Going up to a town that is regional seem a career-limiting step but for entrepreneurial Australians having an eye for untapped market opportunities the opposite can use. Business View meets two previous city-slickers success that is achieving nation Australia.
Making the noticeable change Restaurateur Sonia Anthony and spouse Nick Anthony, co-owners of Masons of Bendigo.
Relocating from the city up to a town that is regional prove a company b n for smart business owners who utilize the possibilities. We spoke to two business that is small who’ve done just that restaurateur Sonia Anthony and PR specialist Liane Sayer-Roberts.
Sonia Anthony
Co-owner, Masons of Bendigo, Victoria
Modern Australian cuisine in commercial surrounds that are chic a Saturday night in … Bendigo? Only when you’ve b ked fourteen days ahead, claims restaurateur Sonia Anthony.
A c k whoever CV includes providoring and c k experience from London to Southeast Asia, Anthony is hurried off her f t since starting Masons of Bendigo in 2012 in her fellow and husband chef Nick’s hometown in local Victoria.
“We spent 3 years involved in Singapore and came house once you understand we wanted to settle in Bendigo,” Sonia says. “We t k our time seeking premises and 12 months later t k over a r m in the D which became Masons.”
Named in honour associated with the lead-light manufacturer and glazier formerly headquartered on the internet site, the place comprises a modern Australian restaurant seating 65 and three function spaces. Start for lunch and supper Tuesday to Saturday, Masons plays host to conferences, festivities and a reliable blast of diners very happy to drop an average $100 a head on Nick’s ultra-fresh, farmgate-to-plate fare.
Did the decision to open an establishment with capital city posh raise eyebrows in the f die world 5 years ago?
A large amount of our buddies said, вЂWhat are you going to the country for?’“At the time” Sonia says.
“For us, there was clearly just a fantastic sense of community in Bendigo and central Victoria – an actual sense of spot. You understand who grows your f d, you understand who makes your wine, you’re connected for the reason that method. We knew right from the start our focus would be on neighborh d components, forging direct relationships with Victorian producers and winemakers and championing what was here. We’d seen things that are amazing offer in Singapore from all over the world but what’s produced the following is of equal quality, and we’re passionate about promoting that as much as we are able to.”
It’s a recipe that’s found favour with diners from near and far. Around 80 percent of Masons’ business arises from perform customers, a lot of whom result in the 90-minute train ride from Melbourne to take an display at the Bendigo Art Gallery and feast on Nick’s вЂroaming menus’. The latter function signature meals, including chicken and ginger steamed dumplings, tempura-fried Moreton Bay bug tails and san choy bao duck spring rolls.
“Bendigo’s moved beyond the country that is traditional fare associated with the seaf d and chip store, the bakery and also the milk bar,” Sonia claims. “We’ve got cafes and restaurants here that rival any upmarket Melbourne joint. Many individuals are doing their thing, and carrying it out very well, and a sense is created by it of excitement for people to our city. We’re fortunate that individuals have actually embraced our ethos by to arrive and coming back and dining with us. For us, it is an enjoyable experience to stay business in Bendigo!”
Liane Sayer-Roberts
Founder, Sauce Communications, Leeton, NSW
Relocating in 2004 along with her then-husband from Sydney towards the NSW country town of Leeton – population 6733 – saw communications professional Liane Sayer-Roberts initially at a loss as to where she will dsicover interesting work. Yet not for long.
Her choice to take a year’s leave without pay from a government role and begin freelance that is working a handful of clients opened her eyes towards the prospect of a regionally-based PR consultancy targeting agribusiness clients.
Thirteen years on, Sayer-Roberts is at the helm of Sauce Communications, A pr that is thriving with offices in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne in addition to its head office in the bush. Many of her team are former town dwellers who’ve followed partners to your nation and been happy 
to get a way to continue their professional jobs.
Sauce delivers solutions including occasions management, communications strategy and stakeholder engagement up to a slew of government agencies and agribusinesses including SunRice, Australia Post, Australian Pork, Victorian Farmers Federation plus the Rural Industries Research and developing Corporation.
A moment in time Liane Sayer-Roberts (fifth from left) with her team in 2016 in the Riverina town of Leeton, NSW, where in fact the agency is headquartered.
The firm was known as 2017 and 2016 Medium Consultancy that is australian of 12 months by the PR Institute of Australia, 2015 Australian Medium Consultancy of the season by CommsCon, and contains received a few NSW State Awards for Excellence.
Definately not as an impediment, Sauce’s rural location is one of its selling points that are biggest, says Sayer-Roberts.
“Back once I started, the theory that you may work remotely within an effective way, using technology and wise practice, wasn’t widely accepted,” she says.
“For a bit we operated as I started to see the opportunity we had to carve out an incredible niche if I were based in the city but around two years in, when the business had begun to gather some momentum. There’s a stack of possibilities to make use of companies that are l king to attain rural Australia; when we refocused on that market, everything began to fall into spot and from that point onwards we actually embraced our location.
“We’ve built our reputation as being a rural company that helps other local and rural organizations tell their stories, as well as the one that links organisations with rural markets – it is our defining element and another of our biggest skills.”
The development of online communications in the last few years has helped dispel concerns town customers may have about the practicalities of using A pr that is out-of-town consultancy.
“Even if you’re both within the city, it’s maybe not as though the truth is your customers every week and we’ve become adept at communicating using them in different ways,” Sayer-Roberts says. “Once we’ve had a couple of months working together and refined that, it solidifies the relationship and the interaction, in the years ahead.”