Small business are dealing with a ‘cost of doing business’ crisis

• According to a survey issued on Friday, confidence has plunged to levels last seen in December 2020, at the height of the pandemic.
• “She claims that the cost of living is a worry for both businesses and consumers, and that it threatens the recovery of Australia’s 2.3 million small and medium-sized businesses, which are the country’s largest employer.
• Small firms plan to pay their employees more, but few expect to expand their teams.

Lockdowns may be over, but many small business owners are concerned about the future, particularly the expense of fuel and energy.

According to a survey issued on Friday, confidence has plunged to levels last seen in December 2020, at the height of the pandemic.

According to the MYOB poll of 1000 small and medium enterprises, fuel price concerns are higher than six months ago, despite tax relief at the pump, and remain a more pressing concern than COVID-19.

According to Emma Fawcett, executive director of MYOB, business owners are suffering a “cost of doing business crisis.”

Read More: IBM has begun a ‘orderly wind-down’ of its Russia business: Arvind Krishna

She claims that the cost of living is a worry for both businesses and consumers, and that it threatens the recovery of Australia’s 2.3 million small and medium-sized businesses, which are the country’s largest employer.

Small firms plan to pay their employees more, but few expect to expand their teams.

Overall, economic confidence has declined, with 41% expecting an improvement, compared to slightly over half (53%) six months earlier.

Rural firms are far less hopeful, with only one in every four predicting economic growth.

Business owners in Generation Y (ages 25-39) are under more pressure than baby boomers (aged 55-74).

Younger owners are likewise less optimistic about the coming year, with nearly two-fifths (39%) of gen Y respondents expecting the economy to improve, compared to nearly half (45%) of baby boomers.

Men (45%) are more hopeful than women (39 per cent).

Victorian firms are the most optimistic about the economy, with nearly half expecting it to improve, ahead of New South Wales and South Australia (both at 40%), as well as Queensland and Western Australia (both 37 per cent).

Transport, postal, and warehousing are the most optimistic sectors, while manufacturing and wholesale are expected to decline the most.

Those who started enterprises through the pandemic’s ups and downs are feeling more optimistic about the coming year.

Read More: Microsoft is closing its operations in Russia & laying off more than 400 employees

Some 55% of start-ups expect their revenue to increase, compared to little over a third (34%) of enterprises five to ten years old and 27% of firms operating for more than ten years.

Profits in the finance and insurance industries are expected to rise the greatest.