Whittlesea small-business owners say they are being forced to shut up shop due to “ridiculous” overheads and high rents, despite an apparent decline in tenant-landlord disputes.
Monica, who runs the Health Kick Cafe in Whittlesea, says that despite working seven days a week she can never “get ahead”.
“It’s wasted my money and time to start up a cafe,” she said.
“Rents go up and you’re forced to put that on coffees, but then customers whinge and complain.”
Victorian small business commissioner Geoff Browne says he had seen an 8 per cent decline in the number of tenant-landlord issues brought before him for resolution.
“Landlords and tenants might have resolved it between themselves without escalating the issue,” Mr Browne said. “But I don’t get a strong sense of high rents – it’s the same as the previous year.”
Mr Browne attributed the frustration and failures to a lack of “sensible financial planning”.
“It’s generally reality versus vision and enthusiasm,” he said. “People get into businesses without thinking about the harder reality – what are you going to do if your business doesn’t go as well as you’ve planned?”
A Whittlesea resident contributing to a Facebook thread complained that “running a business in Australia is very expensive”.
One user said: “We have huge costs for staff, huge costs for supplies, rent, financial commitments and taxation.
“And you need to be actively working in your small business seven days a week, while your customers complain that a coffee couldn’t possibly cost that much. Hats off to anyone who takes it on.”
Another user asked if “rents were really that high for a sweet little coffee shop to close down”.
Mr Browne advised tenants and landlords to undertake a market review and determine an appropriate rental fee. If no resolution could be achieved, advice from a valuer should be sought.
“If tenants and landlords still can’t reach a decision, they should come to me and I’ll appoint an independent valuer to determine an appropriate fee,” he said.
