Red tape hindering your small business? You can do something about it!

Imagine you own a small brick-and-mortar business, and one morning you make your way to your shop only to find you have lost the keys. There’s no number for the local locksmith – only a web form. You send an urgent email, and then all you can do is wait as potential sales are lost with every passing minute.

This is the real-world parallel to a small online business getting locked out of vital social media accounts in the digital age.

Mark Frost from the NSW Small Business Commissioner says hiccups like this can be distressing for small business owners.

“We’re not talking about the big end of town – we’re talking about a person’s sole source of income,” he says.

“We have good relationships with many digital platforms operating in Australia and have been able to cut through some of the difficulty small businesses have in resolving those kinds of matters.”

As Director of Advocacy, a big part of Mark’s job is gathering intel on the many aches and pains of small business ownership and, where needed, finding ways to respond.

Much of what his team deals with treads the line between the burden and benefits of bureaucratic regulation on small businesses, particularly in regional areas that lack access to resources.

“When it’s brought to our attention that a piece of existing or proposed regulation might not be working for small business – that it’s causing problems without clear benefits – we work with our colleagues in government to review the issues with a small business hat on,” he says.

Even in “normal times”, regions present unique challenges for the NSW Small Business Commissioner to tackle. Issues faced by regional business owners in a ‘visitors economy’, for instance, differ greatly from those of metro areas.

In the years since COVID catapulted regional economies into a boom, many regions have reverted to the mean. Since then, as the cost of living crisis has sunk its teeth in, many regional small businesses are doing it tough.

For those businesses, current circumstances call for adaptation – an exploration of new income streams. An increasingly popular example is small producers pivoting into agritourism to sell their products directly to consumers via experiences.

This is one area where the NSW Small Business Commissioner Advocacy team are quite active, dealing with delays in DA and planning approvals and other regulatory constraints.

“A few years back, we worked with the Department of Planning and Environment to develop exemption compliance pathways for small businesses, and we were quite proud of those reforms,” Mark says.

“It means if what you’re proposing fits certain parameters – for example, the maximum number of people at an event – you don’t need to go through the more rigorous development process.

“This ensures businesses can get on with doing what they do best – delivering services their communities enjoy using without getting stuck in the weeds.”

The Advocacy team is not anti-regulation, though. Their impetus is to guide good policy by ensuring policymakers understand the impact on small businesses.

Sometimes, going to bat for small business means leaving the red tape intact.

“Under Australian consumer law, small businesses are considered consumers, and regulations allow them to operate on a level playing field, so they can do the right thing, meet community expectations and still compete on the merits of what they offer customers. Good regulation leans into good business practice,” Mark says.

“Regulations also play a role in protecting small business in areas of vulnerability, like unfair contract terms. For example, the NSW Retail Leases ACT protects small businesses from entering into arrangements without full disclosure.”

There are about 850,000 small businesses in NSW, and everyone is encouraged to flag concerns with the NSW Small Business Commissioner.

The organisation directs resources to the issues that will have the most impact, and reports help build the intelligence and evidence base it needs to make a case if and when reform is necessary.

The litmus test for good regulation is simple.

“At the end of the day, we want businesses to have confidence that the costs of regulations are exceeded by the benefits. If there’s a cost, and the benefits are not clear, that’s an indication that perhaps they haven’t got it quite right,” he says.

“We welcome any small business with any challenge through our doors – it doesn’t matter what it relates to. If we can’t help you directly, we will try our best to refer you to someone who can. If you’re stuck and don’t know where to get help, contact us and you’ll speak to a human.”

Until Thursday, 31 October, the NSW Small Business Month Expos will be held at Wollongong, Queanbeyan and Batemans Bay to help small businesses navigate legislation.

The Queanbeyan Expo will be held on Tuesday, 29 October, from 1 pm to 7 pm, at the Royal Hotel Queanbeyan, 85 Monaro Street, Queanbeyan. This is a free event, but registration is required.