Bush businesses hit harder by rising costs, closing banks

Steve Riley reckons he might just have the world’s best job.

“I’ve got a tackle shop,” Riley said.

“All I do is stand there and talk fishing.

“How can you not like that job?”

Riley’s family business, Exmouth Tackle and Camping Supplies, has boomed since the COVID-19 lockdowns when people flocked to the resort town in Western Australia.

Summer has replaced the July school holidays as his best trading period and the shop has become busy year-round.

“Exmouth is amazing,” he said.

“We knew that already but now everyone else is catching up.”

Despite the change, Riley is mindful as costs continue to rise.

“The cost of living has gone up, the price of fuel has gone up — even the cost of rubbish bin pick-ups has gone up,” he said.

“Every little bit adds up.”

A survey of small business owners across Australia has shown regional operators are feeling more financial strain than their city counterparts.

One-third of regional small businesses rated their business health as “poor”, according to a YouGov poll of 500 operators commissioned by independent lender Prospa.

Regional businesses were also more concerned about the rising costs of goods or services, with 73% in country areas registering their worries compared to 64% in the cities.

Prospa co-founder Beau Bertoli said country businesses had to offer higher wages to attract staff and were more exposed to rising costs of transport and energy.

It was also more challenging for regional operators to pass costs onto consumers, Bertoli said.

“The cost of goods and services has probably risen as fast — if not faster — than some of the metro areas, but the ability of the local communities to absorb price increases is reaching a ceiling,” he said.

“That’s why business owners in regional areas are feeling more pressure … as they navigate this period of the economy.”

The increasing closure of bank branches in country areas was also affecting small business owners, who have to travel to do their banking or meet with financial advisors.

Half of rural businesses were not breaking even, Council of Small Business Organisations Australia chief executive Luke Achterstraat told the Senate inquiry into the bank closures.

“We are in a cost-of-doing-business crisis, and particularly for regional businesses,” Achterstraat told a hearing in Canberra earlier this month.

“There’s that tyranny of distance and there’s that challenge around getting skilled workers to regions as well.”

Riley, who has run the tackle business with his wife for 15 years, maintained the pragmatism of a seasoned fisherman.

“We know that three or four years will be quite good and then we’ll get three or four years where it’s not as good,” he said.

“It’s always in the background.”

This article was first published by AAP.