Celebrating resilience and innovation: Highlights from the 2024 Smart50 Awards

The past few years have been among the toughest for businesses in living memory, but you would be hard-pressed to guess that based on the jubilant atmosphere at the 2024 Smart50 Awards.

The event, which counts down  50 of the fastest-growing Australian small and medium businesses, is always a high point on the calendar. And it really kicked things up a notch this year, thanks to the generosity and support of our sponsors: Optus Business, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), Asana, and Lightspeed Commerce.

Of course, these awards wouldn’t exist at all without the small business owners themselves, whose unrelenting adaptability and drive are a constant inspiration. 

Indeed, as SmartCompany’s editor-in-chief Simon Crerar noted in his welcome speech, the extraordinary “hustle and smarts” of Aussie SMEs are making the awards harder to judge every year.

So, without further ado, let’s look back at a fun-filled evening where Australia’s best and brightest SMEs were dressed to impress and ready to celebrate.

A new venue provides an elevated experience

This year’s Smart50 Awards were held at Metropolis Events in Southbank—a swanky venue that boasts spectacular panoramic views of the Yarra River and Flinders Street Station. 

Passing the big, strapping bouncers in their smart black suits and riding the escalator up to the entrance even felt a bit like trotting the red carpet at the Logies.

As the guests started to arrive, waiters circled with tasty canapés, and the sense of slightly nervous anticipation was diffused with a drink (or two). Meanwhile, one of the evening’s first surprises was DJ-slash-saxophonist Tom Bunnett, who set an upbeat, almost electric vibe with his mix of funky dance beats layered with smooth, soulful saxophone riffs.

Even Melbourne’s notoriously fickle climate seemed enthusiastic about the Smart50 this year, putting on a show of bright sunshine that made the city sparkle through the 9-metre-high windows.

Such beautiful weather was slightly at odds with the current business landscape, however. As Crerar observed, the latest ACCI numbers paint a grim picture, revealing a record high of 1,245 insolvency appointments in the July quarter. This is a 44% bump from the mid-2023 figures, and a staggering 122% increase on 2022.

Then again, maybe the weather was appropriate after all, since the morning had been grey and gloomy before the clouds parted. And, with the drinks flowing and interest rate cuts in sight, attendees clearly felt they had reason to celebrate. 

Not only surviving, but thriving

Perhaps that’s the biggest takeaway of the night – and business leaders seem fired up for 2025.

This is a testament to what the evening’s MC, SmartCompany’s senior technology journalist, Tegan Jones described as the “scrappy” nature of Aussie entrepreneurs. And it’s a quality that our nation’s economy depends on. 

As Crerar pointed out in his speech and follow-up article, an overwhelming majority (99.8%) of the 2.6 million businesses in Australia have under 200 staff. Yet they employ more than 75% of all our workers and generate more than 50% of our GDP.

Despite these very challenging times, those who attended the awards last Thursday are not only surviving but thriving. In fact, as a group, they made nearly a billion dollars in sales in the last financial year. 

“This year, those making the Top 50 list made a total of $912 million in revenue in FY24 alone, up from $495 million last year,” Crerar told the room. “This growth points to green shoots of recovery after what we know have been a very turbulent few years,” he added.

A real sense of community

The incredible resilience and creativity of Aussie SMEs was on full display throughout the countdown and category award presentations. And, once again, the sense of optimism in the room was palpable and infectiously uplifting.

By now, you probably know  Pay.com.au was the evening’s main prize-winner, having achieved a remarkable 385% growth over the past three financial years.

But a few other businesses deserve an honourable mention:

• Two of the golden envelopes contained good news for The Laundry Lady, which scooped up the Marketing Award and the People Power Award.
• Another double-winner, Paire, snagged both the Retail Award, which was sponsored by Lightspeed Commerce, and the Rising Star Award, sponsored by the ASBFEO.
• First Nations Foundation won the Community Hero Award, which was sponsored by Optus Business.
• And Carma took home the Innovator Award, sponsored by Asana.

There were a lot of laughs when Paire co-founders Nathan Yun and Rex Zhang each took an opportunity during their acceptance speeches to spruik their Black Friday sale. And a sweet exchange when they riffed with The Laundry Lady CEO and founder Susan Toft about their respective appearances on Shark Tank. 

This moment really highlighted the sense of community that exists among Aussie SMEs. Meanwhile, Yun’s unprompted shoutout to Optus Business and SmartCompany underscored the important role of the organisations whose success is tied up in theirs.

After some more mingling, networking and photo ops, the evening was drawing to a close. And thanks to the unwavering support from Optus Business, ASBFEO, Asana, and Lightspeed Commerce, guests left not only with swag bags full of local artisan treats, but also with a renewed sense of possibility for what’s next.