An interesting survey hit my inbox this morning from research company DBM, which tracks 18,000 SMEs as part of its regular surveys.
The report looked at the biggest concerns of small business owners and operators and the message was clear – debt is just not a big concern, with just 15% of respondents nominating interest rates as a worry and 5% nominating access to finance.
Yes, the economy remains the biggest concern for business owners, with 47% of owners nominating this as a worry, but this is sharply down from six months ago, when 70% of entrepreneurs were fretting over the state of the economy.
Just over 40% nominated managing costs as a big concern, with just under 40% nominating growing or maintaining revenue as a challenge.
What this says to me is that Australia’s SMEs have come through this downturn in remarkably good shape from a financial point of view. Yes, the banks have tightened the screws, but it seems companies have adjusted, strengthened their balance sheet and got back to the core job of running operations.
This is further underlined by a report from Ernst & Young, which found nearly half of all Australian companies believe they are in a well-structured financial position and could make the preparations to acquire another business within 30 days if necessary.
Given this, 2010 looks like being a big year for many SMEs. While the economy may well remain patchy (from a macro level and from industry to industry) it appears that many companies are ready to put their foot on the accelerator, dust off the growth plans that were shelved this year and try to win new business.
Of course, entrepreneurs need to be ready for this – it’s highly likely that your competitors are thinking like you and will be pushing hard to take your market share.
Plan ahead, move as early as you can and be aggressive.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
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