Phil Bowler spends four days a week at his shop, Titan Computers, but said he did not take any income from the business – instead living off his pension and other investments.
He said the government treated small businesses “like a cash cow” without offering “a great deal of help”.
He said: “They can put the minimum wage up to £23,000 a year but a small business would have to turnover an extra £50,000 a year to pay that employee.”
Mr Bowler said the biggest issue for him was VAT. Businesses with a turnover of more than £90,000 a year have to register for VAT payments at a rate of 20%, external.
He said: “When 20% of your takings has to go to the government – that is a massive amount of money and the VAT alone is killing businesses in every high street.”