Local businesses compassionate for connectivity
SOME businesses have thrived, others have barely survived after the misfortunate years the Dubbo community has experienced due to COVID following the unprecedented drought.
On Friday morning, some of the city’s business leaders and owners met on Macquarie Street to stand together to implement ideas to get through these trying times.
The Sand Goanna owner Kevin Saul says his cafe has been struggling for over two years due to the pandemic.
“The cafes in town get along very well with one another and it’s important to help each other wherever we can.”
He says people have choice when they visit the precinct with multiple coffee shops on the street, a variety that is important because more businesses are welcomed into the town.
SJ Shooter Real Estate managing director Laura Shooter says this year is the year of connection.
“People have really been struggling over the past few years, but I think businesses are working together to implement ways we can all overcome this challenging time,” Laura says.
She explains that her business is doing well, but she understands the difficulty of buying a house and looking for a rental property as the housing crisis deepens.
“The shortage is definitely impacting a lot of people within our community.”
Health Boost owner Gargi Ganguly says her business is succeeding through the pandemic thanks to strategising to reach a broader network.
“We’ve definitely had our challenges as customers are trying to be more cautious,” she continues, but says the business has a website from which customers are able to purchase their products.
Health Boost has recently enlisted partnerships with other natural health practitioners to offer telehealth services, and Gargi says this helps as customers do not need to visit for consultations.
Throughout the conversation with Dubbo Photo News, business owners were bouncing ideas off one another on how best to support the Dubbo community.
Trike Adventures owner Peter Judd said it is important for businesses to work together and invest in one another to succeed as a town.
“When people select our high tea offering, we use local suppliers for our products as we want to give back as much as we can,” Peter says.
Having owned three businesses over 12 years, Peter says it is vital to work together.
Trike Adventures provides a windy experience on a three wheeled motorised Oztrike, and this correspondent was treated to a ride to explore the Dubbo CBD.
As we drove along Macquarie
Street with me on the lifted backseat of the trike, Peter explained the monuments and hidden gems of the town.
“Orana Day Tours is a similar experience only targeted to a more luxury market,” he continues saying the vehicles are SUVS and they offer high tea and picnics to not only Dubbo, but the surrounding region.
“It’s a great way to see our town from a lifted point of view while having fun at the same time.”
With no roof to keep my hair in place, I knew this was a unique experience for any tourist or Dubbo local.
With lack of tourism and international travel, international speaker and author Kerrie Phipps says the period has been transitional and businesses have had to sacrifice immensely.
“I went from going overseas once a month to not going anywhere at all,” Kerrie says, explaining the challenges of speaking to a virtual audience which she says “is just not the same”.
“I love gathering people, pulling out individual stories and inspiring people that they make a bigger difference than they realise,” says Kerrie, who would love the opportunity to do that in person again.
She believes that throughout the two-year period of Covid disruption, people have not lost their kindness towards one another in our community and that it is important to acknowledge.
Small and local businesses are working together to make this the year of connectivity by getting back out and exploring the community.