Focus on supporting Toowoomba’s 16,000 small businesses

There are 16000 businesses in Toowoomba and 95% of those are small businesses and a local HR firm believes that made them the backbone of the economy.

Naomi Wilson from Focus HR.

Toowoomba residents may have seen Focus HR’s name popping up more frequently over the past few months with the business being the major sponsor for this year’s Business Excellence Awards.

Hosted by the Toowoomba Chamber of Commerce, the glitzy affair was held at the Empire Theater last month and founding director of Focus HR couldn’t be prouder to take part.

She said she was overwhelmed by the thought when she was initially approached to be a sponsor.

“We thought it was too big for us, too prestigious a banner to try to carry but when we thought about it, there was really only one answer,” she said.

“We were being asked to be a part of celebrating small business, of helping our business peers to high-five themselves for seeing through a tough year, and being given the opportunity to be able to give back to a business community that has supported us since day one, so we jumped in.”

Focus HR was the perfect fit with the business working closely with small to medium businesses for the past nine years.

Focus HR delivers tools to help create engaged and effective teams by building strategies to make businesses robust and resilient.

Mrs Wilson launched the business from home after a huge year helping her husband launch his business and juggling two kids under two.

“It started as just me, working from a home office but I had no idea how much demand there would be for this type of service,” she said.

“Within six months I was working well over my goal of 20 hours a week and within a year I was starting to contemplate the need to bring on someone to help me.

“We have gone from being a pure HR consultancy to introducing leadership development and then strategic planning and implementation consulting to our service offerings.

“We’ve now helped well over 300 businesses locally, interstate and even internationally become stronger, more resilient organisations through their people, leadership and strategy.”

There are 16000 businesses in Toowoomba and 95% of those are small businesses and Mrs Wilson said that made them the backbone of the economy.

“We have always found the Toowoomba community truly supportive of each other and they show that not only through buy-local campaigns, but also by referring business to each other, lending a hand or an ear when you need it, and sharing advice and learnings generously,” she said.

Mrs Wilson said she loved working with the Toowoomba community.

“I absolutely love working in the field of people. I am passionate about problem solving and sharing winning moves with business peers,” she said.

“When we are in the thick of it we can’t see the forest for the trees., I love playing the role of peeling back the layers and helping people see the true problems and then what the solutions could be.”

Mrs Wilson said this year magnified exactly why small businesses should support each other.

“2020 has been a year like no other and the impact we’ve seen first-hand on the people we work with has been deeply moving to say the least,” she said.

“I think sometimes we forget that behind every business there are people, and in SMEs those people are often ones who have put everything on the line to do what they love and provide employment to others, which in turn supports their families.

“It is the people behind the business that need support – they are human beings too and 2020 has been incredibly tough on most of those human beings.”

For more information visit focushr.com.au.