October update from the Commissioner

NSW Small Business Month is almost over for another year.  Over the past four weeks we saw more than 600 events held across the State. 

Business resilience was the most common theme for events, suggesting small businesses are being challenged on many fronts and value additional support and guidance in this area. Artificial intelligence was a new area of interest with many events helping small businesses to harness this rapidly evolving technology.   

There are still more than 40 events on the final day of Small Business Month, Tuesday 31 October. Register for an event at smallbusinessmonth.nsw.gov.au 

At this challenging time for many small businesses, a reminder that there are hundreds of grants, rebates and other financial supports from the Commonwealth and State governments; so many that I know it can be challenging for a busy small business to keep track of what’s on offer. This month we again highlight some of those we think are of particular interest or importance to the sector.  

Contract disputes are a frequent theme in many of the cases the Commission deals with. 

My office has received a number of complaints from small businesses recently about their dealings with online subscription services, such as marketing services. Small businesses are discovering the terms and conditions they signed up to are often not what they thought, leaving them with large bills or dissatisfaction with the service or support purchased. I urge you to check very carefully any contract you are signing especially in respect to online or digital subscription services.  

Similarly, the Commission recently made a submission to a Commonwealth Government inquiry into the Franchising Code of Conduct, which you can read here. We are advocating for further measures to ensure people know exactly what they are getting into when they sign a franchise agreement.