Successfully rebranding a small business can feel daunting at first, but when armed with the right tools and expert tips, it can be a seamless and exciting process. 

Decide your look: 

After taking over the business over a decade ago, Rob brainstormed with Localsearch on what to rebrand to from the existing AI Supercheap Tyres name. Eventually, he settled on a nickname he earned from a group of locals, finding the right balance of personality and nostalgia.

“When people call up, and they remember the name from our ads, I feel like I’ve known them for life,” Rob said.

Sarah rebranded her business after owning it for two years, renaming it from Flowers by van Til to Mittagong Flower Merchant. She wanted it to feel like her own, rather than one she inherited.

“I’m really proud of the progress our business has made, but I felt it was the time to be bold and reinvent ourselves a bit in order to grow further. The rebrand changed the business’ name, but it still carries the character of the business – the last thing I want to do is no longer be recognisable to our growing base of local customers.”

Play the long game: 

Rubber Rob said “it definitely shouldn’t be an overnight change, you don’t want your loyal customers to walk in and not know who you are. My advice would be to trust your gut, because it is worth doing, just not too quickly”.

Adam Boote, Director of Growth at Localsearch, said there is a sweet spot for each rebrand. “Typically it’s about 18 months, like we did for Rob, depending on how dramatic the rebrand is. Unless something has happened, you should try to weave gentle changes in over time so that it feels almost seamless – something we monitor very closely across any small business’ organic search results, customer feedback, and other SEO measures.”

Keep your advertising consistent: 

Adam said “there is no reason to pull back your advertising and marketing – if anything, it’s more important than ever to make those channels work for you and your business. A simple radio ad or boosted post can be enough to keep your customers in the know of who you are with ‘same team, new name’ key messaging.”

In Rubber Rob’s case, “we wanted to reposition ourselves as an all-round mechanical store, so we just moved a few words. That’s what’s really strong with Localsearch, you can customise the customers you reach,” Rob said. 

Sarah manages her own channels like Facebook and Instagram and in your rebranding strategy on social media, strongly encourages fellow SMB owners to take advantage.

Leading proptech Enviz is revolutionising the residential design and construction industry through its partnership with Hall & Hart, a well-known design and construction firm specialising in knockdown rebuilds in Sydney. This collaboration brings a groundbreaking approach to home design, providing clients with an immersive virtual reality (VR) experience that greatly enhances visualisation and decision-making.

Traditionally, residential design has relied heavily on 2D plans and 3D renderings, which often fall short of providing clients with a true sense of their future home. Recognising this gap, Hall & Hart have integrated Enviz’s VR technology into their offering, giving customers a fully immersive and interactive design experience from the initial sketches to the final model. This approach has significantly improved the efficiency and accuracy of the design process. 

“Not everyone can visualise from a 2D drawing, and even from a 3D drawing, our customers often struggle to really see what the end product will look like,” said Craig Sutton, General Manager of Hall & Hart. “Our goal is to help homeowners visualise their future home as best they can, as early as they can. This minimises the risk of disappointment or dissatisfaction and costly rework later in the process.”

Addressing these challenges, Enviz’s platform provides property professionals with the tools to better visualise, experience, and showcase their unbuilt properties. By allowing homeowners to walk through their home designs in a fully immersive VR environment, Enviz brings a new level of detail and realism, enabling them to explore their homes in real-time, make informed decisions, and avoid costly changes down the line.

“Customers can walk around their house in their own time, show friends and family, get their feedback, and consolidate their thinking. This level of detail just isn’t possible with traditional plans,” Craig detailed. “For us, VR is a real workhorse in getting the design resolved and issues worked out before we move too far into the process.”

Hall & Hart provide clients with a comprehensive walkthrough guide. Clients are encouraged to walk around the block and check the placement of elements like gas meters and water tanks. Inside, they can evaluate window sizes and other details.

“We had one client who actually sat in his bathtub within the VR model to determine the view from the window,” said Craig. “He realised he wanted the window changed so he’d get a better view out of the bathtub. This level of customisation and attention to detail is only possible through using Enviz’s VR technology.”

Craig highlights a recent project on Sydney’s Northern Beaches where the positive impact of VR technology saved budgets and heartache. “After walking through the VR model, the client decided to remove a separate living area that was cramping the open-plan section. This early change, made possible by the VR experience, saved us from making costly adjustments later in the build.”

“This change could have taken three to five months to identify without VR, leading to significant time and cost implications for both us and the client,” Craig noted. “Time is money, and being able to make updates quickly and identify challenges early has been a game-changer for our business and our clients.”

Enviz’s platform is completely mobile, allowing property developers, sales agents, and buyers to engage on-site or off-site, in-person or remotely, in real-time. This flexibility is further enhanced by the platform’s compatibility with VR headsets, mobile devices, and web browsers, making it accessible anywhere, anytime.

“As the demand for personalised and high-quality home design grows, the integration of AR and VR technology is becoming essential. Our partnership with Hall & Hart demonstrates how innovative tools can significantly enhance both the client experience and the design process,” said Michael Shaw, CEO of Enviz. “We are excited to lead this transformation in the industry and set a new standard for residential design and construction.”

Craig echoed these sentiments. “Every build faces similar challenges. The improvements we’ve seen with VR technology are substantial and would benefit the entire industry. Clients increasingly expect customisation and a high-quality experience. As awareness of these services grows, it will become almost a requirement for builders to offer VR technology to meet customer expectations.”

For more information about Enviz and their innovative VR solutions, please visit www.enviz.co.

CyberPower has launched a unique range of rack solutions in Australia that come with a range of unique smart features including efficient diamond shaped cooling holes. These complement their existing products, including rack UPS and PDU to significantly enhance the functionality and reliability of IT infrastructure and efficiently meet the specific needs of data centres and IT servers.

CyberPower Systems Oceania GM ANZ Robert Hartvigsen explained, “CyberPower offers a variety of mainstream rack solutions, including rack enclosures and wall mount racks. Rack enclosures feature removable side panels for installation flexibility, perforated front and rear panels for enhanced ventilation and various optional accessories for added functionality. Wall mount racks provide perforated front panels, easy installation and a range of optional accessories. These racks help make IT infrastructure, data centres and IT servers more effective and more efficient which saves time and money.”

CyberPower has specifically designed its new models to be lighter, smaller, space-saving racks in order to best organise, secure and protect IT equipment.

Hartvigsen added, “We can safely say this as the main material used to manufacture CyberPower Racks is Steel Plate Cold-rolled Commercial or SPCC, that is particularly well known for its lightweight and high strength properties and which significantly helps to organise, secure and protect IT equipment effectively.”

There are three types of CyberPower Racks – Rack Enclosures, Open Frame Racks and Wall Mount.

The Rack Enclosure has been designed with adjustable mounting depth enabling users to better meet their space requirements in demanding IT environments and in turn satisfy different installation needs. They also have Device Ventilation Capability to prevent overheating and their perforated door and ventilated top can further optimise ventilation ensuring high air flow efficiency. There’s a caster kit to enhance mobility and the front door, rear door and side panels are all equipped with keyed-alike locks, providing users with peace of mind that the equipment is well-protected.

 The Open Frame also has Adjustable Mounting Depth and boasts easy to use cable managers which can bundle, separate or route cables to make sure cables are easy to access and identify, allowing users to keep the rack systems tidy and prevent cables from getting tangled. These racks also feature leveling feet to enhance stability so the rack enclosure can be fixed firmly on the ground when casters are installed and the Caster Kit for mobility and Device Ventilation Capability.

The Wall Mount racks also have Adjustable Mounting Depth, Device Ventilation Capability and Easy Cable Access along with a 90° swing-out rear door for convenient access to the rear of the racks and thus easy equipment and cable management.

Hartvigsen said, “These unique and robust CyberPower racks have more smart features than almost any other type of rack. They have improved diamond shaped cooling holes which are far superior to the usual round holes and are a very high quality product compared to many other tier one racks. They even come in flat pack options for building onsite where space is an issue, have toolless mounting slots, included cable rings for cable management, Rack U numbering, integrated grounding points and clever, space-saving enclosures. This makes them ideal for corporates, education facilities, government departments, data centres, server rooms and back offices. In short, CyberPower Racks are the cost effective, reliable, peace of mind option that is there to protect, extend the life of and organise your most valuable equipment.”

For more information on CyberPower Racks go to:
https://www.cyberpower.com/au/en/product/series/rack_enclosures

https://www.cyberpower.com/au/en/product/series/open_frame_racks

https://www.cyberpower.com/au/en/product/series/wall_mount

Australia’s top-performing tradies and female small business leaders have been honoured at the 2024 Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards and the 2024 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards, held in Sydney on Friday 23 August and Saturday 24 August, respectively.

Touted the ‘Logies of small business’, the glittering gala events saw approximately 1000 small businesspeople from myriad retail, services and manufacturing industries converge at The Star on each Awards Night.

Triple Olympic gold medallist, Stephani Rice, was among the VIP guests in attendance and provided inspirational addresses on the power of resilience in professional sport as in small business.

Both major recognition awards programmes attracted entrants from all Australian states and territories and were comprehensively judged over multiple rounds by an independent panel of dozens of small business experts.

The stringent judging criteria spanned various aspects of small business operations including short and long-term growth strategies, profitability, eco-friendliness, innovation, marketing initiatives, customer service quality and charitable and community support – to name but some of the judging criteria.

WINNERS: 2024 Australian TRADES Small Business Champion Awards:

Swapping their high-vis for red carpet glamour, more than 50 of the nation’s most dynamic, innovative, and best-servicing tradies were crowned at the second-annual Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards, hosted by Nine News’ Peter Overton.

The Trades Awards paid tribute to the vital role of small businesses in the trade sector as the backbone of the nation’s construction industry, and a significant contributor to Australia’s overall social and economic prosperity.

The Awards also spotlighted trades-based small business owners’ invaluable contributions to their local communities and to their fields of specialty – including their encouragement of future generations of Aussie tradies.

The award for 2024 Young Small Business Champion Trades Entrepreneur went to Anthony Antoun of Mr and Ms Group – a family-owned, design, construction and landscaping business based at Birrong in New South Wales.

Jet Plus Plumbing, owned and operated by Victoria’s Luke Kennedy, took the title of Australian Small Business Champion Trade Leader; while NSW-based Andrew Vanny Plumbing won the 2024 Champion Tradie title.

Australia’s best Large Builder went to Ruby Homes of Box Hill in NSW; and prestigious accolades were also presented to small business operators across automotive industries, architecture, engineering, gardening, roofing, electrical businesses, pest control, painting, tiling, fencing, flooring, cleaning, manufacturing and more.

“Especially relevant this year as we continue to grapple with a housing shortage, urgent need for more skilled tradespeople and other undoubtedly stressful and unprecedented challenges in trades industries, this programme was deliberately designed to celebrate the millions of hardworking small business tradies who positively contribute to the country in so many ways,” said Steve Loe, Awards Founder and Managing Director of Precedent Productions, which coordinates the Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards.

For a full list of 2024 Australian Trades Small Business Champion Awards winners, visit championawards.com.au/trades.

WINNERS: 2024 Australian WOMEN’S Small Business Champion Awards:

The biggest celebration of women in small business saw more than 60 prestigious accolades presented at the third-annual Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards, hosted by Nine journalist and TODAY show presenter, Jayne Azzopardi.

The evening’s most highly-anticipated award – 2024 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion ICON – was won by Vicki Clare-Geluk of Plie Groove’n’Shuffle dance school at Cromer, NSW.

The epitome of a savvy trailblazer who turned her business from a one-woman-show to an award-winning performing arts and sports school that now operates across multiple campuses with more than 30 staff and 1000 students, Plie Groove’n’Shuffle has achieved considerable growth under Vicki’s leadership.

Extremely active within Sydney’s Northern Beaches community, delivering a variety of volunteer-based initiatives designed to foster good mental health, self-esteem and coping strategies for young people, Plie’s unique programmes and nurturing environment under Vicki’s headship also cater to athletes with additional needs.

With a diverse background as a Director, Author and Marketing Strategist, Kristine Young of Bella Venezia Italian restaurant at Mooloolaba in Queensland, won 2024 Australian Small Business Champion Influential Woman.

The award for 2024 Young Small Business Champion Woman Entrepreneur was presented to Rise Up Occupational Therapy Services’ Director and Senior Occupational Therapist, Cassandra Cagorski, for her inspiring achievements in Allied Health services as well as exemplary leadership of her small business team.

Indi Livas, Founder of the Monday Food Co, was named 2024 Small Business Champion Woman Entrepreneur. With a variety of socially conscious and eco-friendly elements to her business which benefited significantly from Indi’s appearance on the television show, Shark Tank, Indi grew up on a farm in New South Wales and is a qualified yoga teacher. She has a background in naturopathy and raw food production that led her to creating the Monday Food Co, which she aspires to grow into Australia’s leading gut friendly health food company.

In a beauty trifecta for Queensland, aesthetics and beauty business coaching company JadeStart took top gong for Professional Services, the Cosmetic Specialist category was won by Bobbie Charles Skin & Cosmetic Clinic, and Queensland’s Lust Minerals won the Beauty Product category.

However, among the year’s most competitive categories with more than two dozen finalists, the Beauty Services award was presented to NSW-based business, Isabella Loneragan Skin. With a focus on holistic health and bespoke facial treatments, as well as educational courses for fellow industry professionals and a product range called Ragan Skin, the Founder of the business, Isabella Loneragan, was also applauded for her influence on the industry via effective media engagement strategies.

Spanning capital cities as well as rural, regional and suburban towns, the array of more than 60 winning women-led small businesses this year also included Business Coaching category winner The Alternative Board, Quakers Hill East Combined OSHC Inc for Most Inclusive Employer, Environmental Business Tiny Tins and Wollondilly Women in Business for its success in aiding its members’ businesses to grow and connect with community.

According to Australian Government data, female small business owners currently represent more than one-third of all small businesses; and recently released research from Commonwealth Bank suggests more and more Australian women are choosing to start a small business or side hustle, with women opening up 43.2 per cent of all new business transaction accounts during the 2023 financial year.

For a full list of 2024 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards winners, visit championawards.com.au/womens.

The taxable payments annual report (TPAR) is due soon for certain:

• businesses that pay contractors for certain services, including building and construction, cleaning, courier and road freight, information technology (IT), or security, investigation or surveillance
• government entities that pay grants to people or organisations with an Australian Business Number (ABN).

The ATO is reminding businesses who are required to lodge a TPAR to do so by 28 August 2024. This is an annual requirement and penalties may apply if they don’t lodge.

ATO Assistant Commissioner Tony Goding commented:

The taxable payments reporting system (TPRS) ensures contractors providing certain services report all their income. This helps keep a level playing field by making sure all businesses pay their fair share of tax.

TPAR data strengthens our ability to detect and deal with dishonest operators trying to gain an unfair advantage over the majority who do the right thing. It also protects billions of dollars in missing taxes each year, money that funds essential community services, like health, education and natural disaster management.

In the 2023–24 financial year, we provided visibility of more than $451 billion in gross TPAR payments from almost 177,000 businesses to almost 1.3 million contractors. In doing so, we have helped contractors complete their income tax returns through the pre-fill and transaction services report.

From 2019 to 2023, we issued approximately $9 million in penalties to over 5,200 businesses not lodging their TPAR.

Lodging online is quick and easy. If businesses are unsure if they need to lodge a TPAR, they can visit www.ato.gov.au/TPAR

Epson has launched its newest on-demand inkjet colour label printer – the ColorWorks® C8010.  

Purpose-built for mid to high-volume batch runs in on-demand environments, the 4-inch ColorWorks C8010 is engineered for exceptional print quality, reliable performance and high-speed printing with advanced connectivity and cloud printing – allowing businesses to print almost any type of label. 

Colour labelling is now being used across various applications to improve efficiency, quality and customisation. The new ColorWorks C8010 helps companies eliminate multi-step printing processes and the stockpiling of pre-printed colour label rolls to print state-of-the-art, high-quality labels in real time. 

 
The ColorWorks C8010 is designed to meet the high-volume label production needs of businesses in several markets, including prime and boutique, product ID and warehousing and logistics.  

The powerful printer features advanced PrecisionCore^® Heat-Free technology, combining exceptional image quality and sharp precision at incredible speeds, printing multiple labels with variable data at speeds up to 30.48 cm per second¹.  
 
The PrecisionCore permanent printhead allows for fewer interventions and low maintenance costs, making it ideal for busy, on-demand environments. 

 
Durable, high-performance UltraChrome^® DL pigment inks provide high-quality, long-lasting labels that resist smudging, smearing and fading. Customers can choose between Gloss and Matte Black ink to fit labelling needs. New high-capacity ink packs are ideal for high-volume batch runs, allowing for fewer interventions and offering low cost per millilitre and low consumable waste.  

Advanced connectivity, such as cloud printing and optional Wi-Fi^®, helps to maximise workflow. Epson Cloud Solution PORT^®2 offers remote management for powerful fleet productivity to better manage efficiency and optimise printer workflow, including viewing printer status, ink consumption and operation history. 

Epson ColorWorks on-demand label printers are designed to help businesses print as many types of labels as possible with full-colour capabilities, single-step colour printing simplicity and powerful PrecisionCore technology to produce state-of-the-art, high-quality labels in real time, eliminating the need for excess inventory and potentially reducing pre-printed label waste. 

 
The ColorWorks C8010 colour inkjet label printer is now available in Australia and New Zealand through Epson’s authorised partners.  

The printer includes a 1-year exchange warranty with extended service plans available for up to a total of 3 years of continuous coverage.  

For additional information about Epson’s ColorWorks solutions go to: https://www.epson.com.au/products/Commercial-Label-Printers/?grouptypeid=48  

Australian owned leading business energy retailer, Blue NRG, is calling on more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to undertake network tariff analysis to identify the optimum network tariff for their businesses and potentially eliminate higher energy costs.  

Blue NRG’s cost-saving approach for SMEs involves a comprehensive Network Tariff Analysis (NTA) for both current and newly onboarded clients. Network charges are the fees associated with using an electricity network’s infrastructure, it constitutes the largest portion of retail rates.  

NTAs are traditionally performed only upon a customer’s request to help them identify the most cost-effective tariff according to their business’ needs and consumption. By implementing a proactive approach and offering a review upfront, Blue NRG is raising awareness of the benefits of the process and advocating for SMEs to offset rising energy rates and business costs. 

To conduct an NTA, Blue NRG uses its insights platform called Insights by Blue NRG to provide a report on a SMEs current energy consumption and tariff structure for analysis. This data is collected from a businesses’ smart meter. The report outlines 12 months’ worth of electricity usage data including maximum time of use, actual use during peak and off-peak times, retail rates, and current network tariff structure. An NTA can only be performed on businesses with a smart meter system. 

With this data, Insights by Blue NRG generates a report to compare the SMEs current tariff structure with other available structures and identify any potential areas of savings with a more cost-effective tariff structure. 

Undertaking a NTA and identifying areas of potential savings has enabled many Blue NRG customers to increase savings, including Endeavour Group, an Australian owned independent petroleum distributor.  

After signing up with Blue NRG and switching to a more cost-effective tariff structure, Endeavour Group found more than $35,000 worth of savings across 38 of its business sites. Managing Director of the Endeavour Group, Jeff Griffiths, believes Blue NRG’s proactive approach to NTAs helped identify high-cost areas where savings could be made. 

“We thought we were already on a pretty good deal with our previous energy retailer, but Blue NRG was able to give us even better rates,” said Griffiths. 

According to General Manager Duncan Jacklin, many customers are missing out on savings and paying unreasonably high network tariffs. This ultimately leads to a lack of trust between the customer and their energy retailer. 

“Our role as an energy retailer is to advocate for our customers and to go above and beyond by offering tariff optimisation. This ensures our customers are reaping the benefits of being on the correct network tariff,” Jacklin said. 

He added, “By taking a proactive and personalised approach to network tariff optimisation, we can potentially offer greater savings and maintain competitive in the market.” 

Amazon has announced that sellers in Australia can benefit from an expanded range of generative AI tools to simplify the process of product listing creation – including a new URL listing capability, as well as enriching existing product listings to better resonate with customers and help drive sales.

The rollout of these tools will significantly streamline administrative tasks for Australian sellers, freeing up valuable time for other business priorities.

New URL listing capabilities

Amazon has today expanded its generative AI capabilities for selling partners, with a new URL listing feature. This tool enables selling partners to start listing on Amazon with a product URL, such as a product on a seller’s own direct-to-consumer (DTC) website. This is automatically parsed by the generative AI tool to create high-quality, engaging listings for Amazon’s store, which the seller will review and submit. The tool can also suggest attributes such as colour and keywords to help effectively index the product in customer discovery experiences. This will further enhance and streamline the process of creating product listings, saving selling partners time and effort while developing listings for Amazon’s store that appeal to customers and help drive sales.

Simplifying product listing creation

In addition to the new capability, Amazon recently launched other generative AI-powered tools to simplify the listing creation process. As well as providing a URL to help create listings, sellers can also provide a few descriptive words or upload a product image. The generative AI then suggests compelling product titles, descriptions, and other details that are high-quality and designed to be engaging for customers. Sellers must review these generated product details before they submit them to ensure accuracy and completeness.

These capabilities use large language models, a type of machine learning model specifically trained on large amounts of data – including Amazon’s own product catalogue – that can recognise, summarise, translate, predict, and generate text and other content, to help build more comprehensive product descriptions. Almost 4,500 selling partners have already used one or more of Amazon’s generative AI listing capabilities to list on Amazon.com.au.

Amit Mahto, Director of Seller Services, Australia said, “For our selling partners, writing product descriptions manually can be time-consuming. These AI capabilities reduce time spent drafting listings, enabling sellers to focus on their core business. It also helps improve the customer shopping experience by providing compelling product information.”

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer our selling partners the latest in next-gen AI tools,” continued Amit.

Enriching existing product listings

In addition to generative AI tools to create new product listings, Amazon is also leveraging generative AI capabilities to analyse and enrich existing product listings, automatically adding missing information and improving overall content quality. This feature saves sellers valuable time and enhances the customer experience by providing richer, more comprehensive product information and is due to beginby the end of 2024.

Other applications of AI

Amazon has long used AI to support selling partners. Amazon pioneered the use of AI for personalised product recommendations based on customer behaviour data, which enables sellers to surface highly relevant product listings to interested customers. Amazon also uses advanced machine learning models to forecast demand and help automate inventory management, ensuring that selling partners can better plan their inventory and make sure they don’t end up being out of stock of popular products. With AI-powered pricing tools, sellers gain insights into dynamic pricing strategies based on real-time data, helping them maximise their pricing strategy.

Amazon’s generative AI tools are constantly learning and evolving to better streamline operations for sellers, enhance customer engagement, and help drive seller growth and success. These new innovations are built and hosted in AWS, leveraging a number of powerful foundational models made easily accessible through Amazon Bedrock to best meet the needs of Amazon’s selling partners and customers.

In Australia, more than 14,000 businesses – many of which are small and medium-sized businesses – sell in Amazon’s stores. Find out more about selling on Amazon at sell.amazon.com.au.

New data released this week by credit bureau illion, as part of its Commercial Risk Barometer in Australia, reveals that economic green-shoots may be starting to appear as business failure risk improves slightly for larger businesses, but younger and smaller firms continue to struggle.

After an extended period of deterioration throughout 2023, the Australian economy is showing some hope that economic improvement is on the horizon, but it’s only for mature and larger businesses at this stage.

“While this is positive news for commerce generally, the small re-trace (1 per cent in the six months to June 2024) still has a long way to go, given the significant deterioration since the start of 2023 of 7 per cent. This means that business risk is only back to where it was in October 2023,” said Barrett Hasseldine, illion’s Head of Modelling.

“Australian business owners are looking for positive signals, and while this is one, we will still need to be cautious with our forecasts. While the trend may ultimately point to a long-term improvement in business risk, our optimism is slightly muted when considering the outlook for certain industries and business segments, as the risk trend is not uniform. This is shown in the differences by geography, business age, business size and industry,” he said.

illion’s Commercial Risk Barometer shows that the general improvement in business failure risk has been mainly led by larger and mature businesses, with these organisations improving at 10 times the rate of small businesses in Q2, 2024.  Larger and more mature businesses may have firmer foundations such as a larger capital base, lower unit cost base, strong balance sheets and stronger brand presence, allowing them to withstand economic headwinds.

“Comparing businesses by their size, we can see from the data that the risk of those businesses employing fewer than 20 people, such as family businesses, improved by 1 per cent from April to June 2024, whereas it improved by 2 per cent for businesses employing up to 100 people, and by 10 per cent in those employing more than 100 people in the same period.

“Similarly, the risk of young businesses, operating less than five years, deteriorated by 7 per cent in the last quarter. In fact, only businesses operating for more than 20 years saw their risk improve below the level seen 18-months ago,” Barrett added.

By region

At a regional level there are differences in this improvement: “Victorian businesses are doing it tough, with the data showing the failure rate continuing to rise, while the rate in most other states appears to have turned around,” said Barrett.

“Based on the data, Victoria’s trend continues to worsen, other than for a brief spell post-Christmas. This may serve as a warning for business conditions in Victoria, as we head into 2025.

“South Australia has done particularity well; however, it still has a long way to go to recover from the sizeable deterioration it suffered up to March 2024 – it had the highest deterioration over the past 18 months. In New South Wales, the data shows there hasn’t been an improvement compared to the last quarter of 2023. That said, risk is not getting worse.

“Businesses in Queensland continue to operate with the best economic outlook, having both the lowest long-term rise in risk, 2.9 per cent higher in June 2024 than in January 2023, and a substantial improvement this year from April to June alone, down from 3.4 per cent higher at the end of March,” Barrett added.

Low consumer confidence pours doubt on sustained recovery

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating also shows that consumer confidence trends indicate economic headwinds may be returning as falling consumer confidence is having an adverse effect on some businesses. This may materialise as higher business risk by 2025, as consumer confidence is generally closely aligned with business confidence around 3-4 months later.

The dip in consumer confidence observed in the March quarter also coincides with some early indications of business stress in the education, training and financial services sectors (likely finance and insurance brokers). As well, the trading risk of the food services sector continues to deteriorate through 2024, while the Retail and Transport sectors remain vulnerable to economic problems. The Retail sector is especially noteworthy.

“Business trading has fallen below 2023 levels in retail, which is disappointing. Other than in June, due mainly to EOFY sales trading, the retail sector has fallen below 2023 levels in both Q1 and Q2 – 5 per cent lower in fact.

“This is a concerning result for the retail economy, especially when we also consider that the real contraction will be worse than 5 per cent due to rising inflation. Any predicted deterioration in business failure risk through 2024 and 2025 may therefore be particularly harmful to retail businesses.

In contrast to the above, the data suggests a green shoot is appearing in the construction sector, which has been hit hard over the past two years. It may finally be seeing some sort of turnaround as building activity rises.

“Growth in the construction sector is trending higher month-on-month, meaning that we may see a reversal in the two-tier economy in 2024/25, where the retail sector, food services and even smaller financial services businesses could falter, while construction may become Australia’s growth engine. The economies of scale seem to be shifting and for those sectors in trouble, we are looking at a tough period post-Christmas if things don’t change

A new State of Small Business Data Report (see here),by Square and The Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia (COSBOA), shows Australian SMBs and micro businesses struggling to maintain resilience in the face of tough economic headwinds, with small business owners looking to policymakers and government for more support.

Data from millions of transactions processed on Square between January 2023 and June 2024 reveals a two-speed economy in Australia, with local micro and small businesses recovering slower than their mid-market peers in the first half of 2024 (compared to the same period in 2023), and businesses growing at different rates depending on their location, sector, and size. For example, mid-market businesses dipped slightly into negative territory in the July and October 2023 (YoY) quarters before recovering to positive growth, whereas SMBs navigated a longer and deeper period of negative growth (graph below).

Square data also shows spending across all sectors fluctuating in line with shifting consumer behaviours. Spending through the December-January holiday period pushed small retailers into positive growth after spending the majority of 2023 in negative territory. Health care and fitness exhibited steadier spending patterns than industries like beauty and professional services, which showed marked variability in spending through the period. Interestingly, hospitality businesses using Square saw a steady increase in spending, peaking in the April 2024 quarter, despite well-publicised weakness in the sector more broadly (graph below).

Businesses based in Brisbane experienced the strongest growth in the period from late January to 1 May (10.49% YoY) compared to Sydney businesses which saw the weakest growth (5.03% YoY). Square data shows businesses in certain locations, including Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, performed better than those in Australia’s biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, in the traditionally slower economic period following Christmas and New Year (graph below).

Small business optimism hangs in the balance

Conditions are tough out there for Australia’s small businesses, as highlighted by a survey of small business owners across the country which showed roughly half (49%) are feeling less optimistic about the Australian economy in the next 12 months. Despite that, 53% of small business owners say they are just as optimistic about their operations today as they were 12 months ago. Just 1-in-5 (22%) say they are more optimistic and a quarter (25%) say they are less optimistic.

Small businesses continue to feel the pinch of inflation, with owners noting that many operational costs are weighing more heavily on them today than they were 12 months ago. An overwhelming majority of 73% of small business owners say they are feeling more pressure today over rising utilities bills. Around two-thirds (65%) agree that increases in their supplier costs are placing a heavier burden on their operations today than a year ago, while 63% are feeling the pinch due to rising insurance premiums. Government levies, like rates and licences, are also an area of concern, with 62% in agreement. Occupational costs including rent and mortgages are a greater burden today than they were 12 months ago for half (50%) of small business owners, while labour costs and servicing existing loans are straining the capacity of 45% and 42% of surveyed small businesses respectively.

In order to cope with these increased cost pressures, over the last 12 months, just under half (46%) of small business owners have increased prices, and 1-in-5 have streamlined operational processes and changed their approach to marketing or social media.

Looking to government for support

Small business owners outlined the areas where government policy could make running their businesses easier. Just under half (46%) of small business owners are keen to see certainty around the future of the Instant Asset Write Off; 42% would like more incentives to encourage technology adoption to support their efforts in areas including artificial intelligence, eInvoicing, digital payments and cyber security; and 44% are looking for greater access to low-interest loans and grants which support sustainability and innovation.

Marco Lamantia, Executive Director, Square Australia, quote: “There’s no doubt that small businesses have been navigating an incredibly difficult period, but what cannot be underestimated is their adaptability and resilience in the face of adversity, and utilising technology to overcome economic hurdles. This is reflected in part by findings from the report which show that hospitality businesses using Square technology experienced a steady increase in spending, which slightly goes against recent discourse that hospitality businesses are struggling across the board and one in 11 hospitality businesses (9.1%) may fail over the coming year.” 

Luke Achterstraat, Chief Executive Officer, COSBOA, quote: “Every small business owner faces a unique situation – a distinct set of challenges and opportunities. This latest report from COSBOA and Square highlights this reality. ‘Small business’ isn’t one homogenous mass and this report underlines the need for policy solutions to be appropriately nuanced, tailored and targeted if small businesses are going to feel a positive impact. The individual experiences and voices of small businesses should also be routinely sought out, heard in policy discussions, and reflected in initiatives coming from all levels of government. Australia’s macroeconomic environment this year has been tough for small businesses, so it is squarely in the national interest to ensure that they don’t just survive but thrive. When small businesses succeed, the entire Australian economy benefits.”