INDIANAPOLIS — The rising cost of fuel could lead to the end of the road for some local businesses as prices dig deep into their operating budgets.
Larry Roberson has been the president of the Capitol City Coach for the last 20 years.
“I’m afraid that this is it. My wife and I have owned this business for 20 years and this is our income. This is it. We have nothing else. If we are caused to shut down, then we are broke,” Roberson said.
With the recent rise in gas prices, Roberson is afraid to raise his prices because he doesn’t want to lose business. He said if the prices continue to skyrocket, he could lose his business.
“We are trying to make sure our fuel costs are a minimum,” Roberson said.
Roberson says his business isn’t even back to pre-pandemic levels.
When Roberson first started his company, gas prices were hovering around $2 a gallon. They're now double that.
“We went from about $900,000 a year in sales to $197,000 and now we are back up to $400,000,” Roberson said.
Roberson has had to raise his prices by about 5%.
Roberson isn’t the only business owner who is feeling the impact of the rising gas prices.
Emerson Borbor, the owner at Pronta Pizzeria for the last nine months, said the amount of people ordering delivery has gone down recently.
“The last 5 days, I’ve noticed our delivery service on the internet is getting slow but not inside as you can tell,” Borbor said.
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