“One step forward, two steps back”: The uphill battle for Box Hill small businesses

Eighteen months after husband and wife Sam and Jessica Yan opened the doors at the Una Una cafe and restaurant, they are still yet to break even, as they face a perfect storm of higher food costs, interest rate rises and a community considering every dollar spent.

Jessica said starting a small business after the low points of the Covid pandemic was like taking “one step forward and two steps” back every day.

❤️ Passion project: In their mid-40s and with two children, Jessica said she and Sam launched the business with the goal of building a close-knit community of customers and suppliers, but that some days it was hard to roll with the punches.

• 🗣️ “We are trying to react to the current situation to make it work,” she told the Eastern Melburnian. “We haven’t been able to pay ourselves in 18 months, but it’s a long-term plan.”

✂️ Cutting costs: Soaring wholesale coffee prices have put immense pressure on hospitality venues, as have hikes for a range of cafe staples. Jessica said the price of butter meant they weren’t baking cakes on a Monday morning.

• The business pays penalty rates but doesn’t have a Sunday surcharge on menu items, and the couple have hired their teenage son to help out. 

🔐 Insecure prices: Garrison Locksmiths’ second-in-charge Stuart Smith said the business is facing annual hikes of about 10 percent on the wholesale price of keys, locks and door handles.

• He said the recent burden of having to fill five utes with fuel that costs significantly more than it did a month ago is also impacting the business’s bottom line.