Peninsula Life spoke with Brad Flynn, President of the Redcliffe Peninsula Chamber of Commerce to learn more about business in our region, the Redcliffe economy and how sustainability needs to be a focus for everyone.
“According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Redcliffe business community is now made up of just over 4000 businesses for the region – a diversified suite of small-to-medium sized enterprises across construction, real estate, rental and hiring, professional services and retail industries,” explains Brad.
“Whilst small businesses are often celebrated as proverbial torchbearers of progress, the reality of establishing any operation, is arguably more challenging than ever –particularly on the Peninsula.”
CURRENT CHAMBER FOCUS
“Arresting high levels of youth unemployment, training opportunities and programs that will assist businesses to grow remain the core objectives of the Redcliffe Peninsula Chamber of Commerce,” explains Brad when asked about what the Redcliffe Peninsula Chamber of Commerce (the Chamber) is focusing on to support the business environment.
“Further to this, during the most recent Federal Election, the Redcliffe business community was at the forefront of the campaign ‘Small is a Big Deal’ – a campaign that championed the challenges facing many businesses in terms of excessive red tape, energy prices and a difficult trading environment.”
“Whilst the issues that the ‘Small Business is a Big Deal’ campaign covered are very important, we wanted to begin to raise the profile of small businesses across our Peninsula. With almost one in two people employed by a small business, most people don’t understand how challenging it is to have a small business.”
A SNAPSHOT INTO SMALL BUSINESS
“The fact is many owners of small businesses take home less than their key employees each week, while at the same time carrying all the financial risk in the business which in many cases is collateralised by the family home.”
“Small businesses are the engine room of the economy, being the predominant type of business in Australia, especially in Queensland where small-to-medium enterprises make up two-thirds of all jobs.”
“Analysis by Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland shows that business survival rates in Queensland over five years to 2018 were a paltry 63%, and it was worse for business entries with a 53% survival rate over that time.”
Often lost in the statistics is the interdependency between economic and social issues.
“The costs of failed businesses in our area has widespread impact for the local community as social problems often stem from underlying economic problems. Maintaining a prosperous region starts with supporting the businesses that keep money in the local economy.”
For the Peninsula, infrastructure investment, championing sensible reforms around procurement for local projects and seeking payroll duty relief remain practical measures that form key parts of achieving that goal.
Small business in Redcliffe represents the foundation upon which the region’s economy over the next decade will be built and as a community, we need to rally around business to make sustainability a reality.
