Stuart Gordon knows a thing or two about running a business.
He has built up a team that has been providing landscaping and paving services throughout Albury and Wodonga since 1988, working on commercial and residential projects, large and small.
"I've employed hundreds of people over the years and have trained more than 50 apprentices during that time," he said.
"But there's not enough legislative protection for people having a go."
Cross-border red tape double whammy
Red tape makes running a business particularly challenging for Mr Gordon: His clients are on both sides of the NSW-Victoria border, and he is part of the wider construction industry.
"I'm hit with a double whammy because of where I'm based," he said.
"We get absolutely smacked by red tape.
"I'm required to have two licences, and I have to split up my workers' long service leave depending on how many hours they work in NSW or Victoria.
"This regulatory burden — including issues such as working out overtime with flexible work arrangements — makes every payday a nightmare."
The '45-day pay' also needs to be reviewed, Mr Gordon said.
In the construction industry, the 45-day pay means subcontractors can be left waiting for up to 60 days for payment after submitting a payment claim.
"It makes it very hard for small businesses to manage payroll and costs," Mr Gordon said.
"You basically have to have double your monthly turnover for the bad payers.
"It's very hard to have the cashflow up front if you are starting a business.
"It's like a game of cards. Don't count your money 'til the game is over, because you don't know how much you're going to have at the end of the day."
Mr Gordon is not impressed with the tranches of new IR laws, either.
"They're heavily in favour of employees, who aren't putting everything on the line," he said.
SMEs the engine room of the country
"Small business is the engine room of the economy, employing a significant proportion of the private sector workforce, particularly in regional areas," Mr Gordon says.
"Without SMEs, the country would go broke.
"The Government relies on us for their taxes to pay public servants and politicians, so they need to know our worth.
"Yet, for all my hard work and risk, my reward is crazy amounts of time-consuming paperwork and taxes such as payroll tax to the state government.
"The thing about small and medium business, our biggest asset is our time, whether that's hard-earned R&R or sitting in your office quoting the next job.
"How about some tax relief instead? After all, if we're employing more people, the government is going to get more tax.
"The next government needs to reward people for having a crack."
Apprentice incentives
Mr Gordon is a fan of incentives for both employers and apprentices to improve the pipeline of tradespeople.
"I'm aware governments have been tinkering with incentives in recent times, but it's important they stay simple: the same for each industry sector and the same for each employer, so employers can confidently do their recruitment planning each year," he said.
"I like the idea that you look after the employer to put on apprentices and encourage them with incentives, which have been reasonably fair in recent times.
"Apprentices are generally pretty unproductive in the first year, but they have to start somewhere. It costs more money to have them on than what you get out of it in the first year.
"It's worse in my industry, because they think landscaping is a pretty trade when, in fact, it's hard work.
"Anything that's incentive-based is a win for all."
Look after us
"Most of the big contracts I'm doing are government-funded, which means there's not a lot of private sector money going around," Mr Gordon said.
"It's already getting increasingly difficult for people to get a chippie, plumber, sparky or landscaper. You're just not going to be able to get a tradie to help you, as there are long waiting times already.
"I only survive because I've been around a long time, but at the end of the day, landscaping is a luxury.
"A lot of people who build a house are not going to worry about the landscaping when they haven't got any money left after the build.
"So, my services will be among the first to go.
"I want to shout from the rooftops to the next government: 'Look after small business. Listen to us and give us incentives to employ more people.'
"You need people in the private sector making money."
Stuart Gordon spoke to Ai Group Communications Manager Wendy Larter
- Ai Group election policy papers
- Opinion: At every step, there's another hurdle
- Opinion: Red tape is crippling SMEs
