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Speaker 1: Small businesses now. They are the backbone of our country

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Speaker 1: and I know firsthand how tough it is, long hours,

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Speaker 1: constant hurdles, and too often feeling like you're in it alone.

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Speaker 1: And what I keep hearing from you is that small

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Speaker 1: business owners don't feel heard. My team and I are

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Speaker 1: paying close attention to our small business community and the

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Speaker 1: feedback that comes to us through the Mental podcast. Now,

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Speaker 1: one thing is clear. You want to hear from more

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Speaker 1: businesses beyond Sydney, from across the country, and especially those

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Speaker 1: that are doing it tough. That's why my team and

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Speaker 1: I are launching the Small Business call Out. The Small

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Speaker 1: Business call Out, which will be under the Mentor channel,

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Speaker 1: will talk to business owners all over the country every

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Speaker 1: single week, no matter where you are. We want to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. What's working, what's not working, What do

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Speaker 1: you need from the government to actually succeed? What other

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Speaker 1: things can you enlighten us about what it's like being

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Speaker 1: in the small business community. This is your as to

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Speaker 1: make your voice count. We want to hear from all industries,

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Speaker 1: from those struggling, from those who feel overlooked, or those

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Speaker 1: who have something to say but haven't had the platform

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Speaker 1: to say it. I'm going to continue hosting the Mental podcast,

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Speaker 1: but the Small Business call Out will be uploaded between episodes.

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Speaker 1: So let's get into this week's edition of the new

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Speaker 1: Small Business call Out. What is the name of your

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Speaker 1: business and in simple terms, what does your business do?

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Speaker 2: So I'm Renee Williams from the Real florest We are

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Speaker 2: a cafe florist here in Aubrey in the Aubrey CBD,

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Speaker 2: which is beautiful, connecting peace in our community, which I love. However,

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Speaker 2: we also concentrate on weddings corporate events and now we're

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Speaker 2: moving into florestry education, which has been a really wonderful

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Speaker 2: path for us to be able to take.

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Speaker 1: Where was your business founded and where is it located?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so the business was actually founded in my kitchen actually,

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Speaker 2: so I was I'm a single mum of two little

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Speaker 2: girls and at the time I was working in my

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Speaker 2: kitchen with my babies by my side, doing weddings on

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Speaker 2: the weekends and working a couple of other jobs. So

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Speaker 2: I'm a qualified florist and did my florestry training over

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Speaker 2: over a three year period and then I had children,

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Speaker 2: so it was just something I was kind of doing

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Speaker 2: on the side as a bit of a side hustle,

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Speaker 2: and then it just kept growing from there. We went

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Speaker 2: from my kitchen to our garage and cleared everything out

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Speaker 2: of the garage and then we built a website and

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Speaker 2: it's been gangbusters since then.

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Speaker 1: And what inspired you to start your business?

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Speaker 2: So I did a florestry apprenticeship when I was and

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Speaker 2: you know, being a florist was the only thing I

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Speaker 2: can remember wanting to ever do. I remember my grandma

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Speaker 2: or my old life said to me when I was

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Speaker 2: about four years old, Oh, she's a beautiful flower, and

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Speaker 2: that stuck with me my whole life. And my dad

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Speaker 2: had a small business as well, so he was had

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Speaker 2: a nursery that he was working from from home. So

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Speaker 2: growing up, that's what I knew and I loved. I

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Speaker 2: would wag school, you know, chuck asiki so that I

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Speaker 2: could stay home with my dad and help him go

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Speaker 2: and do his deliveries and water the plants and you know,

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Speaker 2: replant the seedlings. And I just loved that environment growing up.

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Speaker 2: So when it comes to studying my own family, I

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Speaker 2: wanted to be able to do that with them and

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Speaker 2: have them work by my side. And being that I

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Speaker 2: had this apprenticeship under my belt and this skill set

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Speaker 2: that was just kept continuously going. So I was just

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Speaker 2: doing my friend's weddings on the weekends, and from that

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Speaker 2: then you know, the next bridesmaid would contact me and

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Speaker 2: asks me to do there, and it just kept going

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Speaker 2: and going to the point where I was doing thirty

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Speaker 2: weddings on a weekend as a year as my side hustle,

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Speaker 2: and I thought, this probably isn't so much of a

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Speaker 2: side hustle anymore. This is a full fledged business and

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Speaker 2: I can really provide something to the people that I

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Speaker 2: love that they're looking for, which is such an amazing experience.

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Speaker 2: I was working, as I said, a couple of other

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Speaker 2: jobs and I was looking to start moving on from weddings.

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Speaker 2: I was getting a lot of people calling me to

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Speaker 2: do everyday kind of deliveries for them, and so I

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Speaker 2: was startying to I was like, I really need a

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Speaker 2: website for people to be able to touch base that way,

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Speaker 2: because I can't keep answering my phone when I'm at

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Speaker 2: work at my other job and we're having that conversation around.

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Speaker 2: I was working with a friend and I was like,

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Speaker 2: you know, what do I do? How do I go

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Speaker 2: about promoting that that's what I want to be able

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Speaker 2: to do is to provide real flowers for real people

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Speaker 2: that I know without offending them and saying sorry, I

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Speaker 2: can't it to my phone. I'll have to call you

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Speaker 2: back at six o'clock when I finish my shift. Anyway,

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Speaker 2: my little girl was there with me at the time,

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Speaker 2: and she was four years old, and I was saying,

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Speaker 2: I want to make real flowers for the real people

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Speaker 2: that I love every day, not just when they're getting married,

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Speaker 2: which is beautiful in itself, but the demand is growing.

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Speaker 2: And she said, Mammy, you were a real florist and

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Speaker 2: I said yeah, Darlan, And she's like, but a real

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Speaker 2: one and I was like, yeah, I'm a real florest

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Speaker 2: And then from that conversation then I was like, the

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Speaker 2: real florest encapitulates everything that I do, right, I want

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Speaker 2: to be able to make real flowers for real people.

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Speaker 2: Buy a real florist, and I am a real qualified florist,

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Speaker 2: and that's exactly what we're going to do. So it

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Speaker 2: all just kind of built from there and we just

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Speaker 2: kept growing, it growing, which has been amazing. However, I

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Speaker 2: was doing that and the website was going really well,

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Speaker 2: and I quit my other three jobs to be able

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Speaker 2: to do this full time, and then COVID hit and

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Speaker 2: you know that changed everything. Weddings and events stopped, but

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Speaker 2: the demand for Florestry increased because there was a need

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Speaker 2: for connection. And florestry really is an emotional conveying conveyor, right,

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Speaker 2: What we do is we convey other people's emotions at

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Speaker 2: a time of need. So that increased, and so luckily enough,

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Speaker 2: I had not long built the website, and we went

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Speaker 2: from doing you know, one or two deliveries a day

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Speaker 2: to doing twenty or thirty a day from my garage.

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Speaker 2: And I was hiring all of my friends to come

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Speaker 2: and do deliveries for me so that because they all

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Speaker 2: weren't working, so that I could get all of that

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Speaker 2: connection out to people. And it was it was crazy.

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Speaker 2: And so for me here I just happened to I'd

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Speaker 2: walked into the space that we have the real florest

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Speaker 2: Aubringing now the Cafe Florist, and it used to be

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Speaker 2: a cafe and I loved it, and I walked in

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Speaker 2: and I just said, I love that space. Would make

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Speaker 2: the most beautiful cafe florist. And wouldn't florishry and a

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Speaker 2: cafe go so well together? Because it's that memory recall

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Speaker 2: and that sensory smell. You walk into a florist and

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Speaker 2: you remember those smells the same thing as when you

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Speaker 2: walk into a cafe. So I was like, why don't

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Speaker 2: we do both and put them together and just start

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Speaker 2: this little three month pop up shop. And it's been

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Speaker 2: five years and we're still here.

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Speaker 1: What's the most rewarding part of being a small business owner?

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Speaker 2: I think small businesses start from a skill or a

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Speaker 2: need or a want to be able to contribute in

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Speaker 2: a way that's meaningful not only you, but to your community. Right,

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Speaker 2: So then that's where we all kind of begin, and

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Speaker 2: any big business started as a small business. So it

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Speaker 2: is one of those things where it's such a special

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Speaker 2: thing to be able to do working, you know, from

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Speaker 2: home with your family by your side. But then as

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Speaker 2: that grows, that growing demand is really quite difficult to

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Speaker 2: deal with. But at the same time, that's you know,

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Speaker 2: the dream, right is to be able to build what

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Speaker 2: you love into something that you can do every day.

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Speaker 2: I think the most routing part is the connection to

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Speaker 2: our community, being that it's a cafe people walk in

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Speaker 2: every day to get their coffee on their way to work,

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Speaker 2: and then they you know, grab some flowers for the

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Speaker 2: girl that's having a birthday in the office, or for

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Speaker 2: you know, someone who's had a baby or family member

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Speaker 2: that they love. So we get to literally speak to

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Speaker 2: community people every single day in what we do, and

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Speaker 2: we get to provide that connection for them. So it

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Speaker 2: really has been just such an amazing experience. And then

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Speaker 2: I got to set that up so it worked around

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Speaker 2: my family. So you know, my kids are a really

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Speaker 2: integral part of what I do here, and my customers

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Speaker 2: know them by first name, and you know, they'll go

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Speaker 2: up the road to the other shops down the road

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Speaker 2: and do a little drawing on the sidewalk with chalk

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Speaker 2: for them, or you know, take them a coffee and

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Speaker 2: drop it off to their office for them, or So

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Speaker 2: being able to design my business around my not only

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Speaker 2: my skill set, but my community and my family has

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Speaker 2: been just so rewarding.

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Speaker 1: How is your business doing right now?

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Speaker 2: So in complete honesty, we had had such a surge

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Speaker 2: after COVID that now we're kind of on a downward

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Speaker 2: projectory because we went from you know, just doing flower

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Speaker 2: deliveries and coffee every day, and then when the COVID

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Speaker 2: restrictions really reduced weddings and events and everything. We're back,

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Speaker 2: so we had that to contend with as well, so

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Speaker 2: we almost tripled our workload for about three years. It

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Speaker 2: was a backlog of weddings and a events that weren't

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Speaker 2: able to happen during COVID, and so we're kind of

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Speaker 2: through all of that backlog now and we're back to

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Speaker 2: pre COVID trading. I believe with the added struggle of

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Speaker 2: increased costs of everything that we do. So to be

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Speaker 2: honest with you, I think we're doing much better again

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Speaker 2: in the last day three to four months than what

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Speaker 2: we were, say, six months ago. Unfortunately, I had a

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Speaker 2: team here of amazing staff, but the you know, the

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Speaker 2: rising cost of living and expenses in this economic time

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Speaker 2: that we're in or went up and trade went down

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Speaker 2: at the same time. So because that discretionary spend was

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Speaker 2: people were holding tight on their money. They weren't doing

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Speaker 2: it right. So we really had to change the structure

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Speaker 2: of the business. Unfortunately, having to let a couple of

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Speaker 2: our full timers go to try and content contend with

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Speaker 2: how difficult running a business in this economic time is.

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Speaker 2: So we did all that. We changed the structure of

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Speaker 2: the business and now it's running much smoother, which is wonderful,

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Speaker 2: but it was quite a difficult time to try and

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Speaker 2: get through.

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Speaker 1: What challenges have you faced as a small business owner

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Speaker 1: and how do they impact your business and how did

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Speaker 1: you overcome them? Did they affect your family members, did

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Speaker 1: they affect your relationships? How did you solve them?

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Speaker 2: So running a small flourishry business or any business is

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Speaker 2: challenging at the best of times. As I spoke about before,

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Speaker 2: the cost of goods is still soaring right, So importing

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Speaker 2: and exporting is all part of our business. The best

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Speaker 2: way we could get around that is to support local

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Speaker 2: growers so that we could make sure that a we

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Speaker 2: were being able to get the supply that we needed

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Speaker 2: that was necessary to run the business, but also to

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Speaker 2: try and support other local businesses whilst we do so.

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Speaker 2: So that was a really integral change in our business

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Speaker 2: to kind of try and make sure that our cost

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Speaker 2: of goods wasn't too high. But you know, in the

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Speaker 2: flores street industry and any industry, the cost of goods

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Speaker 2: is just extronomical and it's quite hard to deal with.

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Speaker 2: The other things is like the spikes and demand are

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Speaker 2: quite hard to deal with when you have reduced, like

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Speaker 2: myself reduced my staffing to try and deal with that,

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Speaker 2: because again everything rate rised, so the cost of wages

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Speaker 2: went up, super went up, insurance went up. All of

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Speaker 2: those things soared at the same time as sales declined.

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Speaker 2: So having to try and deal with all that is very,

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Speaker 2: very difficult. When your profit margins in a small business

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Speaker 2: can be quite minimal and then the price of everything

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Speaker 2: else goes up. How do you deal with that in

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Speaker 2: a very efficient manner. It is a hard thing to

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Speaker 2: deal with, I think for myself though, I have dealt

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Speaker 2: with a fair few quite large challenges in my business.

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Speaker 2: So as I said before, I was a florist, I

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Speaker 2: was working three other jobs, and I don't have a

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Speaker 2: business background. I just I have a skill set like

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Speaker 2: most small business people do. And so the advice I

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Speaker 2: was given by my amazing accountants who are wonderful, was

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Speaker 2: you need insurance. You need to get all the right

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Speaker 2: people on your bus to help support you open this

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Speaker 2: business and open a legitimate business. So that's what we did.

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Speaker 2: And so I contacted an insurance company, to an insurance

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Speaker 2: broker to try and help me navigate that particular part

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Speaker 2: of running a business, which is difficult on its own.

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Speaker 2: And when I did so, they came and seen me

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Speaker 2: and went over all the difference of different sets of

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Speaker 2: insurance that I was going to need, which was mind boggling.

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Speaker 2: And I'm dyslexic as well, so reading the fine print

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Speaker 2: in that was quite difficult. So I signed it, I

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Speaker 2: trust them, assigned it, sent it off great. And then

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Speaker 2: one of my staff members here actually had an incident

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Speaker 2: where I had to call work cover. She was working

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Speaker 2: and dropped scissors into her foot and needed to go

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Speaker 2: to hospital, and I said, you go to hospital. I'll

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Speaker 2: call the insurance company and we'll work it out from there.

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Speaker 2: And when I called eye care to find out what

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Speaker 2: to do next, they said, we don't have a policy

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Speaker 2: for you, and I was like, what do you mean?

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Speaker 2: So then I called called the insurance company and they said, no,

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Speaker 2: you needed to take out that policy. We don't do

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Speaker 2: that policy. And I said, well, we spoke about that's

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Speaker 2: the insurance that I need. Why why would I hire

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Speaker 2: you to do that job if that's not what you

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Speaker 2: do And they said, oh, because that's a job that

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Speaker 2: you have to do as the business owner. And I

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Speaker 2: wasn't aware that I didn't have cover. I just genuinely

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Speaker 2: thought I did so. Needless to say, I ended up

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Speaker 2: with a two thousand dollars fine I know, sorry, twenty thousand,

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Speaker 2: not twenty twenty thousand dollar fine for negligence in my business.

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Speaker 2: And then, of course, not only does that impact me financially,

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Speaker 2: impact my family, impacted my staff member greatly. And then also,

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Speaker 2: you know, that imposter syndrome set in and I thought,

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Speaker 2: I'm not cut out for this. I'm not going to

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Speaker 2: be a good business owner. You know. I remember literally

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Speaker 2: being on the floor crying and calling a helpline and

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Speaker 2: they said, we can't help you because you're the employer.

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Speaker 2: We're here to help employees. And so finding support in

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Speaker 2: that moment was really really did be caught. However, I

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Speaker 2: do have great people around me, and that has been

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Speaker 2: my saving grace. So I know, rang, and I rang,

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Speaker 2: and I rang anyone and any everyone that would give

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Speaker 2: me advice and help me navigate that. And I just

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Speaker 2: put one's foot in front of the other and I

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Speaker 2: was like, Okay, so what I can do. What's the

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Speaker 2: next best thing I can do? And that is how

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Speaker 2: we got through it. And I created a safety process.

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Speaker 2: I created a staffing process. I created a contract for

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Speaker 2: anyone that walked in my store that was coming to

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Speaker 2: do any type of work experience or workshop here that

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Speaker 2: made sure that they are aware of all the safety

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Speaker 2: aspects of walking into my store before they even get

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Speaker 2: in the door. So, you know, as much as that

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Speaker 2: was really hard, I learned a really valuable lesson. And

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Speaker 2: I suppose at the end of the day, creating those

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Speaker 2: you can't succeed if you don't fail at some point.

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Speaker 2: But that was extremely difficult to get through, but it

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Speaker 2: taught me something in that. It taught me that I

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Speaker 2: am capable of dealing with really hard things, and it

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Speaker 2: taught me to create processes when I make a mistake,

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Speaker 2: to create processes around those mistakes to make sure that

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Speaker 2: that doesn't happen again. So, you know, I see other

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Speaker 2: florists and obviously watch their Instagram reels and stuff, and

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Speaker 2: they've all got their cute little sandals on and their

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Speaker 2: little day dresses and they look beautiful on Instagram, and

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Speaker 2: I think, oh my god, what if you drop something

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Speaker 2: onto your foot put them shoes on, you know, so

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Speaker 2: just little things, and I think that's going to help

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Speaker 2: me and then other business owners as I go along

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Speaker 2: my journey of helping them make sustainable florestry businesses to

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Speaker 2: make sure that they're putting the right processes in place

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Speaker 2: to you know, make sure everybod is safe and that you,

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Speaker 2: as a business owner are doing the right things by

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Speaker 2: your employees.

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Speaker 1: How confident are you in Australian government's ability to support

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Speaker 1: small businesses effectively?

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Speaker 2: I would say it's probably a three, which I think

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Speaker 2: is pretty generous to be honest, because I do think

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Speaker 2: that there is support there if you're actively looking for it.

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Speaker 2: So for myself in the lead up to this podcast,

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Speaker 2: for example, I contacted business in South Wales because I'm

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Speaker 2: an inquisitive person and went to them and asked them, Okay,

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Speaker 2: what are you putting forward to support small business in

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Speaker 2: our regional area to the government, and you know, we

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Speaker 2: sat down had a fantastic conversation about there's grants being provided,

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Speaker 2: there's some you know, tax incentives, there's loan programs. They're

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Speaker 2: trying to get rid of the red tape that is

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Speaker 2: surrounding small business and the information that's provided there. But

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Speaker 2: when things are changing, it's such a rapid pace in

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Speaker 2: the economics times that we're in, how does a small

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Speaker 2: business stay above all of that and stay across all

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Speaker 2: of that, like it's not possible. You know. There's so

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Speaker 2: many emails that go into our emails every day, you know,

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Speaker 2: and I will open the ones that come from Business

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Speaker 2: South Wales or my business or my gove obviously because

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Speaker 2: I'm inquisitive and I want to know, and I'm sure

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Speaker 2: most small businesses do. They want to know. But what's

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Speaker 2: happening is is everything is changing so quickly and so

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Speaker 2: often that the current support system that we have leaves

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Speaker 2: small business kind of gappling with the lack of access

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Speaker 2: to these an awareness to these changes, and it is

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Speaker 2: so complex to apply for any of them and for

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Speaker 2: like you know, for a grant or financial assistance, for

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Speaker 2: tax relief or for solar panels, whatever it is might

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Speaker 2: be that the government are trying to do to help that.

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Speaker 2: The lack of time and awareness is the blockage there.

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Speaker 2: They're run by, you know, they're influenced by big corporation,

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Speaker 2: but where is the small business voice in there? Because

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Speaker 2: small businesses. As a small business owner, we don't work

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Speaker 2: to work, We work to live. We work to support

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Speaker 2: our family and provide our skills and provide something to

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Speaker 2: our communities, which is quite literally integral to the business

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Speaker 2: world and into employment and you know, to life satisfaction.

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Speaker 2: Why are we not setting up our small businesses to

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Speaker 2: succeed in the first place from the very get go. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: it doesn't make sense to me.

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Speaker 1: If you'd advise your strain government on one action to

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Speaker 1: take to better support small businesses, what would.

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Speaker 2: It be Automatically support them, don't make them have to

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Speaker 2: go looking for the support because we don't have time.

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Speaker 2: I work six days a week at the summer, single

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Speaker 2: mom with two kids, and I start work at six

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Speaker 2: o'clock in the morning and I finished just before school

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Speaker 2: bell goes, so that I can pick them up from

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Speaker 2: school every day. And then I'm doing the mum things,

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Speaker 2: you know, so by the time I get into bed

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00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:28,679
Speaker 2: by the time and I do my invoicing and my

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00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:31,560
Speaker 2: social media and you know, all the things that need

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Speaker 2: to be done to keep my business rolling, finding things

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Speaker 2: that could help me run my business and structure my

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Speaker 2: business better, and you know, investigating the changes of legislrate legislations,

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Speaker 2: and you know, tax reform and all of those things.

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Speaker 2: I don't have the time to do all of that.

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Speaker 2: I am working in my business every day and when

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Speaker 2: I'm not here, my time needs to be spent with

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Speaker 2: my family. I think there should be some kind of

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Speaker 2: It's hard because there's so much that needs to be

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Speaker 2: done to help small businesses, so knowing where to start

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Speaker 2: is quite difficult. But if there was some kind of

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Speaker 2: online portable like you've got portal like for us there's

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Speaker 2: businesses New South Wales and our local chamber websites that

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Speaker 2: help give you direction. But again, if you're not actively

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Speaker 2: seeking that, how do you know. So when you register

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Speaker 2: your business, why don't you get a starting small business

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Speaker 2: pack sent to you? Because you've registered it. You've registered

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Speaker 2: your business so the government know that you're starting a

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Speaker 2: new business when you do so, right, So why is

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Speaker 2: there no package sent out even in the sense of

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Speaker 2: an email or you know, in the mail of you're

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00:22:54,280 --> 00:22:57,359
Speaker 2: starting a small business, here's the things that you need

383
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Speaker 2: to know before you open a door to a customer.

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Speaker 2: I think that is really missing. I'm sure you know

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Speaker 2: when you've got these big corporations, they have people they've

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Speaker 2: employed to do all of that for them. But as

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Speaker 2: a small business, you are one person and your time

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00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:20,000
Speaker 2: is minimal, so making sure that you do it correctly.

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Speaker 2: Of course you want to do it correctly, But as

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Speaker 2: I said, you don't know what you don't know, and

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Speaker 2: most small business owners don't have business degrees, so they

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Speaker 2: don't know they what is needed to be able to succeed.

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Speaker 2: So I think just as simple, you know, I get

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Speaker 2: it when I do my own personal insurance. Have you

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Speaker 2: got eye ear cover? You know, maternity cover? All these

396
00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:51,040
Speaker 2: things that are offered to you, Why isn't that sent

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Speaker 2: to you when you register at a business. Because of my

398
00:23:57,960 --> 00:24:03,280
Speaker 2: experiences and the hardships that I've been through in my business,

399
00:24:03,760 --> 00:24:07,480
Speaker 2: I think the a as I said before, sending out

400
00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:09,640
Speaker 2: a you've registered a business, this is what you need

401
00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:13,600
Speaker 2: to know and do package to every single person that

402
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:17,640
Speaker 2: registers a business, whether it goes ahead or doesn't, is

403
00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:22,199
Speaker 2: probably the best place to start. I think it's a

404
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:24,760
Speaker 2: no brainer to make sure that you're giving them the

405
00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:28,680
Speaker 2: support they need from the get go. So I think

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00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:32,160
Speaker 2: that would be something that the government definitely could put

407
00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:35,240
Speaker 2: into place to make sure that all small that small

408
00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:40,880
Speaker 2: businesses are given the right tools to succeed. However, from

409
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:46,880
Speaker 2: a personal experience point of view, I think insurance reform

410
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,240
Speaker 2: needs to happen. I think it's a growing burden on

411
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Speaker 2: small businesses. The amount of insurances that we need to

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Speaker 2: have before we even open our doors, and the education

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Speaker 2: around that is minimal unless you're actively seeking it out.

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00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:06,320
Speaker 2: So I think it's a really overlooked form of support

415
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Speaker 2: that the government could be giving. You know, by the

416
00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:14,920
Speaker 2: time we have our you know, window insurance, of personal insurance,

417
00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:19,960
Speaker 2: and now there's mandatory cyber insurance, not to mention that

418
00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:25,440
Speaker 2: insurance has all gone up over thirty percent. So as

419
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:27,879
Speaker 2: a small business, when you're making a small profit margin

420
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Speaker 2: already just by needing to have those you have to

421
00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:35,280
Speaker 2: have those insurances before you can do anything. I think

422
00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:38,160
Speaker 2: being able to kind of look at maybe an overall

423
00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:44,119
Speaker 2: small business insurance package that covers you for all of

424
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Speaker 2: those things. And as you grow and as you you know,

425
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Speaker 2: put on more staff for the more money you make,

426
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Speaker 2: then that can kind of push out. But I just

427
00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:00,760
Speaker 2: think it's quite a burden on small business when small

428
00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:04,600
Speaker 2: business in itself is kind of starting to become unsustainable.

429
00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:09,240
Speaker 2: I think the government could help in that one or

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00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:13,280
Speaker 2: two ways by making sure that we are better supported,

431
00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:18,399
Speaker 2: rethinking insurance policies and capping them at a at a

432
00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,479
Speaker 2: certain premium. I think if we can do that and

433
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Speaker 2: subsidize that for small businesses, it's a really great place

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Speaker 2: to start, and it would significantly significantly reduce the burdens

435
00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:35,879
Speaker 2: on small business owners. I don't I think it's becoming

436
00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:41,399
Speaker 2: increasingly unsustainable to run a small business. As we said before,

437
00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:44,639
Speaker 2: the profit margins and the small business are small and

438
00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:48,960
Speaker 2: unless like for myself, I create recipes for my flowers

439
00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:52,240
Speaker 2: so that I know I'm making a profit margin, but

440
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:57,160
Speaker 2: that's through trial and error, that through failure and procedure, right,

441
00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:01,040
Speaker 2: So for myself, I kind of come at my business

442
00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:06,399
Speaker 2: as a system based approach where I combine process and

443
00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,879
Speaker 2: creativity together so that I can make sure that we

444
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:14,000
Speaker 2: are always sustainable in what we do and making sure

445
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:16,240
Speaker 2: that we're making a profit margin of what we do.

446
00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:18,760
Speaker 2: But that profit margin is only small, and when things

447
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,520
Speaker 2: like insurances go up, and pay grades go up, and

448
00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:24,760
Speaker 2: super and all of the things that we need to

449
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:29,280
Speaker 2: have to run our small business, rent is extronomical at

450
00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:34,719
Speaker 2: the moment. So when all of that goes up, and

451
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:37,040
Speaker 2: if you're not on top of it, you can quickly

452
00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 2: lose your business. And as I said, I speak to

453
00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:41,800
Speaker 2: small business owners every day and I haven't spoken to

454
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:46,480
Speaker 2: one single small business owner who is not finding this

455
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:50,320
Speaker 2: current moment in our economic time that we're in the

456
00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:54,800
Speaker 2: hardest to deal with that. It's harder right now than

457
00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:59,520
Speaker 2: it was during COVID, and that was difficult. You know,

458
00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:03,080
Speaker 2: people shutting their doors left, right and center because just

459
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:06,040
Speaker 2: the rent alone, like my rent when I started working here,

460
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,879
Speaker 2: has gone up so I've been here for five years,

461
00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:15,199
Speaker 2: has gone up by four hundred dollars a week in

462
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:21,040
Speaker 2: five years. So how and I run, as I said,

463
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:24,480
Speaker 2: a system based florists. So I know how much it

464
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:27,520
Speaker 2: costs me per arrangement that I make on an average

465
00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:32,520
Speaker 2: sale to make sure I cover my rent, my salary,

466
00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,359
Speaker 2: you know, all of the sundrys that I need to

467
00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:40,280
Speaker 2: run my business, my insurance, all of that I work

468
00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:43,200
Speaker 2: out to it a figure and I put that onto

469
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:45,520
Speaker 2: every arrangement that I make. But there's so much more

470
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 2: that goes into it, and I just I feel sorry

471
00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:53,520
Speaker 2: for people that don't understand that they need to have

472
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,920
Speaker 2: those processes to make sure they make a profitable business.

473
00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,040
Speaker 2: They're doing something that they love and they want to

474
00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:02,280
Speaker 2: be able to contribute, but they're not being able to

475
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:06,600
Speaker 2: do it in a way that provides harmony in that

476
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:11,320
Speaker 2: work life balance manner. So businesses are closing their doors left,

477
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,920
Speaker 2: right and center, or they're taking their businesses home because

478
00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,320
Speaker 2: they cannot afford they have to take something away, so

479
00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:20,040
Speaker 2: they can't afford to run their business sustainably anymore. So

480
00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:22,400
Speaker 2: for myself, I had to let go of my staff

481
00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 2: as I mentioned before, which was absolutely heartbreaking, not only

482
00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:32,120
Speaker 2: for me but for them and took a mental toll

483
00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:37,160
Speaker 2: on myself and my staff at the time. But that's

484
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:40,040
Speaker 2: what I needed to do to succeed in my business

485
00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:44,040
Speaker 2: because if I go down, we all went down, you know.

486
00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:48,400
Speaker 2: So I needed to make sure that this was staying

487
00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,760
Speaker 2: sustainable so that I could support me and my kids. However,

488
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:54,800
Speaker 2: I was open to the idea of this isn't a failure.

489
00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:58,479
Speaker 2: If this change doesn't work, this isn't a failure. It's

490
00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:02,440
Speaker 2: a learning curve and I had to really keep telling

491
00:30:02,480 --> 00:30:07,080
Speaker 2: myself that or through that process. But it is hard.

492
00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,480
Speaker 2: It is hard for small businesses. I was speaking to

493
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:12,560
Speaker 2: someone the other day that said they asked someone for

494
00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:15,920
Speaker 2: the money that there they were outstanding for an invoice,

495
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:19,080
Speaker 2: and not long after somebody, the person that was owing

496
00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:24,960
Speaker 2: them the money committed suicide because we're all doing our

497
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,040
Speaker 2: very best. But as I said, in small business, the

498
00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:29,560
Speaker 2: profit margins are so low and the price of everything

499
00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:35,400
Speaker 2: keeps going up so fast, the cogs are just extronomically

500
00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:40,640
Speaker 2: increasing that how do you not only run your business

501
00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:44,280
Speaker 2: and make sure that you're looking after your everything involved

502
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:45,960
Speaker 2: in your business, but your own mental health at the

503
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:51,640
Speaker 2: same time. So I think we have a real problem

504
00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:57,640
Speaker 2: in our community, small business community, in making sure that

505
00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:02,280
Speaker 2: we are all sustainedly working and living for a greater

506
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:06,320
Speaker 2: purpose and not running ourselves into the ground where we

507
00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:10,840
Speaker 2: think that's the only answer. It's heartbreaking for myself when

508
00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:14,200
Speaker 2: I was in that space, and I was there, it

509
00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:19,520
Speaker 2: was very difficult. I contacted all my creditors and I said,

510
00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:22,280
Speaker 2: I'm restructuring my business. I'm doing something I don't want

511
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:26,520
Speaker 2: to do in letting my staff go. This really wasn't

512
00:31:26,520 --> 00:31:29,400
Speaker 2: what I wanted to have to do. But I had

513
00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:34,960
Speaker 2: bills to pay, and I had outstanding, very significant outstanding

514
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:38,640
Speaker 2: bills to pay, and so I just contacted them. I said,

515
00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:43,040
Speaker 2: I know that this isn't okay, and I believe I

516
00:31:43,120 --> 00:31:48,440
Speaker 2: am a good business owner and a very intelligent business woman.

517
00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:51,720
Speaker 2: I know all of that, and I'm here anyway. I'm

518
00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:54,560
Speaker 2: at this point of very low where I owe more

519
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,480
Speaker 2: money than I can think of how to get out of.

520
00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:01,320
Speaker 2: So I just want and I said to all my creditors,

521
00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:03,680
Speaker 2: I just want you to know that I'm restructuring my

522
00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:06,120
Speaker 2: business in a way that means that I can continue

523
00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:07,960
Speaker 2: to do what I do and make sure that I

524
00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:10,840
Speaker 2: pay you back as soon as I possibly can. And they,

525
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:13,280
Speaker 2: because I had such good rapport with them, they were

526
00:32:13,320 --> 00:32:15,480
Speaker 2: all like, that is okay, we'll see you next month

527
00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:18,680
Speaker 2: and we'll talk about it then, you know. But building

528
00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,960
Speaker 2: really good relationships with the people around you and making

529
00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:25,160
Speaker 2: sure you have the right you know, people on your

530
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:30,760
Speaker 2: bus is integral to making sure that you get through

531
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:33,400
Speaker 2: the hard times in your business.

532
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:38,160
Speaker 1: What is the one thing you wish more people knew

533
00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:39,120
Speaker 1: about your business?

534
00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:45,000
Speaker 2: Well, we and myself, I say we as my company

535
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,680
Speaker 2: and myself as a business owner. We're so passionate about

536
00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:50,720
Speaker 2: our small business community that we want to make sure

537
00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:54,479
Speaker 2: that we're here to provide not only you know, our

538
00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:58,000
Speaker 2: beautiful flowers to our customer base, but the support that

539
00:32:58,120 --> 00:33:01,480
Speaker 2: is needed to small business. And that's what we really

540
00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:04,520
Speaker 2: are aiming to do with the educational piece that we

541
00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:09,600
Speaker 2: are currently working on in our business. So we've got

542
00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:15,680
Speaker 2: the real florist cafe and now we've got the real florist,

543
00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:21,200
Speaker 2: the real florest education support. So we run a twelve

544
00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:26,080
Speaker 2: week program here which is our florestry education from beginners

545
00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:29,800
Speaker 2: to intermediate florestry and now so we've been doing that

546
00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:32,360
Speaker 2: for the last two years, which has been amazing. Now

547
00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:37,400
Speaker 2: we've got it going into local schools and for work placement.

548
00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:41,320
Speaker 2: The reason being is that you know, these in this

549
00:33:41,440 --> 00:33:45,480
Speaker 2: day and age, it's so hard to get your hands

550
00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:48,520
Speaker 2: on experience, so we want to make sure that we're

551
00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,600
Speaker 2: providing that as much as possible. And I love going

552
00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:54,360
Speaker 2: into schools. I've been teaching at a couple of local

553
00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:58,520
Speaker 2: schools in their arts departments. I've been doing a six

554
00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:02,040
Speaker 2: week program with them, and I always say to the kids,

555
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,480
Speaker 2: you know, push your hand up if you struggle with

556
00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:07,720
Speaker 2: the reading and writing or maths, and they all put

557
00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:11,120
Speaker 2: their little hands up, and I'm like saying, I am dyslexic,

558
00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:17,640
Speaker 2: I've got disccalcolia and dysgraphia, and i am ADHD. So

559
00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:21,319
Speaker 2: sitting down in a classroom was always so difficult for me.

560
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:24,160
Speaker 2: That's why I'm here to help you get hands on

561
00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:28,640
Speaker 2: experience and something that you love and enjoy. So and

562
00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:31,640
Speaker 2: just seeing the pride on their little faces. So it's

563
00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:34,280
Speaker 2: beautiful teaching it to adults in our twelve week program,

564
00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:37,320
Speaker 2: but really getting it into the schools has been so beautiful,

565
00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:40,759
Speaker 2: such an amazing experience for me to connect with other

566
00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:45,720
Speaker 2: people like myself that really struggled with you know, the reading,

567
00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:50,239
Speaker 2: writing and sitting down and concentrating all the time. It's

568
00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:52,840
Speaker 2: been able. I've been able to kind of gift my

569
00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:55,200
Speaker 2: skill set to them and show them that there is

570
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,960
Speaker 2: other things that you can do in the workforce to

571
00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:03,080
Speaker 2: make you know, that humus work life balance happen. And

572
00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:05,520
Speaker 2: it's been so beautiful. So we're really working on that

573
00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:08,680
Speaker 2: at the moment. So we've taken that two years worth

574
00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:11,920
Speaker 2: of experience that we've had teaching one to one two

575
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:15,799
Speaker 2: students here at the Real Florist or in schools, and

576
00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:19,000
Speaker 2: we're about to take it to an online program to

577
00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:21,680
Speaker 2: help teach other people how to do what we do

578
00:35:22,040 --> 00:35:25,360
Speaker 2: and that it is possible to have a job that

579
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:29,239
Speaker 2: you love every day and be able to give back

580
00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:30,800
Speaker 2: in a way that's really special.

581
00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:36,279
Speaker 1: Where can people find you and your business, let us know.

582
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,880
Speaker 2: So where the Real Florist Aubrey and you can find

583
00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:43,560
Speaker 2: us in the beautiful Aubrey CBD our Florest Cafe. It

584
00:35:43,719 --> 00:35:48,200
Speaker 2: is such a beautiful part of Australia, Aubrewadonga. So if

585
00:35:48,200 --> 00:35:52,240
Speaker 2: you haven't been here, come because we always get people

586
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:54,719
Speaker 2: coming into our store being like oh the people in

587
00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:57,440
Speaker 2: this community are so lovely and everybody's up for a

588
00:35:57,520 --> 00:36:00,400
Speaker 2: chat and we really do have that kind of country

589
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:04,719
Speaker 2: hospitality here in Aubrey Wadonga with that city vibe which

590
00:36:04,760 --> 00:36:07,520
Speaker 2: is so beautiful. So yeah, So we're in Swift Street

591
00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:13,440
Speaker 2: four eight nine Swift Street in Aubrey at our local Aubrey, CBD. Otherwise,

592
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:16,440
Speaker 2: you can always find us on our website at www

593
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:20,879
Speaker 2: dot Therealflorist dot com dot au where you can find

594
00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:24,720
Speaker 2: everything that we do here, so our education, our weddings events,

595
00:36:24,880 --> 00:36:29,280
Speaker 2: corporate work as well as our local deliveries and now

596
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:35,880
Speaker 2: our teachings of the Real Florists. So our workshops are

597
00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:38,600
Speaker 2: all on there, our education pieces all on there and

598
00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:41,560
Speaker 2: that's where you'll find the links. Otherwise, you can jump

599
00:36:41,560 --> 00:36:45,560
Speaker 2: on our socials. We've got our Instagram, Facebook, our YouTube,

600
00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:49,560
Speaker 2: our LinkedIn, our tiktoks. I'm very I'm not very good

601
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:51,840
Speaker 2: at the tiktoks, but I am trying so hard. I

602
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:54,839
Speaker 2: like to call them the toctics, but you can find

603
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:57,880
Speaker 2: us on all the social platforms. The real Florest. We

604
00:36:57,920 --> 00:37:01,520
Speaker 2: wanted to continue advocating for or not only the Flores

605
00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:04,960
Speaker 2: Street industry, but small business in general and making sure

606
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:09,840
Speaker 2: that we are providing real time education and space to

607
00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:14,719
Speaker 2: succeed in small business. And yeah, that's where we will be,

608
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:17,120
Speaker 2: thank you very much,