The unpredictable nature of Victoria's snap lockdowns have left some business owners grasping at straws, particularly those who only opened in 2020 and are now struggling through their fourth shutdown since the beginning of the pandemic.
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The most recent state-wide lockdown, announced last Friday and so far set to conclude at 11.59pm on Thursday, has brought Redan business owners Brad Witham and Laila Makki to breaking point.
The couple opened a motorbike shop, MX Addiction, in October last year after months of lockdown delays, but didn't qualify for JobKeeper payments or other subsidies as they had no employees.
We lose $5000 to $10,000 every time a weeks worth of lockdown is announced.
- Brad Witham, owner of MX Addictions
They are now considering selling their house to make ends meet.
The state government has offered businesses a $2500 grant to keep them going during the current lockdown, with licensed hospitality venues eligible for $3500 and businesses in the events industry sharing in a $20 million fund.
"$2500 wouldn't even cover a weeks worth of what we need," Mr Witham said.
Delays from suppliers have also had a major impact on MX Addiction, as the motorbike industry itself has boomed but Mr Witham hasn't been able to see any of that success for himself as demand sky-rockets and manufacturers can not keep up.
"No one can go on holidays so they're buying motorbikes," he said.
"The demand for stock from our suppliers is so high that I haven't been able to get anything in."
Mr Witham said he launched with a quarter of the stock needed and he only received his full August 2020 order from his suppliers last week, days before the current lockdown was announced.
"We lose $5000 to $10,000 every time a weeks worth of lockdown is announced," he said.
"I've had to take $20,000 out of my super and sell probably about $100,000 worth of my stuff.
"We're thinking about selling the house next just to keep the business going."
The federal government has not offered Victorians additional financial support, concluding that the current short-term shutdown is on a scale that can be managed locally.
"We're going to keep going, but we've lost a lot," Mr Witham said.
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