NSW Small Business Commissioner, Ms Kalina Koloff, was in Orange over the weekend as part of her regional tour for NSW Small Business Month.

The visit follows the launch of the NSW Small Business Commission's new Insights Paper, ‘NSW Small Business: A Story of Diversity and Dynamism’, which shows a different face of small business in NSW and highlights the growing contribution of knowledge-based industries, digital technology and innovation that support business growth.

After stopping by the Commission's stall at the Australian National Field Days, Ms Koloff visited the new premises of local doggy daycare Diesel & Blue, with founder Danielle Haase one of the case studies in the Insights Paper.

“I was part of some focus groups for small business a couple of months ago and was then featured in their most recent paper,” Ms Haase told Orange City Life.

“[The Commissioner] asked to come and see our place because she was interested in the story we’re telling… the fact that I'd had one career in executive pharmaceuticals for 16 years and then relocated to the country and started my business, essentially having another career later in life.”

The Insights Paper points out that just 7.7 per cent of small business owners are under 30, and the stereotype of the young start-up founder doesn’t really reflect the reality of most small businesses.

Another key insight of the paper was the rapid adoption of AI technology by NSW small businesses, with 47 per cent of small businesses using AI tools to support their work.

It was something the Commissioner was keen to explore at Diesel & Blue, said Ms Haase.

“She was also very interested in the fact that I've recently been shortlisted among the top three women in regional business for an NBN Innovate grant for what we're doing around AI cameras and boarding,” she said.

With the recent move to what had previously been the local RSPCA premises, Diesel & Blue have expanded their offering to include boarding. It is something only made possible through the use of AI cameras, Ms Haase said, which allows her to keep a close eye on the safety and comfort of the dogs in their care.

“I have always been reluctant to move into boarding because I didn't think that I could service it properly with staffing overnight and just the extra cost associated with a service that's overnight,” she explained.

“With AI these days, the technology that's available and the fact that we've got NBN to the premises means that we've got really fast upload and download speeds… it allows me to be able to view those cameras from anywhere and the AI component has all sorts of alarms set on it to wake me up at night if there's anything unusual, if there was someone on site, if there was excessive barking, excessive pacing, anything that's sort of unusual behaviour..

“So [the Commissioner] was coming really to see those cameras.”

The NSW Small Business Commission's NSW Small Business: A Story of Diversity and Dynamism Insights Paper can be found at www.smallbusiness.nsw.gov.au