IPSWICH’S business scene is thriving, with 284 new ventures registered in the past quarter alone.
The city’s growth mirrors a national trend where younger entrepreneurs and business owners are reshaping how businesses are built, run and sustained.
The largest spike in new business registrations over the past decade came in the September 2023 quarter, with 866 new businesses launched.
Charlie Robbins and Lauren Van Den Elsen, the new owners of The Rusty Nail on Nicholas St, are among those leading Ipswich’s latest wave of business ownership.
“Owning a business in 2025 is a different experience to owning one in 2015 or any year before that,” Mr Robbins said.
He said the landscape was always changing and Ipswich was no exception.
“The statistics of younger business owners being more optimistic probably speaks to the tiring of the previous generation after their own journey of ups and downs.
“We all reach a terminus in our careers, and very few of us get to the end with the passion of a 25-year-old. For now at least, there is no slowing us down.”
For Ms Van Den Elsen, her marketing background has been invaluable.
“I am extremely fortunate to have a strong understanding of marketing and to be able to use these skills for the betterment of our businesses every day,” she said.
“Utilising social media and digital marketing isn’t optional if we want to be successful, it’s essential.
“In the first month of taking ownership of The Rusty Nail, our Instagram reach grew by 444 per cent with the power of what some people would say are ‘silly videos’.”
She said the pair were focused on moving forward step by step, but also hoped to one day look back on their early energy and ambition.
The latest Hnry Sole Trader Pulse, an independent quarterly survey of the nation’s 1.6 million sole traders, highlights a sharp generational divide.
According to the survey, 59 per cent of 17-40 year-olds rate their business’s financial outlook positively, compared to 45 per cent of those aged 35-54 and just 32 per cent of those over 55.
Hnry Australia Managing Director Karan Anand said this highlighted the resilience of the country’s emerging business leaders.
“They’re confident, tech-savvy and optimistic – and that shows up in how they operate,” he said.
“Their agility is a real strength, and it’s paying off in a softer economy.”
