During Covid, lots of businesses across the New England closed their doors.
As our communities continue to recover and embrace the new normal, many new businesses are opening up. In the New England, the surge in new businesses is particularly noticeable as many of those who moved here as part of the post-COVID migration have brought new and different skills, as well as new money and energy, to our region.
In our new series beginning today, New England Times Investigations team is unpacking some of the dynamics and forces driving the new business boom, and meeting some of the new business owners having a go.
Small businesses have spent the past five years navigating a landscape transformed by the pandemic, supply chain shocks, inflation, and tightening credit. While the sector has proved remarkably resilient, the pressures of cash flow, mental strain and late payments remain major hurdles, even as new supports and technologies emerge to steady the path ahead.
When COVID-19 struck, more than half of all businesses across the country were significantly impacted, particularly those in hospitality, education, and reliant on foot traffic. Small business in regional areas fared better than those in capital cities, but both struggled with lockdowns, reduced consumer demand and cashflow issues. By July 2021, 68 per cent of affected businesses had faced lower demand, and almost a third had changed their operating model entirely to survive.
Many responded with innovation and grit. The post-COVID years saw a wave of new start-ups, with ANZ data showing more than 62,000 small businesses launched between March and September 2021, twice as many as before the pandemic. Impressively, 92 per cent were still operating two years later, underscoring the adaptability and persistence of the people behind them.
Australia’s 2.6 million small businesses employ two-thirds of the national workforce and generate more than half of the country’s economic output. Their resilience through COVID-19 and beyond proves they are not only adaptable but indispensable.
Yet surviving is not the same as thriving. NAB’s 2024 SME Insights report paints a sobering picture: rising costs, red tape, labour shortages, and access to capital remain the dominant barriers to growth. About 60 per cent of small firms say regulatory burden has worsened in the past year, while compliance costs have doubled since 2021. Cash flow and profitability are the top issues keeping business owners “awake at night,” with nearly 40 per cent citing late payments and liquidity pressures as their biggest challenge .
The stress of running a small business in the post-Covid era has also taken a toll on mental health. Many owners report feeling isolated and under constant pressure to keep operations afloat amid rising costs and slow payments.
The ongoing cash flow crunch, which start with the Covid collapse and was made worse by tax system changes requiring quarterly rather than annual tax payments, is a really big pain point. Industry data shows more than $115 billion is currently owed in unpaid invoices to Australian small businesses, with the average payment arriving 27 days late.
To address these systemic cashflow issues, fintech providers are stepping up. Zeller’s integrated invoicing app embeds credit card payment gateways that see 70 per cent of invoices paid the same day. Stripe, Zip Co and Xero have also partnered to allow customers to pay invoices via buy-now-pay-later options, helping small firms get paid faster and smooth out working capital crunches.
“Nearly one in two business owners still invoice manually … which leads to delays, errors and a longer time to payment,” says Joshua McNicol of payments firm Zeller.
Governments, too, are responding with a mix of funding and structural reform, including commitments to pay invoices faster.
The 2025–26 NSW Budget included nearly $80 million for an Innovation Blueprint aimed at helping start-ups and small firms commercialise new technologies. A further $27 million over four years will support regional economic diversification through a new Future Jobs and Investment Authority. Additional funding has been allocated for manufacturing innovation, female founder training, and regional tech leadership programs.
At the other end of the spectrum, forward thinking councils are making very targeted plays to support new and expanding businesses in their communities. For example, Moree Plains Shire Council is awarding grants of $5000 through Council’s Small Business Fund, as well as making retail space available for peppercorn rent.
Across the New England, which has benefitted from the significant migration to our communities as people both fled the city, and fled the repeated inundations of our neighbouring coastal areas, another flurry of new businesses appears to be underway. Born into the new post-Covid reality and not carrying the burden of the pain of that period, these green shoots of economic prosperity and commerce herald good seasons and growth ahead.
Over the next few weeks we’ll bringing you stories of a number of new businesses in our region. From completely new ideas, to enterprises a long time in the making, to renovated and relaunched existing businesses, we’ll explore their hopes and draw on their optimism for the future of the New England business community.
Read all the stories in this series here
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