Online series to reboot city businesses 12 October

City of Sydney

Local businesses will come together for a series of weekly webinars hosted by key industry leaders to help them adapt and grow during the pandemic.

Reboot is a three-part webinar series featuring 18 events to help upskill our small businesses and creatives in various areas including digital, customer strategy and financial strategy.

Fully-funded by the City of Sydney, the program runs from mid-October to June 2021 and is a direct response to what businesses said they needed to upskill and be more adaptable and resilient in a time of uncertainty.

The series features a lineup from some of Australia’s fastest growing companies including Pilot, Vinomofo, TEDxSydney, Pedestrian.tv and Brighte.

Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the program is another example of how the City is continuing to support businesses in upskilling and recovering during the economic hardship.

“2020 will be remembered as one of the most difficult years for businesses in our city, which is why we are providing these support programs,” the Lord Mayor said.

“We’ve lined up some of the best industry experts to help support businesses in new ways of thinking and working to ensure they can not only survive but thrive during this difficult time.

“The aim of this webinar series is to show businesses they can pivot and adapt when armed with the right skillsets and knowledge, and I strongly encourage people to register.”

The series kicks off on Monday 12 October with two webinars with marketing expert Tim Doyle.

As an early employee and head of marketing for mattress and furniture brand Koala, he was part of a team that took the company from $500,000 in revenue to more than $100m annually in less than three years.

In 2019 Tim launched Pilot, an online direct-to-consumer healthcare platform for men. The startup recently raised $8m in funding.

At Tim’s first event, participants will learn how to shake up their business model and identify new growth opportunities. The next webinar on Monday 19 October will look at the changing marketing landscape.

“If you change the thinking from ‘we have to hit the middle of the market consumer on a shelf in Woolies’ to ‘we can target a specific niche across the whole world’, it completely changes how you build a brand and how you build content,” Mr Doyle said.

“It’s an opportunity for a new business model. Then on top of that, the direct style of marketing that is now possible gives you further opportunity to accelerate that business model.”

Other speakers in the first series of events include:

· Fleur Brown, co-founder TEDxSydney, speaks about the importance of storytelling in attracting customers

· Andre Eikmeier, co-founder of wine e-commerce platform Vinomofo, talks about rethinking your brand strategy

· Chris Wirasinha cofounder of Pedestrian.tv, talks about creating content that stands out, gets shared and builds community

· Anna Cheng, former growth leader at Spaceship, shares the essential tactics to help your business grow fast.

The Reboot program starts 12 October 2020 and runs until mid-2021. See the full program.

/Public Release.