Mrs Young and her husband Shane have run the Stawell SportsPower store for the past 18 years.

She said the 27.5 per cent small business cuts announced in Tuesday night’s federal budget would provide some welcome relief.

“Any tax break is welcome. It might give us the ability to have another employee,” she said.

Mrs Young said her business employed several casual staff and one permanent part-time employee who worked three days a week.

She said the challenges were significant for small businesses. “Bank fees are a massive impost,” she said.

“A lot of people probably don’t realise we have to pay for EFTPOS.

“When we first started, 20 per cent of purchases were made through EFTPOS and 80 per cent were cash purchases.

“That’s swung completely around now.

“The bigger you are the less fees you have to pay.

“The big supermarkets, for example, don’t pay those fees.”

The cost of freight was another ongoing expense for small businesses, Mrs Young said.

“It can sometimes cost up to three times more to freight something than the actual cost of the item,” she said.

“It then becomes a real balancing act in terms of what you stock in store.”

She said the rise and rise of internet shopping had presented its own challenges for businesses.

“There are a lot of educated shoppers out there these days,” she said.

“People do their research online and are a lot more selective about what they will and won’t pay for.

“Businesses are also becoming more savvy about marketing.

“People don’t tend to do catalogues anymore.

“They’re all electronic and can be changed in an instant.”