Buranda, Bulimba to Bayside

Derek Miles is committed to the Wynnum bayside having moved his family and Financial Milestones business to the area and becoming actively involved in the local community. Derek was tiring of the daily commute to Buranda from Bulimba and found it difficult to attract clients to the inner-city office.

So the Bayside beckoned with happy memories of the many family outings to the foreshore and being a keen sailor on the Bay. “I like the community feel of Wynnum” Derek says, likening it to a country town.

In 2008 he upped sticks with his family and set up his office in the Wynnum area. Except that Derek found he didn’t need an actual office, preferring to visit clients in their homes, businesses or at one of Wynnum’s coffee shops. “I feel it’s a good way to do business in the actual community and connect with people” says Derek.

Derek’s business is focused on two areas with his tax and advisory business forming one part giving advice to help small business grow “I take an outsiders view” said Derek “particularly with startups to help them grow in the right direction.”

Finance is the other focus of Financial Milestones providing advice to secure both business and home loans. His expertise is in Self Managed Super Funds to help small business use superannuation funding to borrow from a bank to buy commercial premises and rent it to the business.

His advice for business is to be aware of benchmarking by the Tax Office who are able to do detailed audits on any business. Even down to checking how many coffee beans are being used by a café to make the coffee ensuring they match.

He is a regular blogger on Facebook where he now gets a lot of his business. Derek sees the use of social media as a key way to help business develop in the current ‘new’ world, particularly in retail which is operating in between being a physical and online shop.

Being self-employed Derek finds networking on Facebook and with local business as a good means of developing business and keeping in touch with the local community. This led him to become an active member as Treasurer for the Wynnum and Districts Chamber of Commerce on arriving in the area in 2008. He sees it as a way of giving back to business and helping to see the area grow.

He is a big supporter of the WynnumCentral initiatives, so much so that he is upgrading his membership. Now that’s a big thumbs up for Wynnum.