Show Up for Your Small Business – FSBN @ Lot 50 Yankalilla!
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I created FSBN after nearly 10 years as a business owner, feeling isolated in the community I'd moved into – specifically Yankalilla, Normanville and Carrickalinga.
We've run events before. The most recent was a beach reset walk in February 2026, with 5 businesses registered to attend. On the day, only one person showed up – and they'd travelled from out of town. The locals who registered, people we knew, simply didn't come. There were no messages or apologies – they just never bothered to rock up.
It was the same story with earlier events too. Very little local support, and the people who did turn up were often the ones who'd travelled the furthest to get it.
I want to be upfront about one thing: I'd prefer FSBN stay free of council and corporate involvement. Not because they don't do good work, but because their values and vision are built for a different kind of business than the family-owned small businesses I want to support.
For small businesses – especially regional ones – it's only going to get tougher from here on out. And right now, council networking tends to mean drinks at a bar and some socializing which may happen one or two times a year.
That kind of networking has its place, but it's not an environment where you can workshop your business, learn something new, connect properly with other owners, or blow off steam when things get hard. And that's what I wanted FSBN to foster for the small business community.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜'𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆:
➡️ Networking and connection, fostered by small business owners, for small business owners – no council, no corporate.
➡️ Workshops that upskill business owners, built around what small business owners actually say they need – not what council thinks we need. If you've got a skill or a lesson worth sharing, I'd love to hear from you.
➡️ A spotlight on local small business owners – promoting good people doing good things in our community.
➡️ Honest conversation about mental health and isolation in small business, and how coming together can help us feel more connected to the community we serve.
➡️ Celebrating wins, not just surviving hardship – milestones, big projects landed, good reviews, five years in business. FSBN shouldn't only be a space we turn to when things are tough.
➡️ Problem-solving round-tables – informal sessions where one business brings a real challenge to the table (a hiring headache, a cash flow crunch, a marketing dead-end) and we workshop it together, peer to peer.
➡️ Skill and resource swaps – bartering time, expertise or equipment between businesses, so support doesn't always have to come with a price tag.
➡️ A proper welcome for new business owners setting up locally – even something as simple as a coffee catch-up – so nobody spends their first year here feeling as isolated as I did.
➡️ Marketing days – coming together to share ideas, what's working, what's not, and bounce fresh thinking off one another.
I'll be honest, I'm in two minds about where FSBN goes from here. It could become something our local small business community genuinely loves and leans on. Or it could be something I quietly close, and go back to doing great work while still feeling disconnected from the community around me.
Those of you who do know me in the local community know that I only want the best for those around me – 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺, 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.
I don't mind starting small. A monthly coffee catch-up with two or three people is a perfectly good beginning. Long term, I'd love to see FSBN grow to around 10 business owners or more a month, connecting, sharing and growing together.
FSBN was never meant to be a membership model, or a for-profit setup where workshops cost you an arm and a leg. I want it to be a space where your small business can genuinely thrive, learn and grow – nothing more complicated than that.
I'll ask directly: what would you like to see from FSBN in our local community? Are your small business needs being met right now? If not, what would you like to do about it?
And to anyone who'd rather see this fail than see it thrive – I'd ask you the same question a different way: would you honestly prefer FSBN disappear, and local businesses go back to figuring it out alone? Because that's the real alternative. Not me, not this group – just more small business owners quietly struggling in isolation. I'd rather build something than let that be the answer.
Drop a comment below with your thoughts on small business support for Yankalilla, Normanville and Carrickalinga – by small business owners, for small business owners – or flick me a DM if you wish to keep your response private.
I'll be at Lot 50 this Friday, 31st of July, from 9–11am with Alyssa. If you'd like to pop in for a chat or a connection, come say hello. I'd love to hear how we can support each other through the isolating – and sometimes frustrating – reality of running a small business.
– Andrew Mates
We've run events before. The most recent was a beach reset walk in February 2026, with 5 businesses registered to attend. On the day, only one person showed up – and they'd travelled from out of town. The locals who registered, people we knew, simply didn't come. There were no messages or apologies – they just never bothered to rock up.
It was the same story with earlier events too. Very little local support, and the people who did turn up were often the ones who'd travelled the furthest to get it.
I want to be upfront about one thing: I'd prefer FSBN stay free of council and corporate involvement. Not because they don't do good work, but because their values and vision are built for a different kind of business than the family-owned small businesses I want to support.
For small businesses – especially regional ones – it's only going to get tougher from here on out. And right now, council networking tends to mean drinks at a bar and some socializing which may happen one or two times a year.
That kind of networking has its place, but it's not an environment where you can workshop your business, learn something new, connect properly with other owners, or blow off steam when things get hard. And that's what I wanted FSBN to foster for the small business community.
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜'𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆:
➡️ Networking and connection, fostered by small business owners, for small business owners – no council, no corporate.
➡️ Workshops that upskill business owners, built around what small business owners actually say they need – not what council thinks we need. If you've got a skill or a lesson worth sharing, I'd love to hear from you.
➡️ A spotlight on local small business owners – promoting good people doing good things in our community.
➡️ Honest conversation about mental health and isolation in small business, and how coming together can help us feel more connected to the community we serve.
➡️ Celebrating wins, not just surviving hardship – milestones, big projects landed, good reviews, five years in business. FSBN shouldn't only be a space we turn to when things are tough.
➡️ Problem-solving round-tables – informal sessions where one business brings a real challenge to the table (a hiring headache, a cash flow crunch, a marketing dead-end) and we workshop it together, peer to peer.
➡️ Skill and resource swaps – bartering time, expertise or equipment between businesses, so support doesn't always have to come with a price tag.
➡️ A proper welcome for new business owners setting up locally – even something as simple as a coffee catch-up – so nobody spends their first year here feeling as isolated as I did.
➡️ Marketing days – coming together to share ideas, what's working, what's not, and bounce fresh thinking off one another.
I'll be honest, I'm in two minds about where FSBN goes from here. It could become something our local small business community genuinely loves and leans on. Or it could be something I quietly close, and go back to doing great work while still feeling disconnected from the community around me.
Those of you who do know me in the local community know that I only want the best for those around me – 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺, 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.
I don't mind starting small. A monthly coffee catch-up with two or three people is a perfectly good beginning. Long term, I'd love to see FSBN grow to around 10 business owners or more a month, connecting, sharing and growing together.
FSBN was never meant to be a membership model, or a for-profit setup where workshops cost you an arm and a leg. I want it to be a space where your small business can genuinely thrive, learn and grow – nothing more complicated than that.
I'll ask directly: what would you like to see from FSBN in our local community? Are your small business needs being met right now? If not, what would you like to do about it?
And to anyone who'd rather see this fail than see it thrive – I'd ask you the same question a different way: would you honestly prefer FSBN disappear, and local businesses go back to figuring it out alone? Because that's the real alternative. Not me, not this group – just more small business owners quietly struggling in isolation. I'd rather build something than let that be the answer.
Drop a comment below with your thoughts on small business support for Yankalilla, Normanville and Carrickalinga – by small business owners, for small business owners – or flick me a DM if you wish to keep your response private.
I'll be at Lot 50 this Friday, 31st of July, from 9–11am with Alyssa. If you'd like to pop in for a chat or a connection, come say hello. I'd love to hear how we can support each other through the isolating – and sometimes frustrating – reality of running a small business.
– Andrew Mates
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Where is it happening?
Lot 50 Yankalilla, 64 Main St, Yankalilla SA 5203, Australia, Victor Harbor
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or PublisherFleurieu Small Business Network
