Dollar plunges to 33-month low: Eight ways a falling dollar can help your business

The Aussie dollar’s fall to 92 cents last week has caused much wailing and gnashing of teeth amongst businesses.

Importers are obviously wincing and retailers such as Harvey Norman have been quick to complain.

But there are also plenty of ways businesses can take advantage of the current economic environment.

Here are 10 ways your business can take advantage of the lower Australian dollar.

1. Contracts

Lock in currency dependent contracts now so you are guaranteed some stability if the dollar continues to fall. It’s a bit of a gamble, but you may be kicking yourself down the line if you don’t tie in a good rate now.

Jim Vrondas, currency and payment strategist at Oz Forex, told SmartCompany “at the end of the day most businesses want some stability in the currency as it helps with planning”.

2. Exports

Now is the time to think about exporting. The lower dollar means you can offer better prices.

“Exporters or those receiving foreign currency will increase income streams, but if they are already locked into exchange rates it may be a bit of time before they feel the impact,” says Vrondas.

3. Tourism

Does your business get any tourist trade? If it does, you’re likely to see some benefit with more international tourism likely to flow from the Aussie dollar, and less domestic tourists who head overseas.

4. Hiring

It’s likely to be more worth your while to hire Australian workers rather than outsourcing overseas.

“You could see the trend to outsourcing overseas winding back, but you will need the Aussie dollar to fall further, perhaps by 20% for it to become more competitive to bring that back to Australia,” Vrondas says.

5. Stock up now on imported goods

Some goods are likely to go up like clothing and furniture. But the increases probably won’t hit for a couple of months as importers already have the stock. Think about stocking up on imported office furniture, machinery and uniforms now.

6. Manufacturing

At last some good news for the beleaguered manufacturing sector.

“The fall in the Aussie dollar should help manufacturers to some degree by reducing some of their input costs,” Vrondas says.

7. Technology

Cameras, video cameras and computers – they’re all reducing in price thanks to advances in technology despite the falling dollar. If you need to snap up a gadget for your business then looking around online now can get you some great deals.

8. Exporting while importing

Vrondas says while it may appear importers will be hit by the falling dollar, many are also exporters so will not be that badly affected.

“Some businesses have import and export components, they may import raw material and then produce items here and export overseas,” he says.

“Those types of businesses have a natural hedge as they have foreign currency going out and foreign currency going in.”