A capacity crowd of eager small business operators welcomed in the twelfth annual
Small Business September in Sydney today, opened by the Minister for Small Business, Katrina Hodgkinson, MP and the City of Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore.

Broadcaster and business commentator David Koche facilitated a panel of three sales experts that shared their experiences on how the rules of selling have changed.

Each of the speakers was asked to provide their “golden nugget” on what businesses need to focus on when trying to sell their services or products.

Todd Alexander, Director of Selling for Ebay Australia and NZ, told the audience that the two most important things to focus on were firstly speaking to your customers and secondly taking the time to network.  “It is your peers and competitors that are going to teach you the most valuable information,” Todd said.

Charles Agee, Telstra Business Director, said that it is servant mentality of business that is the most important thing to focus on. “You have to become a service provider not a product provider to succeed,” Agee said.

Dean McEvoy, Spreets CEO and co-founder, took a more inspirational view and told small businesses to embrace failure: “Each step in the wrong direction is a step to the right direction,”. Dean said.

After two hours of audience interaction with the panel, 200 small businesspeople left with a wealth of information to get them focusing on the workings of their businesses and to give them inspiration and motivation to grow..

The Sydney launch event is one of more than 300 events being hosted throughout NSW during the month of Small Business September.

To view and register for events go to www.smallbusinessmonth.nsw.gov.au