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As an avid cook passionate about local produce, when Rom Blount moved to Collie in WA’s South West, she couldn’t find a shop that met her needs: a one stop shop where she could buy all the goodies she needed to make a great meal.
Not one to let a small challenge put her off her culinary creations, Rom decided to start her own small business with her husband, Steve. They were inspired by a vision – to curate a unique and delicious range of speciality foods championing small batch artisan food makers from South West WA.
And so, The Collie Providore opened its doors in 2023 and has been serving up delicious specialty foods ever since.
With a convenient location on the main street of Collie and plenty of parking, the shop is also the ideal spot for a takeaway coffee or cup of tea for locals and those travelling through town.
Collie calling
Surrounded by lakes and national parks, Collie is an nature lover’s playground, and with recent significant investment in the town’s attractions including adventure trails, accommodation and hospitality, the tourism industry has been growing rapidly. In 2024, it was awarded Bronze in the WA Top Tourism Town Awards and named as a Premier Trail Town.
“We always wanted a country property, we looked at multiple different places trying to find the right location for us. Collie was great because of the proximity to Perth and also Bunbury,” Rom explained.
The Collie Providore team say they are thrilled to be part of the diversification of the town but running a regional small business is not without its challenges.
“We're not remote, but in a regional area that's not necessarily on delivery maps, so getting things to site can be a big challenge,” Rom said. “Transport companies don’t necessarily go to where I need stuff picked up from because I focus on products from within a small area, so if I can’t get it delivered, I go and collect it myself which takes up a lot of time.”
Serving up SBDC services
Anyone in WA that registers a new Australian Business Number (ABN) when starting their business receives an email detailing the free support available to them through the SBDC. When Rom received her welcome email, she jumped straight on our website.
“I used all the online tools and guides to help create our business plan and start working through what we needed to get together and what licences we would require for our business,” Rom explained.
“We also did some workshops where I was able to interact with other business owners in the area, and we now have a really good network of people who we can bounce ideas off and collaborate with.”
Rom also utilised the SBDC Regional free business advisory service while planning for Christmas, which a very busy time of year for retail.
“We developed a plan so I could be prepared in advance of the busy period, we talked over the phone and in person to work out the best places to put each product in store so that when people walked in, they knew where to find the things they needed,” Rom said.
Feasting on the future
While The Collie Providore is still relatively new to the small business world, Rom feels very positive about the future.
“We've been looking at what we may be able to do to use all of our staff members’ skills and what aspects of our business we could grow and develop,” Rom said.
“For example, an unexpected part of our business when we opened was, we thought we were going to be mainly selling food, but we have realised that people also consider us to be a giftware shop, so when they’re planning a special treat for someone, they come to us for that.”
With plenty of room to change and grow, The Collie Providore will be serving up artisan goods to tourists and locals for a long time to come.
More information
- Find out the steps you can follow to start and grow your business
- Check out our range of free business templates, tools and guides
- Access business advisory services in the Perth metro area and regional WA
- Read more WA small business stories
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