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Small retail businesses are hopeful about the future and expect to be back at pre-pandemic trading levels next year.
W
hile the world is coping with a new Covid variant and a fourth wave is sweeping most of Europe, Aussie retailers remain optimistic and are looking forward to the future, with 81 per cent reporting a level of confidence that they will be operating at pre-pandemic levels within the next six months. However, the Intuit Quickbooks’ Back to Business research also shows that one in three do not have a plan in place to ensure future success and two in five are worried about finding enough suitable staff. 22
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“Aussie small businesses have done it tough over the course of the pandemic, especially those in Melbourne who endured the longest lockdown in the world,” says Lars Leber, vice president and country manager at Intuit QuickBooks Australia. “We’re thrilled to see the economy starting to recover and to hear that small businesses feel hopeful about the future. “We’ve seen a notable shift in small businesses prioritising the health and wellbeing of their employees, showing how the pandemic has made everyone
reconsider what’s most important. They still need the support of the government and Aussie consumers and want to see continued vaccine uptake.” More than one in three small businesses pivoted their business to explore new revenue streams during the pandemic (37 per cent), with most (85 per cent) saying these streams will continue to be an essential part of their business. Among those who have implemented new technologies or plan to do so, the most common focuses are financial processes (43 per cent), ecommerce/
marketing (41 per cent), inventory management (21 per cent), contract management (17 per cent) and human resources (15 per cent). Female-led small businesses are more likely to have implemented or plan to implement new technology to improve business processes than male-led counterparts (49 per cent vs 39 per cent). They are also more likely to have completed training related to their business during the course of the pandemic or plan to in the next six months (43 per cent vs 31 per cent).