Business entrepreneur says support vital for SMEs to survive

Australia’s largest business group, the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, is under threat due to decreasing consumer demand and finance being harder to obtain from cautious banking institutions.

Support for the SME sector in Australasia is even more important during a downturn says New Zealand businesswoman Sarah Trotman who plans to franchise her total business support package, which includes New Zealand’s Bizzone Business Expo, in Australia. Bizzone business services franchise took 29th place on the NZ Deloitte Fast50 business growth index last year. Trotman was a finalist in this year’s Veuve Clicquot award celebrating entrepreneurs.

Trotman supports recent moves by Australian banks to offer more finance to the SME sector and says Westpac retail and business banking boss Peter Hanlon is right in saying that the SME sector tended to recover more quickly than large corporations from a recession.

In the last four years Trotman saw 41,000 business owners go through the doors of her business exhibition franchise events and backs up Hanlon’s statement that small companies tend to be more nimble, and the people running them are more entrepreneurial.

“Small businesses have many advantages over big businesses, including flexibility, the ability to respond more quickly and provide a more personal service,” she says. “However, with 96% of all businesses in Australasia being small and medium businesses, there has been no other time where encouragement and support in the SME sector has been more important.”

“For existing business operators, the current doom and gloom makes it twice as challenging to remain positive and energetic,” Trotman says. “The delivery of quality support services will be critical in helping small businesses survive over the coming months.”

Planning to establish one advertising and PR franchise relationship in each state in Australia, Trotman is on the hunt for the right relationship to ensure that Australian SMEs receive the best possible support in the coming years.