Albany Business Centre: Small Business Support in Albany WA
We are the Albany Business Centre at 222 Chester Pass Road, Albany. We provide small business support in Albany WA and across the wider Great Southern. We are a not-for-profit — the Albany Enterprise Group Incorporated, which provides guidance and assistance to individuals wanting to start a small business — and we are open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm.
More than thirty-five years, and funded so the advice is free
We have delivered face-to-face and digital services across the Great Southern for over 35 years. Our advisory work is funded by SBDC Regional, the network of local business advisers throughout Western Australia that provides free, confidential and practical advice on starting and running a small business. That funding is why our consultations come with no commitment and no membership fees.
One condition is worth stating plainly rather than in a footnote. Because the free services are subsidised through the Small Business Development Corporation, they are available to registered businesses with an ABN and to people who are starting a business. Not-for-profits, charities and government departments are not covered at no cost.
Our business consultants are Jeremy Galbreath, Richard Keeler and Michelle Redman. Mark Shenton is our executive officer, with Charli Mayfield on admin and marketing and Sharni Harfield as administration officer. Our board is made up of volunteers: Mark Forrest as chair, Lee Sounness as deputy chair, Ben Wrobel as treasurer and Jenny Feast as secretary.
Sessions you can book
What we run at no charge for eligible businesses
- Business Health Check: a check on whether your business is on track.
- Online consult: a session by video if you cannot get in to see us face to face.
- Get Noticed: a 45-minute one-on-one branding discovery session, run with Synergy Graphics.
- Xero or MYOB one-to-one: a software and bookkeeping training session, facilitated by JK Bookkeeping.
- Website and SEO health check: a one-to-one review of your website and how it is found.
- Facebook strategy review: a one-to-one on your Facebook approach and spend.
- Email marketing strategy: a session on staying in touch with customers and website visitors.
- Life cycle of a business: subsidised help with starting, growing or exiting a business.
Alongside the sessions we cover the practical questions people arrive with: ABN or ACN, sole trader or partnership, business structures, tax and legal requirements, and legislative changes.
Offices, studios and rooms to hire on Chester Pass Road
The Chester Pass Road site has space you can use. For casual half-day or full-day hire there is a hot office with free wifi and shared reception, The POD — a small conference room for up to four people, set up for virtual meetings — and a training room that seats 20 with tables and chairs, 30 in the round, or 30 to 35 without, including presentation and conferencing facilities and a kitchenette.
For longer terms we have eight offices of 15 square metres, four studio spaces of 28 to 32 square metres with a sink and hardwearing vinyl floor, commercial units of 35 to 50 square metres that are completely customisable with a sink and three-phase power in each, and a commercial kitchen of 28 to 32 square metres fully equipped for general use, which suits bakers, caterers and cooking classes. A valid public liability insurance certificate is needed before using our spaces, and long-term tenancy runs to a waitlist. We also offer a virtual office service if you need an address and reception without a room.
Events, resources and how to reach us
We run networking and training events, and publish resources you can download without asking us first — a Great Southern Consultants List, a five-part guide to setting up and using Xero, and food safety management factsheets among them. Our services page also signposts mental health support for small business owners, including NewAccess for Small Business through Beyond Blue and a list of local and national services. Running a business can be hard going, and we would rather point at help than leave it unsaid.
You will find us at 222 Chester Pass Road, Albany, Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm. Ring (08) 9841 8477 or email [email protected] to book a consultation or ask about space. Our advisory work reaches 11 local government areas across the Great Southern, from the City of Albany through to the Shire of Woodanilling.