A free business advisory service is helping small businesses in regional Western Australia to realise their full potential, as the state navigates the latest COVID wave. A quarter of WA’s more than 220,000 small businesses are located outside of the Perth metropolitan area, providing valuable services, goods, employment opportunities and more...
Making the decision to quit his fly-in, fly-out mining job to help care for his young son after a bout of surgery, Jordan Wilson knew he needed to change his career goal posts to a more family-friendly earner. But setting up Concept Tech, an IT business in Albany with wife Natasha, was a whole new ball game, so Jordan called on support from the...
Vicki Read’s personal journey recovering from cancer led her to transforming her hobby of pottery into a full-blown business. After resigning from her full-time job in aged care, the Great Southern-based potter sought a more flexible job – and in the process found crucial guidance in the Business Local team at the Albany Business Centre. “When I...
By his own admission, Kade Sims is adept at counting beans – the coffee variety that is, not financial figures. So, when the owner of Beck & Call Coffee in Albany considered expanding the business model for his niche coffee roasting enterprise, he sought assistance from the Business Local network to put together a competitive grant application. An...
Throughout 2018, our staff have been hitting the airwaves on RTRFM’s ‘Taking Care of Business’ show. As part of these monthly chats, we have been able to provide business advice, information on current trends and issues facing small businesses in WA and to share details of our small business workshops and events. If you missed the interviews when...
When jeweller Julianne Karavitis relocated from Melbourne to Kalgoorlie, she saw an opportunity to launch a niche fine jewellery design. With the help of the SBDC’s Business Local team, Julianne has turned her love of jewellery into a vibrant business with a positive impact on her local community. Turning a passion into a thriving business is a...
For self-taught bakers Sam Dawson and Rhiannon Moon, their successful business story has hinged on ingenuity, opportunity and sheer hard work – all in equal measure. A move from Perth to Albany revealed a gap in the market for traditional sourdough, at a time when the resourceful couple was tinkering with breadmaking at home. “We saw that there was...
While navigating the uncertainty of COVID was a challenge for many small businesses, for popular Geraldton restaurant Skeetas, the pandemic proved a boon for trade. Western Australia’s hard border is likely to have played a role in the regional business’s uplift. Tourism Western Australia’s most recent Intrastate Market Profile showed that...
With spring in the air, now is the time to take stock of your business and get organised before the busy festive season
When opening and evolving their landscaping supply business in Albany, owners Jane and Ian sought guidance from advisers at the Albany Business Centre, the SBDC’s Business Local provider in the Great Southern. Designer Dirt in Albany is more than your average landscaping supply centre. Opened in 2012, the business could be seen as an extension of...
Family-owned and operated business, Leaf Bean Machine, has spent more than a decade taking their love of a good brew to the next level by focussing on being more than just a coffee roaster. Fleur and Brad Cassidy, the husband and wife team behind Leaf Bean Machine, created a three pronged product focus which gave rise to its trading name. They...
Should you borrow money from your family? Questions to ask yourself before getting loved ones involved.