SMALL business owner Tsutomu Iwasaki found himself unemployed more than 13 years ago when he was in his 50s but had a vision to start his own Japanese tea shop.
The Green Tea House owner completed two courses through the Small Business Development Corporation that gave him the confidence and knowledge to start his first business 11 years ago.
“I was in a desperate situation but landed the perfect job,” Mr Iwasaki said.
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READ NOW“There’s been ups and downs but we’re lucky we have so many regular customers.”
He is encouraging everyone to support small ventures like his on WA Small Business Day this Saturday launched by Small Business Matters co-founders Nicolle Jenkins and Kitty Prodonovich three years ago.
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of WA,” Ms Jenkins said.
“When industries go up and down, it is the small business sector that continues to be the driver of our economy.”
WA Small Business Commissioner David Eaton said there were 220,000 small businesses in WA that employed 47 per cent of the state’s workforce.
“There’s a lot of people who have a passion to pursue their dream of starting a small business and if we can give them one thing it’s financial literacy,” Mr Eaton said.
On Saturday, October 28, Small Business Matters asks shoppers to Think Small First by shopping at a local small business.
– 71 per cent of small businesses believe they will perform strongly in the next 12 months – 38 per cent want to learn more about marketing and social media – 27 per cent say they are doing what they love – 36 per cent say the hardest thing is attracting new customers
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