Business Workshop in Brisbane

Most people turn up to a business workshop the way they turn up to a lecture: with a pen, an open mind and no plan. They enjoy the evening, fill a few pages of notes and go home. A fortnight later, very little has changed.

Owners who get real value do something different. They arrive with a problem, ask questions that open doors, talk to the person at the next table and act on two or three ideas within a couple of days. This checklist shows how, using the Zaffarology workshop as the example. If you're searching for a business workshop in Brisbane, this one runs in Logan Central, part of Greater Brisbane, on Friday 6 November 2026 from 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm at Logan Hub, with registration from 6:00 pm. The workshop page has the full details, and the advice below applies to almost any evening session.

A week before: write your one-page snapshot

Spend twenty minutes writing a single page about your business. Cover what you sell, who buys it, how money moves in and out, and the one thing that frustrates you most right now. Keep it plain. You'll use it three times that evening: to focus your own thinking, to introduce yourself in a sentence, and to ask a precise question when the floor opens up.

Choose the constraint, too. Most businesses have one bottleneck that outweighs the rest. It might be inconsistent sales, a team that doesn't follow through, cash that arrives late or an owner who can't step away. The five pillars the evening teaches map neatly onto those problems, so naming yours in advance tells you which part of the session to listen hardest to. The 5 Pillars page and the free workbook give you a head start.

Three days before: draft your questions

A prepared question beats a clever one. Write three, and make them different from each other. One should be specific to your business, such as "I run a four-person team and meetings drift. What would you change first?" One should be about how to apply an idea, like "What's the smallest way to start this on Monday?" One should be about the risk: "What usually goes wrong when owners try this?"

Specific questions get specific answers, and the room learns from them too. Vague ones draw generalities.

If you plan to try the matchmaking

The Zaffarology workshop includes a business matchmaking segment, with up to ten potential matches introduced at each event. Prepare for it as you would for any introduction that could touch money.

If you're seeking capital, be ready to explain in two minutes what the business does, what you'd use funding for and what you'd bring beyond cash. If you have capital to place, decide in advance what kind of skills and experience you'd want from a partner and how involved you'd expect to be. Both sides should treat a match as a first conversation. Read the site's matchmaking disclaimer, check anyone you meet using the steps on ASIC's page about confirming another business is trustworthy, and take independent advice before any money changes hands.

If you want to leave with AI tools

The evening promises practical AI tools. To get the most from that part, bring a short list of the tasks that eat your week: answering the same customer questions, drafting quotes, summarising calls, chasing invoices. A list lets you ask which tool fits which task, instead of collecting a pile of app names.

Know the basics of responsible use before you try anything on customer information. The National AI Centre's Foundations guidance is written for businesses that are new to AI or using it in low-risk ways. It recommends a simple AI policy, a register of the tools in use, a clear disclosure when customers deal with AI, and a person who oversees the results. None of that takes long, and it protects your customers' data from day one.

On the night: arrive early and ask follow-up questions

Registration opens at 6:00 pm, and arriving early gets you a seat, a coffee and ten relaxed minutes with the people at your table. Networking is part of the ticket, and in a room of round tables much of it happens right there.

Ask them questions. Research from Harvard Business School found that people who ask more questions, and especially follow-up questions, are better liked by their conversation partners, yet most people underestimate this effect and ask too few. A follow-up is simple: listen to the answer, then ask about one detail in it. "You said your cash arrives late. How late?" does more for a conversation than another round of introductions.

Take notes that point at action. Skip the quotes and write verbs: call, decide, change, stop, test. At the bottom of each page, write one line beginning with "I will". That line is your real takeaway.

Also remember that cameras may be around. The most recent workshop had a videographer in the room, and the site's event recording notice explains how recording and photography are handled.

Within 48 hours: recall before you review

The first two days decide how much sticks. Before you open your notes, grab a blank page and write down everything you remember, in any order. Then compare it with your notes and fill the gaps.

Recalling things works better than re-reading them. In a well-known memory study by Henry Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke, students who practised recalling a passage remembered far more of it a week later than students who simply studied it again, with the testing group recalling about 61% of the material. A quick blank-page recall after the workshop uses the same effect.

Then turn your three best ideas into calendar entries with names and dates beside them. Brief your team on one of them within two days, while the energy is still there.

If you're bringing a partner or team member

The two-person ticket is only $10 more than a single one, so bringing someone costs very little, and it changes how the evening works. Agree on roles beforehand. One of you listens for ideas about people and meetings, and the other listens for sales and systems. Sit at different tables for part of the night to meet more people, then compare notes.

Plan a debrief the same night, ideally on the drive home while the details are fresh. Each of you names the one idea you'd act on first, and you settle on three changes between you, each with an owner and a date. Two people who heard the same session and left with a shared list are far more likely to follow through than one owner who returns with a notebook and tries to persuade the team.

If you're travelling in

The workshop page says attendees from interstate are welcome, and that Logan Hub is about six minutes from the motorway. Logan Central sits between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, so it suits owners from either direction. The session finishes at 9:00 pm, so plan your trip home before you leave rather than on the night, and allow time on arrival for registration at 6:00 pm. If you're flying in, check your return flight against the finish time.

What to leave at home

Leave behind the hope of an instant transformation. A single evening can sharpen your thinking and give you a method, and the results come from using it. The site's earnings and results disclaimer is clear that outcomes vary, so read it before you go.

Leave the fear of wasting your evening, too. The workshop carries a published money-back promise, and the refund policy sets out the terms. If you decide you want more structure afterwards, the 90 Day Business Transformation Challenge is the longer program, and the podcast is a free way to hear the ideas first. Attendee feedback is on the testimonials page.

The checklist in one place

A week out: write the one-page snapshot and name your biggest constraint.
Three days out: draft three different questions.
Matchmaking: prepare a two-minute introduction and read the disclaimer.
AI: list your repetitive tasks and skim the Foundations guidance.
On the night: arrive for 6:00 pm, ask follow-up questions and end each page with "I will".
Within 48 hours: write what you remember, then check your notes, and brief your team.

Ready to book? Reserve a seat or ask a question first.

Information here is general and educational, and isn't financial, legal or investment advice.