1. 1. Bentleys The Voice of Australian Business The Voice - Part II Mark Chapman Executive Officer
2. 2. In April 2013, Bentleys undertook one of the widest and most comprehensive surveys of SME businesses in Australia. We wanted to understand the challenges and concerns of SMEs , so we can better tailor our services and work with other service providers in supporting business.
3. 3. Growth Business confidence Foreign Investment in Australia Industrial Relations in Australia New technology Agribusiness Health and Aged Care Government Education (Private Schools and Tertiary) Professional Services Questions & Industries
4. 4. So What Did We Learn? The mood of agriculture What drives business confidence Wide spread misconceptions about foreign investment Fears and opportunities about technology especially The Cloud Strong feelings on industrial relations
5. 5. Agribusiness Sector Given the price of beef is so low and returns are not worth the effort, well probably close down our beef cattle pursuits in the next 12 months; Our key issue is access to abattoirs. Currently, we cant send any livestock for slaughter until August 2014; Were just not in a position to do anything about potential opportunities in South East Asia because we dont have any capital to invest in our business.
6. 6. Western Australia Most confident state with: 67% confident in business 16% say they have delayed investment 52% of SMEs are familiar with cloud computing But only 6% plan to adopt it in the next 12 months
7. 7. Professional Services Biggest obstacles: market competition and economy 40% say business confidence has increased since the election 41% expect improvements in their sector Highest familiarity with cloud computing at 72% 58% are using it for something other than email
8. 8. What were the FDI estimations by state? 3.7% 41.0% 39.5% 41.3% 43.8% 33.1% 34.3% Actual proportion of GDP from foreign investment Total (n=554) NSW/ACT (n=113) VIC/TAS (n=93) QLD (n=39) SA (n=24) WA (n=22)
9. 9. The Voice I was reported in the press
10. 10. In November 2014 Bentleys embarked on the Voice II a further survey of the SME market to determine what had changed and also take the opportunity to look in more detail at some of the key findings of The Voice I Here are some of the results..
11. 11. The Voice of Australia Business Part II
12. 12. The Voice I v The Voice II
13. 13. Background Employing micro, small, and medium businesses were the main focus of the survey Non-employing businesses (i.e., sole traders) and those employing more than 250 people were not included in the survey Business size Micro: 1-4 employees Small: 5-19 employees Medium: 20-250 employees Businesses surveyed in all states and territories; with the majority located in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland 57% of businesses located in a capital city or surrounding suburbs (classified as metropolitan); 43% located outside of state capitals (in large cities or regional or rural areas, classified as non-metropolitan) Professional, scientific, and technical services (15%), retail trade (13%), and manufacturing (8%) the most highly represented industries Business Characteristics 5%