Mastercard has revealed that optimism amongst SMEs across Australia has doubled since 2020. Of those surveyed, over half of the nation’s SMEs are optimistic about the year ahead and expect to see a revenue increase of at least 10 percent, with a large percentage indicating that this will occur from online sales. Below we share further commentary from Inside Small Business.
Is innovation the key to recovery?
In another positive development, 70 percent of SMEs feel more comfortable than ever in diversifying or launching new products or services in the future. Over a third, 36 percent, of SMEs are planning to launch a new service this year, 24 percent plan to launch a new social media channel and 34 percent are looking at launching new products for their customers.
“Australian SMEs continue to show incredible resilience and agility in spite of COVID-19, and the Aussie ingenuity the nation is so famous for has played an essential role in getting businesses back on their feet,” Richard Wormald, Division President at Mastercard Australasia, said.
What are the cautions?
There are still some lingering concerns, however. SMEs expressed wariness about a slowing economy (50 percent), another lockdown (49 percent), a fall in customer demand (29 percent), and supply chain interruptions (22 percent).
Also of concern is the fact that the study reveals that only 48 percent of SMEs have contingency plans in place to mitigate any impact to their business activities from further lockdowns that may result from COVID outbreaks.
(Source: Inside Small Business 2021; Mastercard Australasia 2021)
