Business Conditions Continue Worsen Ever Since 1990's

The trading conditions have already been at their worst levels for about 14 years now. And this has led the business owners in believing that the economy is desperately in need of more interest rate reductions.

An appalling result in the latest survey of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) on investor confidence showed that most businesses are stabilizing at low levels while some others are “sinking to contractionary territory”.

According to the ACCI Director of Economics and Industry Policy, Greg Evans, "Overall the survey shows that mainstream Australian business is under significant pressure."


It was during the December quarter that the sales and profitability sank. To add to that, employment and investment intentions proved poor especially in the coming months.

"Businesses' view of their own conditions are at their lowest level since the survey began some 14 years ago, in 1998. Clearly this economy needs the benefit from further reductions in interest rates, and we would expect to see that in the first half of this year," added Mr. Evans.

The next meeting of the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia has been set on February 7 wherein the financial markets are expecting them to cut rates. However, the increasing “tug of war” between businesses and Australian banks remain a major concern of businesses. This war is over the two entities’ willingness to pass on the rate reduction’s full impacts.

"It underlines the lack of real competitive pressures in the Australian banking system," continued Mr. Evans.

The same survey also revealed that the largest constraint on investment remains to be taxes and government charges. This is followed by insufficient demand in Australia.

With these difficulties being experienced by businesses in Australia, there is a need for them to utilize accounting software for businesses and engage the services of online accounting to ensure that the processes and transactions are accurate. And in today’s time, there is no more place for assumptions in the business world.

SMEs target on Increasing Client and Revenue Growth this 2012

A recent survey reflects that among the top priorities of small and medium business this 2012 are customer relationships and increasing business activity in the markets.

This was according to the Business Monitor Survey which was released recently by MYOB, a management service provider. And yes, the customers remain the main focus of small and medium businesses.

"Customers will understandably remain the core focus for Australian SMEs in maintaining and strengthening their business health in 2012, with our research finding more than one third of businesses are set to increase activity around attracting customers' attention and building their loyalty,” said Tim Reed, Executive Chief of MYOB.


"It makes sense for today's business owners, many of whom face increasingly financially conservative consumers, to foster a 'stickier' customer by providing more products or services to whet their appetite," he added. "For many it will be the key to their survival in a two-speed economy,” Reed continued.
It was also seen that about 24 percent of businesses are intending to enter online sales this year.
According to the survey, about a third of the more than 1000 Australian small and medium businesses include in their key strategies for this year attracting and retaining customers, as well as diversifying businesses into new areas or fields.

It is interesting to note that the Australian accounting software, cloud computing, has been seen to have played a vital role in the expansion of businesses offshore. It is said that those firms that have their own website were able to increase their revenue by six percent in the past 12 months. This is in comparison to those who did not have it or used accounting software for business.

According to Mr. Reed, "The key is getting online, being found, communicating well to your online audience and in doing so getting solid access to the digital economy.”

Why Cloud Computing is a Must for Businesses?

Cloud computing is increasingly becoming popular among business owners when it comes to their accounting software for business. In fact, Phil Wainewright, the vice president of Eurocloud, is saying that the norm now for businesses is cloud computing.

Therefore, it is necessary to adopt this accounting software for small businesses in order to get the best and maximize every company’s earnings.

Bill Claybrook who is the principal analyst of New River Marketing Research in Massachusetts says that cloud computing must be a technology that companies must explore. So why is this so?

1. Cost savings is a primary advantage. When a company buys data servers, coolers, and other equipment to save data, it spends too much compared to using cloud computing. Reviewing savings potential is also very convenient making profits even higher.

2. The business gains agility. There will be times in a company when it would need more servers and more data storage space. And only cloud computing can provide this instantly without having to spend that much.

3. Data center flexibility is another advantage. Existing data centers can be managed by cloud computing.

4. Security management of mobile devices is managed. This can involve the mobile devices that are being used by the employees.

5. Maximized time and workforce is an added advantage. While cloud computing can do a lot for a company, IT staff can be allowed to focus on new and more pressing concerns in the business.

Mr. Wainewright says "It's growing somewhere between - depending on who you talk to - 25 and 40 per cent a year. [It] is going to become mainstream very fast.” So every business owner has to use this accounting software.

Survey: Small Business Owners Worried as Running Cost Rise

The soaring of running costs are driving small business owners to become more pessimistic. However, they are seen to bounce back according to a national happiness survey.

Only 48 percent of businesses are expecting an improved performance in the coming 6 months, according to Westpac Local Business Sentiment Survey. Furthermore, it said that this figure is 11 points down from the May survey. Among those that cause the biggest worries are increased costs and declining revenue.

From just 33 percent, there are already 40 percent of respondents who now believe that it is becoming more difficult to run a business.

From the survey, it has been found out that 20 percent of businesses are being affected by managing costs such as electricity. This is higher than the figure six months ago according to Westpac Victoria General Manager, Julie Rynski.

"It is being seen as one of the greatest challenges for small businesses. It has meant they are not feeling as confident as they were. The level of optimism has certainly declined but not as much as it has in other states,” said Rynski.

According to Narelle Telford, Red Parrot Café co-owner in Gippsland town of Nojee, customers are opting to share their meals or buy snacks that are a lot cheaper. As a result, his business is also going through a tough time.

"They are very nervous about spending and we don't know how long that is going to go on for, of course,'' Ms Telford said.

"We've still got customers coming in, which is lovely, but they are spending less. The bottom line is at the end of the day the till doesn't hasn't got as much money in it to pay our bills. When you are in small business you just have to make the most of it and just think of ways you can deal with any situation,'' said Ms Telford.

From ranking among the happiest businesses in the nation six months ago, Victorian businesses are now at rank 56.

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