Paula Brand, Founder, has over 28 years of event and industry development experience across Queensland and Australia in 12 industry sectors. She is a small business advocate for the invisible businesses – mobile, micro, online, homebased businesses that are one third of the small business community. The Small Business Expo team is managed by an Advisory Board and has an office on the Gold Coast with a team of 13.
Local businesses are the cornerstone of our community, and we must work together to help and support each other to grow.
The aim of the Business and Jobs Expos is for economic outcomes, employment outcomes and educational/learning outcomes as well as to build collaboration and hope for businesses and displaced people due to the impacts of the ongoing Covid pandemic.
In Australia today, the market sector features approximately 150 trade shows each year. Very few trade shows (except for franchise shows) are focused on broad (often neglected) small business sectors, and even fewer on small and medium sized business. And post covid, only 5% of expos ran in Australia – we successfully delivered our program to support local businesses over the last two Covid years.
These one-day “pop-up” events to enable business owners to meet, connect, learn, network and gain expert advice, and discover profitable business ideas.
CHECK OUT OUR EXPOS FROM 2021
2021 Brisbane Business and Jobs Expo
2021 Brisbane Business and Jobs Expo
2021 Gold Coast Business and Jobs Expo
For those in business and seeking ways to generate a greater level of income, the Small Business Expos provide the opportunity help business owners to learn and increase the size and revenues for their business.
There are no better events in South East Queensland that provide the opportunity to talk face-to-face with contemporaries and fellow business owners to end users across a broad range of business opportunities.
The Small Business Expos are vital business-to-business expos for small, medium and large businesses and brand owners.
The South East Queensland Business Expos recognize the many challenges that business owners face, from increased competition in Australia and internationally from online sources.
With more than 8,000 businesses connecting each year and increasing steadily each year, our communications partnerships enable us to reach more than 66,000 business professionals across South East Queensland.
Our reach is in excess of 400,000 on social media & continues to grow each year.
The Small Business Expos has been embraced by the media and in 2018 was sponsored by Channel 9 and Channel Ten Regional Television Networks as well as Southern Cross Austereo Radio stations and in 2019 by 96.5 Family FM.
1022 exhibitors participated in the Small Business Expos in 2019 and more than 8,000 attendees (majority business owners) connected with other business owners resulting in $7.5 million in business leads.
We did not give up in Covid. Nine expos were delivered over the past two Covid years, connecting 3500 business owners together.
It was decided in 2022 to host two large expos, Gold Coast and Brisbane. The Gold Coast Expo consisted of a record 305 expo stands with 1200 attending.
Small Business Expos donated to 11 charities and continues to grow as it “gives back to the community”. In 2019, 20 charities were supported. We work with Rotary Groups across South East Queensland and have raised $10,000 in funds for their community programs.
With 24 years of event and industry development experience across Queensland and the rest of Australia, she has won a series of industry awards:
Small Business Expos has a four-member Advisory Board to assist with branding, strategy, business operations, crisis management and policy advice. Lean more about each member by clicking the profiles below.
