Today, she believes there's about 30 people selling flowers in the region and the shops are getting quieter and quieter.

"People used to come into the shop. They had to because there wasn't online," she said.

"It's a challenge. You don't get the profits in small business that there used to be."

A report released this week has found the experience of the Classic Country Rose business owner to be common, with the number of small business owners expecting to see growth this financial year down on the year before.

Ms Lewis said the cost of rent, freight and wages had gone up, but customers often still expect to pay the cheapest price they find online.

"We're all guilty of it," she said. "But the cost is we're not going to have that shop front to walk into."

Lander's Music business owner Ben Lander said the heyday for his Summer Street shop was probably 20 years ago.

During the boom times he employed up to nine people.

Now Lander's has four staff members, which includes its owner.

Mr Lander said a major challenge for the music store was manufacturing costs of instruments had gone down, so things could be sold cheaper online, but day-to-day expenses had gone up.

"A lot of customers don't appreciate how much it costs to run a business," he said.

"Rent and the general cost of employing people continues to go up.

"But national and global competition pushes us to the lowest possible price."

The researchers interviewed more than 800 small business owners and found nearly a third had ideas to grow their business but were reluctant to do so, due to the state of the market.

Ms Lewis said with the retail sector the way it is she wouldn't open another store.

"I think it's nice to have somewhere people can walk into but it's got to be profitable, which is a juggle now," she said.

Having cut back staff hours and increased her own, Ms Lewis said her six-day a week job doesn't end when she shuts the doors of the shop.

"You work harder now than you did 10 years ago, spreading yourself thinner," she said.

Mr Lander said he had fabulous customers who understood the value of being able to walk into the store and ask about the product, he also had customers with the highest expectations he'd seen in 30 years in retail.

"People expect to see the range they see online," he said.