The company’s Entrepreneurial Pulse report measured sentiment among Australian entrepreneurs and small-business owners across topics of digital transformation, upskilling, the pandemic and e-commerce revenue.
It found that an online presence is more important than a bricks-and-mortar location for the vast majority – 62 per cent – of small businesses and that more than a quarter were planning to invest in an e-commerce website or online store.
As a consequence of the uncertainty surrounding the consistency of sales from a physical location, only 10 per cent of small businesses said they were looking at investing in office of retail space.
With supply chain issues, and staff shortages still prevalent the report said the biggest concern for small business in Australia is a return to lockdown, followed by competition, low customer demand and cash flow.
Interestingly only 14 per cent of small business said they had concerns about hiring staff.
The report found Australian small businesses had experienced online sales globally exploded as a result of pandemic lockdowns that has led to a pivot by retailers to digital-first models.
Of the businesses surveyed an online presence is now responsible for, on average, over 53 per cent of small-business annual revenue and nearly a quarter of those said 100 per cent of their total business revenue comes from online sales.
