Research released from American Express has found that the majority of regional consumers believe that small businesses in their local area are doing it tough.
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And while small businesses may be facing challenges, 83 per cent of owners have stated that they're satisfied with life as a small business owner.
However, they're still encouraging people to shop locally, including Kent Fish, from Fish and Sons Rural Supplies.
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Mr Fish said he believes people in Bathurst understand the benefits of shopping locally.
"People shop locally in a town like Bathurst because they have an understanding that they've got to shop locally if they want to retain those local services," he explained.
However, during the drought, Mr Fish explained that Fish and Sons has had to drop staff hours by 30 per cent due to a drop in trade.
"It's what we call "drought-proofing"," he said.
"2018 was a massive panic, because everyone was overstocked. They had to finish their stock off otherwise they wouldn't get anything for it.
"Prices went through the roof and basically pinched all their rainy day money. People have de-stocked from there."
The American Express research also indicated that 64 per cent of regional businesses have stated that their revenue over the last 12 months has either decreased or remained unchanged.
Australia's economic climate is the biggest concern for regional small business owners, cited by 65 per cent compared to 48 per cent in metro areas.
And to help grow their business, regional businesses have been investing in marketing as the most popular growth strategy (29 per cent), followed by launching or becoming more active on social media (15 per cent).
Mr Fish said locals need to be mindful that they buy local and not purchase their goods from out of town.
"I think it's pretty good for people to be mindful of shopping local," he said.
"Everyone knows everyone is pretty tight, with stock feed.
"We run to Sydney two to three times per week for what we need, but we haven't lost any sales coming through the doors but you can't get everything you want.
"People need to be mindful of buying local and not outsourcing. It's still up to individual businesses to provide that service. If you start losing farmers, you start losing local stores."