Chapter 6. Business Advice Sessions and Business Health Checks

Providers deliver Business Advice Sessions and Business Health Checks to provide short, targeted periods of tailored business advice and assistance to suitable Participants.

This Chapter identifies the Participants eligible for these services, and how these services are to be delivered.

Participants who are not accessing Small Business Coaching may be eligible to participate in a one-hour Business Advice Session if they meet the Participant Eligibility criteria identified in the Referrals, Eligibility and Onboarding Chapter. Each Participant may access a maximum of 2 Business Advice Sessions within a 12-month period. If a Participant is already self-employed, their business must meet the Business Eligibility Criteria to be eligible for a Business Advice Session.

If an Eligible Business Owner wishes to access a Business Advice Session, before delivering the session to the Participant the Provider must be confident that delivering the session will increase the likelihood that the Participant's business will be Operating Commercially within 12 months.

Note: A Participant can be placed in Small Business Training while they are completing a Business Advice Session.

Before delivering a Business Advice Session to a Participant, the Provider must be satisfied that delivering the session increases the likelihood of the Participant’s existing, or new business, becoming commercially operational within the next 12 months.

Participants who access a Business Advice Session may include:

• individuals starting (or interested in starting) a business who only want one or 2 meetings with the Provider for advice on establishing their business, rather than the 12 months of mentoring and other support available under Small Business Coaching

• Eligible Business Owners who need tailored advice, such as: applying for a business loan to help their business’ viability or marketing advice on sourcing clients/customers, and choose not to access Small Business Coaching

• former Participants who need additional support from their Provider after completing Small Business Coaching (to ensure their business is Operating Commercially).

• System step — Participants accessing a Business Advice Session must be placed into the appropriate activity in the Department’s IT systems. The Provider must record in the Department’s IT Systems the support delivered to the Participant during a Business Advice Session.

• System step — Placing a Participant in a Business Advice Session activity in the Department’s IT Systems with an activity placement status of ‘Placement Confirmed’ will use a Business Advice Session Place. Once the activity is ended with exit reason of ‘Successful Completion of Activity’ in the IT system, where appropriate, this will trigger payment of the Business Advice Fee.

(Deed Reference(s): Clauses 89, 103.1)

Participants may be eligible to access a Business Health Check if they:

• meet the relevant Participant Eligibility criteria identified in the Referrals, Eligibility and Onboarding Chapter

• own a business that meets the Business Eligibility Criteria, and

• are not currently accessing Small Business Coaching.

A Participant may only access one Business Health Check in a 12-month period.

Businesses with multiple owners may only access one Business Health Check in a 12-month period.

Note: A Participant can be placed in Small Business Training while they are completing a Business Health Check.

A Business Health Check must assist a Participant to develop their business by providing approximately 3 hours of support to analyse the business, develop an action plan to ensure the business’ viability and identify other forms of support that may benefit the Participant.

Before delivering a Business Health Check to a Participant, the Provider must be satisfied that delivering the Business Health Check will increase the likelihood that the business which the Participant is running is Operating Commercially within 12 months. A Business Health Check session could include, but is not limited to:

• understanding the financial health of the business – an analysis of 6, 12 and/or 24-month trends for the business’ cashflow and profit and loss to assess the viability of the business, identification of the business’ key expenses (and how they can be reduced), as well as a consideration of the business’ financial planning and record keeping practices

• understanding the business model – the value proposition of the business’ offerings, competitor analysis, supply chain analysis and a consideration of industry trends and opportunities

• risk assessment – the business’ compliance with relevant laws, licences and regulations, the potential risks with not meeting certain regulations, the nature of the business’ insurance, and any risks relevant to the business

• performance improvement planning, documenting for the Participant the urgency and ease with which each item on the action plan should be taken. This may range from rectifying critical, missing insurance to minor tweaks to the business’ marketing strategy

• business relationships and staff wellbeing – encouraging staff wellbeing and support, improving work culture, improving relationships with other businesses in the region for support

• helping the Participant to engage with their local small business ecosystem by identifying individuals and organisations that may be helpful for the Participant, and

• any matters raised by the Participant as impacting the viability of their business.

• System step — Participants accessing a Business Health Check must be placed into the appropriate activity in the Department’s IT systems. The Provider must record in the Department’s IT Systems the support delivered to the Participant during the Business Health Check.

• System step — Once the Participant's Business Health Check activity has been ended in the Department's IT System with an end reason of Successful Completion, this will, where appropriate, trigger payment of the Business Health Check Fee.

(Deed Reference(s): Clauses 89, 102.1)

The Provider is nominally allocated Places for Business Health Checks and Business Advice Sessions at an Employment Region level, although these Places may be used in any of the Provider’s Employment Regions. The Provider should however consider the impact of exceeding their nominal Place allocation for any Employment Regions for Business Health Checks and Business Advice Sessions, as doing so may negatively impact the performance of their other contracted Employment Region(s) under KPI 1B. For more information about performance, refer to the Performance Framework Chapter.

Example:

A Provider is operating in 2 Employment Regions, with 29 Business Advice Session Places nominally allocated to their Ballarat contract, and 34 Business Advice Session Places nominally allocated to their Bendigo contract. This means the Provider has an organisational pool of 63 Places for the delivery of Business Advice Sessions.

As at 30 June they have used 33 Business Advice Session Places in Ballarat and 20 Business Advice Session Places in Bendigo. As the Provider only has 10 Places remaining in their organisational pool, the maximum number of Places they will be able to use in Bendigo in that Financial Year is 30 (compared to their nominal allocation of 34 Places).