For new contractors chasing work on the Bowen Basin mines, home-based services in Andergrove or Ooralea, food vans and market stalls, and B&Bs from the northern beaches to Eungella: a first website arranged from your own words and photos, with a .com.au registered to you and business email set up alongside it. You see the finished draft before you pay.
New businesses in Mackay tend to split two ways: contractors who want to sell to the resources sector, and local services started from home. The first group is read by procurement staff checking whether you're eligible and insured; the second has to work within Mackay Regional Council's home-based business rules. A first site can do both jobs if it's planned for them.
Someone deciding whether to send you a work request wants the plain facts in one place: what you supply, your ABN, the insurances you hold, your crew and equipment, and the sites or towns you can reach. Certificates of currency are usually sent on request, so the page says they're available and the form asks for them.
BHP's Local Buying Program asks for a significant physical presence in the Mackay, Isaac or Central Highlands council areas, run from a permanent location with local staff. A workshop or yard address on the contact page, with a photo of it, backs that up; a post office box doesn't.
Council's planning scheme guide allows a home business up to six customers a day and two on site at once, with visits between 7am and 7pm Monday to Saturday and 9am to 5pm on Sundays and public holidays. A "by appointment" line or a booking request form keeps the day spread out.
Council requires a roadside vending approval for each specific location, static or itinerant, so a food van or coffee cart trades from set spots. A short "find us" section with each spot and its days, updated when you email us, saves customers driving to the wrong beach.
The council area runs from Seaforth and Shoal Point through Mackay itself to Sarina and up the valley through Walkerston and Mirani. Moranbah is in Isaac and Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays, so if you'll work there, list them separately: people search by their own town.
The home rules exclude retail, hire, industrial and service industry businesses, and cap the business area at the smallest of 60 square metres, a quarter of the house or a tenth of the site. When you move into a unit at Paget or a shopfront, the site gets a new address; the domain and email stay the same.
Business Launchpad, the state's tool for listing which licences and permits apply, and Mentoring for Growth sessions are the same across Queensland and are covered on our page for new Brisbane businesses. Trades licensing is on our page for Mackay tradies. This section is about what's particular to Mackay.
For a new business supplying the mines, the program to know is the Local Buying Program, run by C-Res, which has its head office in Mackay, in partnership with BHP. It was set up in 2012 for small businesses in the Isaac and Mackay council areas, and lets them bid for supply work released by BHP and BMA. C-Res says suppliers are paid seven days after the invoice arrives, and it listed 559 approved suppliers as at 8 November 2026. Its eligibility criteria ask for annual turnover under $10 million, a significant physical presence in the Central Highlands, Isaac or Mackay council areas with staff who live locally, an ABN and GST registration if required, workers compensation if you employ people, and at least $10 million public liability cover shown by certificates of currency. Whitsunday isn't on the list. C-Res takes questions on 1800 536 663. A website isn't one of the criteria, but buyers and advisers will look you up, and a clear capability page saves a lot of back and forth.
Starting from home is governed by the Mackay Region Planning Scheme 2017, which replaced the old Mackay City, Sarina Shire and Mirani Shire schemes. Council's User Guide #13 says a home business is accepted development, with no application needed, if it uses 30 square metres or less, only residents work in it and no customers visit, provided it's in one of the listed zones and no relevant overlay applies. Bigger operations can still avoid an application if they meet the Home-based business code: on top of the limits above, that means one non-illuminated sign of up to 0.3 square metres, sealed parking for clients, no outdoor storage and no more than two employees who live elsewhere. A bed and breakfast is limited to two guest bedrooms, or four in a rural or rural residential zone, and a maximum stay of four weeks. Overlays such as the airport environs, or bushfire hazard for a B&B, can make an application necessary. Council's planning staff take enquiries on 1300 622 529.
Food has its own approvals. Council's food licensing page says it only considers home-based food businesses preparing low-risk food, such as cakes, snacks, jams and chutneys. A licence for a one-off event stall must be applied for at least 30 working days beforehand, and roadside vending needs an approval for each location you trade from. For a new home baker or food van, those dates decide when the website can start promoting a stall or taking orders.
We're an Adelaide team and work with Mackay businesses by phone and email; we don't have staff in Queensland. One of the two sites below belongs to a Queensland plumber; the other is an Adelaide engineering firm. You send your words and photos, we send a draft link, and you pay once you've approved it.
Neither client is in Mackay, and we don't call them start-ups because we don't know how long each had been trading when it came to us. We picked them because a new contractor needs the same things: services set out plainly, proof of the work, and a form that collects the right details first time.
A licensed Queensland plumber and gas fitter working for homes and businesses. One page covers six services, a 13-photo project gallery that swipes on mobile, client testimonials, a protected contact form and tap-to-call.
Visit the M.J. Debney site (opens in a new tab) See it in our portfolio
Adelaide structural engineers designing retaining walls, slabs and stormwater systems. Four service pages, 16 articles, tap-to-call and a quote form that shows fee ranges and accepts file uploads, so drawings arrive with the enquiry.
Visit the Simple Engineers site (opens in a new tab) See it in our portfolio
“They were very helpful and envisioned exactly what I was wanting for my website. They created the site very promptly and cost efficient.”
★ 5.0 from 33 Google reviews (opens in a new tab)
See all 14 recent client sites in our portfolio.
$399
One page with what you do, the towns and sites you cover, your ABN and insurances, and a contact form, with the .com.au and business email set up together.
Fits a new contractor or home business
$899
A home page, a capability page with equipment and insurances, and a contact page with a form, your Mackay address and a photo of the yard.
$1,499
For separate household and commercial work, several service lines or a B&B with room pages, plus project case studies, a quote form that takes file uploads and Google Analytics visitor stats.
The things C-Res asks about, set out clearly: what you supply, your ABN, your Mackay, Isaac or Central Highlands address, your local crew and the insurances you hold, with certificates of currency available on request. The program's criteria don't mention a website, and we can't speak for how C-Res assesses an application. What a site does is let buyers check you quickly.
Often not. Council's User Guide #13 says a home business of 30 square metres or less, with no visiting customers and only residents working, is accepted development in the listed zones, and larger ones can avoid an application by meeting the Home-based business code. Retail, hire, industrial and service industry businesses aren't allowed at home. Planning staff on 1300 622 529 can check your property.
Yes, and it should. Council needs an approval for each roadside location you trade from, so a page listing your approved spots and days tells customers exactly where to go. We update it whenever you email us, and those changes are covered by hosting. Market stalls are licensed separately, at least 30 working days before a one-off event.
Yes. A quote form with file uploads, like the one on the Simple Engineers site, lets a site manager attach drawings, a scope of works or photos of the job, so you can price it without a site visit first. For simple jobs, tap-to-call on every page is often enough.
By phone and email. We talk through what you'll offer, you email your words and photos, and we send a draft link to check on your phone or on site. You ask for as many changes as you like and pay once you approve it. We reply within 24 hours.
Tell us what you'll supply or offer, who you want to sell to, from mine site buyers to households, and where you'll work. We'll check the .com.au, quote the site and send a draft; you pay only after you've approved it.
We reply within 24 hours. Prefer email? info@webcraftstudio.com.au