Asking for help is a small business superpower
Every August, something wonderful happens across Victoria. For one whole month, the state throws open its doors and offers small business owners a genuine feast of help - workshops, mentoring, networking, expert advice - and a huge chunk of it is free or close to it. It's called Small Business Festival Victoria, with events held in most regional centres. If you've never dipped in, this could be your year.
But here's the part I really want to talk about - all that help only works if you actually reach for it. And in nearly 30 years around small business, I've noticed something - the owners who ask for help aren't just the ones who are struggling. They're usually the ones doing ok because they know that asking for help isn't a white flag. It's a superpower.
The two things we tend to avoid
If I had to bet on the two areas most small business owners secretly avoid getting help with, I'd put money on... well, money. And marketing.
Which is a bit of a problem, because those two happen to be the biggest levers in your whole business. Your finances decide whether all your hard work actually pays you. Your marketing decides whether the right people ever find you. Get a little help with either and things get easier. Get help with both and it can genuinely change your year.
So why do we avoid them? Usually because they're the areas where we feel we should already have it sorted. There's a funny shame in admitting the numbers scare you a little, or that you've been winging your marketing for three years and hoping it’s working.
Cost plays a role too, because if you don’t look past the big firms and agencies and the ‘experts’ making all the noise, you could be fooled into thinking it’s more affordable to do it all yourself.
Can I let you off the hook? Nobody has all of this sorted. Not one of us. The people who look like they do simply asked someone.
Small business help comes at every price (including free)
The loveliest thing about getting help these days is that it's not all-or-nothing. There's a whole spectrum, and most of us never explore past the first rung.
Free and low-cost
This is where the Festival shines. Across August you'll find sessions on marketing, social media, cash flow, pricing, AI and more - many of them free - often run by people who live and work in your own region.
Beyond the Festival, Business Victoria offers free and low-cost advice year-round, the Small Business Bus rolls into regional towns with one-on-one guidance, and your local chamber of commerce or business network is usually full of people happy to share what they know. And if money itself is the stressor, the free Small Business Debt Helpline exists for exactly that - no judgement, just support.
Paid help, when you're ready
Sometimes free advice gets you moving, and then you want someone in your corner properly - a bookkeeper or accountant to make the numbers make sense, or a coach or strategist to help you market without the overwhelm. Paid help isn't a luxury reserved for "big" businesses. It's often the very thing that makes you bigger, because it buys back your time and your headspace. The real question isn't "can I afford it?" so much as "what is doing this alone actually costing me?"
A tiny place to start
You don't need to overhaul everything (you know how I feel about doing less). This month, just pick two small things:
One Festival session on money - pricing, cash flow, whatever makes your stomach knot.
One Festival session on marketing - the thing you keep meaning to fix.
Book them. Show up. That's it. Two hours that could quietly reset your whole spring.
Because the sprint to Christmas is closer than it feels, and the owners who cruise into it are the ones who used these quiet winter weeks to get a bit of help, not to white-knuckle it alone.
And if you'd like a hand
Marketing is my corner of the world, and helping overwhelmed business owners do less of it while connecting more and seeing real results is what I do all day. If you'd like to make yours feel lighter, I'd genuinely love to help. But honestly, this month, I'd be just as happy to hear you booked a free session and walked out a little braver.
Asking for help is the superpower. Where you get it matters far less than the fact that you did get it.
Hi, I’m Erika McInerney - a marketing and customer experience strategist working with regional, suburban and small-town businesses.
I help you see where customers and revenue are leaking, build practical marketing strategies around your real capacity, and create systems that actually support your business (and your life).
Alongside one-on-one work, I partner with councils, business groups and organisations to deliver practical workshops that build marketing capability across entire communities.
If you’re ready for clearer strategy and more confident visibility, you can book a free discovery call, send an email or connect on social media.
