From spreadsheets to supermarkets

STEVE Carre has walked both sides of the business street - in big and small firms - and believes there’s a touch of arrogance about the former’s failure to recognise the value of the latter.

Five years ago Mr Carre was a ‘go-to guy’ for those seeking advice on turning struggling small businesses into profitable operations.

He had more than 20 years’ experience working in big corporations in the banking and finance sectors and was using his wealth of knowledge as a business consultant - a job he took after leaving his role as director of personal finance at Bankwest in a bid to reduce his workload.

The move to consulting failed to provide enough relief from the strain of corporate life, however, and Mr Carre dramatically changed career and bought his own small business.

“As a consultant all you’re doing is selling time and when those minutes run out, what do you do?” Mr Carre said.

“I wasn’t really creating anything that had sustainable value for me.”

Mr Carre describes it as a ‘serendipitous’ moment when he learned of the opportunity to buy the local supermarket - a run-down Eziway-branded IGA franchise.

“The previous owner was a lovely guy, but I think he had just had enough; he was really tired of the business and had lost the appetite to reinvest money in it,” Mr Carre told WA Business News.

In five years he has completely revamped the business; produce and groceries from local farmers and artisan producers fill the shelves of the small store - now branded as Swanbourne Markets under an IGA X-press franchise.

The store’s turnaround was acknowledged in IGA’s awards for Western Australian franchises when it was nominated for best fresh produce, best grocery and best overall store in the WA X-press category - winning all three awards.

Mr Carre is thriving in the role of small business owner, as far removed as it is from the career he envisioned for himself.

“In the arrogance of corporate life you just look down your nose at small business, especially in banking which is full of a lot of egos; you just never imagine yourself doing that (running a small business).” Mr Carre said.

“When I bought the business I went in a little bit arrogantly thinking that moving from big corporations to small business would be a piece of cake, but it was very different.”

Seeing the business world from the small business-owner’s side of the fence has also given Mr Carre determination to give the sector a voice.

“Small business is just taken for granted ... it’s always the big guys that seem to get the attention because they’ve got the means to employ lobbyists,” Mr Carre said.

An example is the issue of deregulated shopping hours, a debate he’s been lobbying his local member, Colin Barnett, to shut down.

“I’ve written two letters to my local member but he hasn’t responded to either of them; what does that say? I live in Cottesloe, my business is in his electorate. I know he’s the premier but he’s also a local member,” Mr Carre said.

“I’m not opposed to deregulation, but I just think it’s an unfair playing ground. You’ve got the big guys who can open their doors 24-7 if they want to and it means the small business person has been forced to open their doors; the only way they can manage that is to be there and staff it themselves.”