For the 1000-member strong Northern Midlands Business Association, a leaf should be taken from the Tasmanian government's book on consulting with and understanding the needs of industries before establishing supportive policy structures.

"The Tasmanian state government has, to our mind, done a fantastic job," said Gordon Williams, executive officer of the association - the largest regional business association in the state.

But it is important a federal government had a similar understanding of the actual needs of the "diverse" range of businesses, according to Mr Williams.

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"Otherwise you have a shotgun approach to policy where you'll do something like reduce company tax," he said. "It's a nice thing to have a single policy for example, say reducing company tax, but what about lot of businesses that work really, really, really hard but didn't make a profit last year because of investing in [research and development]," he said.

"They don't pay tax, therefore there is no benefit of giving them a tax cut. But you haven't rewarded them for the fantastic effort they've put in."

Mr Williams said he was constantly amazed by the state's "entrepreneurial spirit" and the "world-beating" work that resulted from it - from new agricultural food markets, to ideas for solving energy problems.

"These are very very clever day-to-day Tasmanians who are putting their careers, their money, everything they've got on the line, they deserve every bit of support the governments can give them."

"There is no silver bullet policy to maximising the potential success of business, there has to be consultation, research, dialogue and a tailored series of programs to meet those needs."

To the organisation's members, this would be an effective way of making sure taxpayers dollars have the "biggest impact" on the success of business.

Legana-based agricultural manufacturer Marshall Machinery is one of those businesses Mr Williams pointed too, having recently developed an innovative substrate processor for strawberry and other hydroponic food production.

Managing director Rod Marshall said it would "certainly be nice" to have more support.

"It is challenging - it's a big investment and obviously we are always wanting to create opportunities or solutions for existing problems, which are not always motivated by money," Mr Marshall said.

"The irony that we've discovered is that getting new products established is difficult - once things are going, well the government is your best friend. When things are difficult, they're not really so interested."

"You're putting your neck on the line to get things happening."

Matt Bennett, director of Gorse Power, which is working to turn gorse into compacted biomass fuel, has faced similar issues.

"We've done our research and development ourselves, and it's been a bit of a long haul," Mr Bennett said.

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