Author: Katrina Vo

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As Australian small businesses brace themselves for the impending Christmas period, Business Life Australia (BLA) – a recently formed business support charity – has launched and is here to help.

“Running a small business can be stressful enough at the best of times, but the Christmas period can be a particularly trying time for small business owners, who struggle to meet increased demand but also contend with the higher emotional and social pressures of the season,” Business Life Australia director, Koos Kruger said.

“The health of the business can strongly affect the health of the business owner in a myriad of ways – mentally, physically, emotionally, financially, spiritually, socially – and these issues can have a flow-on effect onto the owner’s family and even their wider community.

“It was this reason that inspired us to found Australia’s very first non-profit organisation set up to help small and micro business owners navigate the more difficult times in a business lifecycle,” he added.

In Australia more than 60 per cent of businesses fail in their first three years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

For the thousands of small businesses operating in western Sydney, a failure could have devastating effects on the owner, their family, their staff, and their creditors.

“Western Sydney is the fastest growing economy in the country. Research shows the SME sector is vital to the growth and future of the Australian economy, with an annual turnover of $230 million,” Brendan Noney, president of Western Sydney Business Connect said.

Advisers from BLA help small business owners to identify their personal pain points, and understand the most stressful or urgent issues affecting operations.

BLA assists businesses in returning to profitability, or to dismantle it in a manner that results in the least fallout possible for the owner.