Small business still swinging
Small to medium business owners are feeling the squeeze of a lack of consumer demand, but few are ready to close up shop, according to the latest Sensis Insights Business Index.
Business confidence is down on this time last year, with the national quarterly report revealing that 3 out of 10 businesses are worried about their prospects for the year ahead, including one in 10 that are extremely worried.
Despite this, Sensis manager Chistena Singh said the levels of business anxiety are not as low as the levels of six months ago, with the report revealing that five in 10 respondents are confident and the remainder neutral.
According to the results, 11 per cent of small businesses are planning to sell or close their business - down six percentage points from six months ago.
"We are seeing fewer businesses looking to close or sell their business than six months ago," Singh said.
"In fact, almost half of businesses are still aiming for growth, and many are planning business strategies to grow their business, despite what they perceive are comparatively adverse economic conditions."
Sales improved slightly since December 2011 (-6 per cent to -4 per cent), but employer confidence continued to dip, falling from -2 per cent to -4 per cent.
Profitability, while remaining unchanged over the quarter, remained in negative territory at -11 per cent.
Singh said small businesses found it difficult to access the finance necessary to invest in their business, and support for the Federal Government's economic and business policies remains weaker than a year ago.
Respondents believed that Government policies lacked incentives and involved too much bureaucracy. They also believed that the Government was only concerned with big business.
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