BUSINESS owners have been doing it tough on the Southern Downs, with a total of 57 bankruptcies recorded in the region last year.

The rates of bankruptcies almost doubled in the second half of 2015, according to figures from the Australian Financial Security Authority.

A total of 21 bankruptcies were recorded in the first half of last year while a further 21 were declared in the September quarter and 15 went bust in the December quarter.

Warwick Chamber of Commerce president Lewis von Stieglitz said although business was tough, there was one common pitfall for businesses.

"There will always be a number of businesses going out of business - that's a fact of life," Mr von Stieglitz said.

"No specific industry or particular part of the market has suffered but the one's that have gone bust are the ones not thinking about where business needs to go.

"Business people need to plan to be doing it tough for a while, and there's probably been a fair few businesses struggling for a while and without a real upturn in economy and have not been able to last the distance."

Mr von Stieglitz said even with the best intentions, sufficient planning was the only way to ensure the longevity of a business regardless of the industry.

"Proper planning means all the hard work is much more likely to pay off," he said.

"People should plan ahead about what they're going to do and get a second opinion from someone who can tell them the hard truth of what they need to last

"They might need to be told they need to have a certain amount of money to last a certain time because they can't expect to make profit right from day one."