Aboriginal Businesss Service:
Helen and Jurgen Empacher, GTE Fitness
Helen Empacher had a pretty sound reason for seeking the assistance of the Aboriginal Business Service. She wanted to make sure that the first step she took into small business was on the right foot.
"It was to make sure we were on the right path and that we were setting ourselves up properly to be a success," says Helen. "We didn't want to fail the first go."
Helen visited the Redfern-based Aboriginal Business Service with her business partner, husband Jurgen. Together they run GTE Fitness, providing fitness training services to individuals and small groups in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs.
But the plan for the future is to focus the business on children's fitness. Helen's background as a primary school teacher will partner perfectly with her husband's fitness skills.
"The goal is to combine both skills, write programs that are school-based, and go into schools and present them to Kindergarten to Year 6."
Right now, Helen continues to work fulltime as a teacher, while putting in hours before and after school for their business. Visiting the Aboriginal Business Service was part of the process to collect as much information as they could before taking GTE Fitness to the next level.
Helen and Jurgen had one session with Business Adviser Philip Schwenke, and says they received invaluable information that led them to even change the way they had planned to structure the business.
"Phil gave lots of different scenarios for how we could structure the business, in terms of taxation, and whether to set it up as a partnership or a sole trader," Helen relates. "The other thing that was really helpful was showing us a few different places to approach in order to get some finance."
Something that really left an impression with Helen was how comfortable she felt visiting the Service.
"I felt very welcome. Phil made us feel very at ease, and as an Aboriginal person sometimes it's hard to approach others for help. It was nice to be able to walk into an office and feel like I had something to offer to the situation as well."
Helen says she recommends the Aboriginal Business Service as a "safe and welcoming place" to discuss your business ideas.
GTE Fitness - 0433419434
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