesses to seek help and advice from those who truly understand because they’ve “been there-done that”. The Mentor2Mentor team is made of businesses from non-competitive markets, ensuring confidentiality in a supportive, trusted and transparent environment. For more information, please see https://mentor2mentor.com.au/