A new report from business management platform MYOB reveals that 90 per cent of Australians believe that support for small business should be a priority in the Federal Budget in order to facilitate the country’s economic growth
More than 1000 Australians that were polled in the report found that 32 per cent of respondents believe this year’s Federal Budget will deliver benefits for Australia’s small and medium businesses, while 94 per cent said the Government should provide more support for SMEs compared to the top end of town. Over 80 per cent of respondents believe that the economy still needs government support to aid recovery.
MYOB Chief Employee Experience Officer, Helen Lea, said it is no surprise Australians want to see more support for SMEs in this Budget.
“The contribution the 2.4 million-strong small business community makes to Australia is well known, but the landscape for businesses in Australia is now materially and indelibly changed,” Lea said. “To create an economy that is supportive of modern business practices and enables businesses to lead their own recovery, the Government needs to help SMEs access the SaaS tools they need to both scale and thrive.
“MYOB analysis has found improving digitisation for the one in five SMEs with little to no digital presence will lead to a 1.8 per cent increase in SME GDP – equivalent to a $10.5 billion gain for the economy,” Lea added.
“Meaningful digitisation goes much deeper than an online presence, and yet there are many businesses out there who still need to make this initial leap. While 78 per cent of our survey respondents said they expect to interact with small businesses via their website, our January 2022 MYOB Business Monitor data shows more than a third (37 per cent) of SMEs don’t have an online presence.
“This highlights the importance of Government assistance to digitally upskill SMEs and achieve the nation’s goal of becoming a leading digital economy and society by 2030,” Lea concluded.
