Newsletters

Our June newsletter was titled ‘Welcome to the SME recession’ ... In August we noted … ‘It’s tough out there – costs seem to have spiked up again, but SMEs are struggling to pass those costs onto customers via higher prices.  Right across our SME panel, conditions have deteriorated, with the exception of those exposed to the NDIS, some of which seem to be earning 250 cents in the dollar.  Aside of that carve-out, it’s tough.’ ... Here we are at the end of October – and we’ve been intensively interviewing business owners over the past 8 weeks.  What’s changed?

Our June newsletter was titled ‘Welcome to the SME recession’. It’s tough out there – costs seem to have spiked up again, but SMEs are struggling to pass those costs onto customers via higher prices. Right across our SME panel, conditions have deteriorated, with the exception of those exposed to the NDIS, some of which seem to be earning 250 cents in the dollar. Aside of that carve-out, it’s tough. In response, business owners are making 4 key changes ... check it out ...
https://lnkd.in/g489NBVn

We’ve just finished a wave of interviews with our SME panel.  The last interviews were completed earlier this week, so this is hot off the press.  A number of themes emerged … many of them quite negative ...

What do business owners think of 'work-from-home' and where have they settled in their business on this issue?

Sure, most SMEs are using ChatGPT as a writing tool ... but some are looking beyond this entry-level application and using it more strategically ... or can see HOW they MAY be able to do so in the future.

"ESG" ... what it means to a big business is quite different to what it means to a small business.  In fact, SBs don't know what you're talking about ... but they're DOING IT ...

This is one seriously big thing in the world of SMEs.

Well I'm pretty shocked the RBA increased rates yesterday.  Economy is already slowing quite nicely ...

Business owners absolutely love the idea or practice of having a business mentor.  Most that don't have one would like one.

There's a lot of talk about the distributed workforce (aka work from home).  But what do owners of SMEs really think about it?

What impact are the recent data breaches having on SMEs - in terms of their attitude to their OWN cyber security?

Finding and retaining staff is a nightmare.  What are SMEs doing about it?

We've just finished a wave of SME interviews.  What's going on out there?

Given the economic environment, what do SMEs feel is the right 'tone' in messaging from large corporates?

There's a lot of talk in the media (and stockmarket) about BNPL ... but what do SMEs think?  Are they still the fans that they were?

Given the lockdowns of the past 2 years - and the move to the distributed workforce - surely SMEs have become more focused on cyber security, right? ...

SMEs rave about Square, the EFTPOS/merchant provider.   Why?  Is it warranted?  What's so exciting about Square?

The environment - do SMEs care?  What impact does it have on them and who they want to deal with?

Here's some SME reflections based on the last 30 years of SME research ...

What do SMEs think 2022 will bring?

Business owners are gushing with delight over Canva

It can't all be gloom and doom.  In fact quite a lot of positive developments have arisen because of the Covid lockdowns ...

Business owners are real characters.  Let's hear some of their 'classic calls'

This newsletters considers the experiences of SMEs that - 4-6 weeks ago said the economy was BOOMING - how have they found the latest set of disruptions?

The economy is flying.  10% of SMEs are struggling but probably 50% are on fire.  Is the RBA onto it?

Maybe the RBA is speaking to different businesses.  From my research prices are going UP.

SMEs' views on 'great customer service' have changed over the years

So many SMEs are clueless when it comes to cyber security ...

Working from home, what a hoot.  But what is its future?  A lot of business owners want to 'get the band back together'...

How are SMEs behaving as we start 2021?

Through this lockdown period, SMEs have made countless changes to how they run their businesses.  Here's some examples ...

All this negativity ... it's time for some positive covid stories ...

An overview of mental health issues for business owners...

SMEs and using Virtual Assistants - will it happen?

Our annual jargon update ...

Having just finished a round of SME interviewing it's a great time to assess how they are tracking and what business conditions are like ...

Who do business owners admire?  Generally not the titans of industry ...

Businesses evolve and change as they grow.  Business owners realise this, and fear of the changes that growth brings is a key reason that three quarters of them don’t want to grow their business in the first place.  But the quarter that DO want to grow are critical to understand as they are the drivers in the economy and the source of employment growth.

Business owners are forever moaning about the challenges of HR.  But on digging it becomes clearer that the key challenge is around the 'softer' HR issues.

SME Operators are terribly isolated and burdened.  Mental health issues can be a huge struggle for them.

The Financial Services Royal Commission is throwing up a host of issues ... but when it comes to SME banking, few business owners are surprised - or alarmed.  Indeed they are most concerned about the 'unintended consequences' of how banks will respond and what it will mean for the SME sector.

The reality is that most small business owners do NOT want to grow their business - a fact which is at the heart of the disconnect between small businesses and large businesses and the people that work within them.

Our annual update on the words to avoid in SME communications ...

Here's an update on the challenges called out by SME Operators at present

How do SMEs view data loss/hacking/ransomware?  It is largely a function of business size ...

SMEs are aware of the pending arrival of Amazon to Australian shores but most appear unconcerned.  Some are downright blase.

It's hard to understand how SMEs are travelling.  Read here to find out what is going on out there ...

Running a business can be thankless.  Society pays business owners no respect and nor do the people employed in SMEs.

SMEs are always receiving outbound calls from suppliers.  But so often these calls miss the mark.  Read why ...

All SMEs think that THEY are different.  Their suppliers generally fail to understand the importance of this and what it means for their offers - for what they offer, how they package it and how they communicate it.

SMEs and large businesses tend to have a quite different opinion on what cash flow is, and whether large suppliers (in particular banks) can help them to understand and improve their cash flow position.  Frankly, they think banks cannot help them.

When communicating with business owners - in particular when advertising or promoting to them - there are particular words and phrases that just have to be avoided if you want to engage them ...

Virtually everything to do with 'staff' is a headache for businesses - especially those with say 10-100 FTEs ... they do not have the necessary systems in place but they need to.  Most alarmingly, they KNOW they need to.  Some are starting to look to online HR tools to help them, and the potential market for such resources - which may cover on-barding, off-boarding, performance reviews, leave planning, relevant documentation to mention some - is huge.

SME Operators are colourful cats.  Here are ten of the best calls we've heard from SME Operators from the past 25 years ...

SMEs take innovation seriously ... but they view it differently to how it is seen by many commentators.  Displaying their typical 'earthiness', many business owners point out that 'innovation' is really more about incremental improvement than a light-bulb moment.  In fact they push back hard on the 'one big idea' philosophy.  That said, they are virtually all looking to innovate - some by improving through implementing the innovations of others, and some by attempting to overhaul what they do.

As business move from small (ie <20 employees) to mid-market (ie 20-500 employees) they experience many growing pains.  Sadly a notable proportion of businesses are unable to make the transition even though they want to.  This is especially the case for businesses with 20-50 employees who are 'stuck in the middle' - they're no longer a small business but they don't have the resources (or mind-set) of a larger operator.  It is a stressful position to be in.

Business owners don’t sit still.  They’re always looking for ways to improve their business.  Having researched SMEs for the past 24 years, we’re of the view that they are more open to using technology to improve their business now than they have ever been before.

In our recent panel research, business owners had plenty to say about some of the issues of the day – in particular the Federal Election and Brexit.

We are nearing the end of interviewing for the 22nd wave of our ‘SMEs Through Time’ study with small and mid-market business owners across Australia.