The big trends impacting Australian small businesses in 2023

A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate to attend the annual conference of the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia (COSBOA) in Melbourne. A couple of hundred people representing various small business organisations gathered in a room to discuss all the things that impact Australian small business owners, writes The Digital Guide, Tracy Sheen.

The first thing that struck me as I found a seat at a table with some big name companies was the genuine enthusiasm to chat with an actual small business owner (me). To be honest, I was half expecting to find people casually glancing at their watch in an ‘oh, is that the time’ kind of way when they discovered I wasn’t someone from a fellow blue chip company.

Instead, the conversation seemed to turn to what I saw on the ground. How people I interact with daily feel about 2023, and what opportunities or major challenges I was willing to share.

The second thing that intrigued me during the two days of the conference was the curiosity about regional small businesses. Living and working for most of my time within rural and regional economies, I found it refreshing to know that our corporate cousins know not only that we exist, but were intrigued as to how they may better support the development of growth and sustainability of regional economies.

The conference featured a range of speakers showcasing diverse skill sets. Here are a few of the high-level pieces of interest.

Robert Tedesco, VP of Global Merchant Services with Amex, shared global trends that reflect the same anecdotal conversations many of my clients share.

Easy matters

Consumers are looking for businesses that make transacting and interacting with them simple. Fewer clicks and quicker delivery are the two main drivers in this conversation. And over 50 per cent of purchases began through interaction with the business’ social media platforms.

Millennials are looking for brands that stand for something

Six in ten of all millennials quoted from Tedesco’s stats were actively looking to engage with and purchase from businesses that were either social enterprises, or had clearly outlined values around their beliefs. They are looking to develop a relationship with a business and will seek out assistance to make larger, aspirational purchases.

$60 billion in online spending in 2022

The Hon. Dr Andrew Leigh, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, shared in his address that while online spending continues to rise, so too are ‘dark patterns’ – those sites or apps that cause a user to do things that were unintended, such as handing over more of your personal information or buying something you didn’t mean to.

Supporting the ‘renaissance’ of the small business economy

The conference’s big impact on the state of small business in Australia for me came from the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), Bruce Billson. He urged the audience to do all they could to avoid “snuffing out the renaissance of the entrepreneurial economy”.

As a sector, there are 2.5 million small business owners in Australia, accounting for ⅓ of all GDP, and we are responsible for employing 43 per cent of all trainees.

The average age of a small business owner in 2022 was 50, with only 8 per cent of all small to medium-sized business owners under 30, and only 35 per cent of all SME owners are female. 45 per cent of us failed to make a profit in the last financial year; 61 per cent have a total personal income of under $71,000; and one-fifth of us are working multiple jobs just to make ends meet.

Significant inequalities remain within our broader Australian business community, with Billson pointing out that more responsibilities will land on the shoulders of Australian small businesses over the coming period.

“Our mission is to make sure they (small business) don’t fail daily from not knowing something that will make a difference,” he said.

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