DOING BUSINESS IN VICTORIA
Running a business in Victoria in 2026 feels very different to running one only a few years ago.
Households are watching what they spend. Businesses are watching every cost. Wages, ingredients, utilities, insurance, rent and financing costs have all put pressure on margins, while customers themselves are dealing with their own cost-of-living pressures.
The numbers paint an interesting picture.
Victoria’s 2026/27 Budget forecasts real economic growth of 1.5 per cent for the year, unemployment of 4.75 per cent and inflation in Melbourne of 3.5 per cent. At the same time, business investment in Victoria has grown significantly since 2020.
So Victoria certainly isn’t closed for business.
But doing business here has arguably become harder.
The Reserve Bank has reported that company insolvency rates remain elevated in hospitality and construction, with wage and input costs contributing to the pressure. Recent ABS business data paints an equally confronting picture. In June 2026, 55 per cent of accommodation and food service businesses reported increasing operating expenses, while 47 per cent expected difficulty meeting their financial commitments over the following four weeks.
For anyone actually operating a hospitality business, those figures probably aren’t surprising.
We have felt the change at Drizzl’d too.
Compared with last year, the number of individual bills we process has most definitely reduced. Customers appear to be more selective about when they go out and where they spend their money.
But something else has happened.
Our average bill has increased considerably.
And when we adjust our revenue for inflation, overall revenue has remained remarkably close to where it was last year.
We think that tells an important story about the Victorian consumer.
People haven’t necessarily stopped spending. They’re thinking harder about where they spend.
When customers do decide to go out, businesses have to give them a reason to believe the experience is worth their money.
For us, that reinforces something we’ve believed about Drizzl’d for a long time.
We aren’t simply selling doughnuts, churros or gelato.
We’re selling the feeling of reward.
It might be dessert after surviving a terrible week. A catch-up with someone you haven’t seen in months. A family night out. A first date. A celebration. Or simply deciding that today you deserve something good.
In a cost-of-living environment, those small affordable rewards still matter.
That brings us to franchising.
Starting any business in Victoria right now carries risk. Buying a franchise carries risk too. There is no business model that can guarantee success, and anyone suggesting otherwise deserves some healthy scepticism.
But there is an important difference between starting completely from scratch and entering a business where years of mistakes, systems, processes, branding and customer behaviour have already been tested.
That’s where we believe the right franchise can have an advantage.
Drizzl’d has already had to operate through difficult economic conditions. We’ve learnt what works, what doesn’t and what customers continue to value when their spending habits change.
Our systems weren’t created in a boardroom for a hypothetical store. They’ve been developed inside a real Melbourne dessert business serving real customers.
And perhaps most importantly, we don’t believe the role of a franchisor should end when someone pays a franchise fee and opens the doors.
If we’re asking someone to invest their money, time and future into Drizzl’d, then we have a responsibility to remain invested in growing the company alongside them.
The Victorian economy isn’t easy right now.
Maybe that’s exactly why choosing the right business matters more than ever.
The question for someone thinking about starting a business in Victoria in 2026 shouldn’t simply be:
“What business can I open?”
It should be:
“What business will people still choose when every dollar matters?”
We believe that’s one of the most important questions a future business owner can ask
