Ash Bolt
A Torquay builder has revealed the toll the pandemic has had on his business, with rising material costs and delays forcing him to close his doors for good.
Anthony Lococo had ran his own business, Lococo Build, for the past seven years, but said it was almost impossible to continue running the business.
“After two years of struggling to get materials and trades, and costs continuingly blowing out and eating into anything that even looked like a profit margin, I decided at Christmas that I just couldn’t face another year of it,” he said.
“My wife and I built this company from the ground up and I put in a huge amount of time in educating myself and really pushing myself to make sure we had a well systemised business and until COVID hit, I thought we were really starting to kick goals.
“I know I’m not alone in the industry with these challenges, but it just seemed that no matter what we did, we were consistently going backwards because of materials constantly being delayed, struggling to find trades when we needed them, prices going through the roof and no positive end in sight.
“I got to the point where I couldn’t even face the thought of going into the office. Having to let my team go is devastating, but I don’t realistically have any choice. And sadly, I know of two other builders in my area who have also decided to close their businesses in the past year for exactly the same reasons.”
A survey last year on material shortages by Master Builders Australia revealed 98 per cent of Victorian builders had been affected by delays and price rises, with wait times for some materials blowing out to six months.
According to Master Builders Victoria acting chief executive Tristan Moseley, the plight of Lococo Homes was not an isolated case.
“Unfortunately, we are hearing that many of our members are really struggling to keep their heads above water at the moment because of these ongoing challenges with materials and trades,” he said.
Mr Lococo has committed to finalising all his current projects but said picking an end date for his business would be a challenge.
“We’ve got one project that we thought, even allowing for some serious time blowouts, would have been finished well before Easter, but Easter has been and gone and we’re still waiting on some materials and trying to lock in trades, so it could possibly take at least another month to get it finished,” he said.
“You just can’t run a successful business like this, you’re just belting your head against a brick wall.”
Despite his decision to walk away from his business, Mr Lococo is keen to stay involved with the building sector by taking a training course at TAFE and becoming a teacher to young tradies.
“I’ve learnt a lot over the past 25 years and I’m hoping I can share some of that with young tradies and help them avoid some of the pitfalls I learnt the hard way,” he said.
“I love the building game, it’s just a pity that COVID has made it so tough to run a business.”
