The competitive advantage toolkit: How growing businesses win

Join Associate Professor Sarel Gronum from The University of Queensland (UQ) for a Building Business Excellence Masterclass in Mackay, to explore how to identify, build, and sustain your competitive edge.

Competitive advantage isn’t luck; it comes from innovation and making deliberate choices that change how you compete. In this hands-on masterclass, you’ll learn how successful businesses build competitive advantage and outperform their peers.

You’ll leave with a practical set of tools and decision rules you can apply immediately to guide strategic choices, focus effort where it matters most, and build an advantage that supports sustainable growth.

Event details:
Date: Tuesday 11 August 2026
Time: 7:00am - 9:30am (includes, breakfast, a 1.5-hour masterclass, Q&A and networking)
Venue: Ocean International Hotel
Address: 1 Bridge Road, Mackay 4740

Tickets:
Business Chamber Queensland Member & UQ Alumni: $25.00+GST
Non-member: $30.00+GST

For members only: Click on 'access code' on the registration page and enter the email address associated with your Business Chamber Queensland membership and hit 'apply'. This will apply member discount. Please contact the Business Chamber Queensland's marketing team at marketing@businesschamberqld.com.au for any assistance. Tickets are non-refundable. Ticket prices are excluding GST. Terms and conditions apply. See here

With support from Business Chamber Queensland, all proceeds from these events go towards The Queensland Commitment Scholarship. UQ’s comprehensive initiative to remove barriers to education and build a brighter future for our state. Participants also receive a digital accreditation badge from UQ to display on their website and

Meet the speaker:

Associate Professor Sarel Gronum is Director of Teaching and Learning at The University of Queensland Business School. His research focuses on firm growth and performance – specifically innovation, network practices and business model innovation.

He has worked on several industry-sponsored large-scale research projects and consults extensively, empowering entrepreneurs, corporate- and public-sector client organisations to develop and implement innovative commercialisation and growth strategies.

About the partnership:

Business Chamber Queensland has partnered with UQ's Regional Roadshow program since 2023, working together to deliver world‑class business expertise to regional communities and support their prosperity. This initiative forms part of The Queensland Commitment, UQ's pledge to remove barriers to education and create a brighter future for Queensland by 2032.

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