COSBOA chief steps down to set up his own business

Tony Steven, chief executive of small business lobby group COSBOA, has resigned in order to set up his own small business.

Tony Steven, chief executive of small business lobby group COSBOA, has resigned in order to set up his own small business.

The Council of Small Business of Australia chair Bob Stanton yesterday announced the resignation of Steven for personal reasons, saying he has left the organisation is in a very healthy state with 47 associations as members.

“The board is meeting today and we will announce an interim CEO by the end of the day,” he says.

Stanton says Steven is resigning for family reasons and that his decision would be effective from the end of the month.

However, Steven is already hard at work on his new small business.

“We are building a web-based small business assistance system called Advantagesb.com.au which will provide small business with all types of services such as templates, IR advice, tools, skills,” he says.

Businesses will pay a $200 a yearly subscription fee to access the program.

“While I have been at COSBOA I have seen that it is a very important issue and I saw a niche. It is basically trying to educate people on how to run a small business.”

He says he doesn’t see his business as competition to industry associations such as the NSW Business Chamber, which is increasingly moving online.

“They are not a member of COSBOA so I don’t know what they are doing,” Steven says. “But we do want to work with the industry associations.”

He says they will market his business through the database he has developed. “We have a few members already,” he says.

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