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What are the top challenges facing Aussie businesses today?

Sarah Stowe

Almost half of Australian businesses cite revenue and profit growth as a major concern. Almost half of Australian businesses cite revenue and profit growth as a major concern. Image: cfainstitute-org

That’s according to the inaugural SME and Online Business Insights Report 201, produced by law firm LegalVision.

The survey, which collected responses from 200 businesses and analysed data from LegalVision’s custom-built CRM, highlighted a number of trends across the SME sector.

Other big challenges are managing cash flow, and launching new products.

Twenty percent of respondents identified financing their business as a key challenge.

Lachlan McKnight, CEO of LegalVision, said the report highlighted the rapid growth in new Australian businesses, particularly online.

“Business owners now have greater access to information to help launch their businesses. Australian SMEs are taking charge by creating new products and improved services themselves, rather than waiting for someone else to do it.”

The survey also identified common legal obligations that business owners may be failing to address with business structuring the most common legal challenge facing SMEs (39%).

“It’s important for businesses to understand that compliance with legal obligations should be an ongoing focus.

“Our report revealed that 68 percent of businesses did not know about the Australian Privacy Principles. To avoid landing in hot water, SMEs should be proactive and stay informed about legislative or industry changes.”

However, the survey also revealed the biggest reason for respondents not to engage a lawyer when faced with a legal issue is unexpected high costs (50%).

INSIGHTS

Top three business challenges

  • growing revenue/increasing profit (46%)
  • cash flow (40%)
  • adding/launching new products (37%)

 Trademarks

  • 40 percent of respondents plan to register a trade mark in the next 12 months;
  • 65 percent of survey respondents with a registered trade mark have never monitored, or very infrequently monitor, their trade marks for infringement, despite it being the responsibility of the trade mark owner to monitor for infringement;

Online

The ease of starting an online business has resulted in greater small business growth, with LegalVision seeing a 120 percent increase in online business enquiries in 2015;

While businesses with a physical shopfront typically have an online presence, the opposite trend has also started to emerge, with 17 percent of online business respondents intending to set up an offline presence (i.e. physical shop-front or pop-up store) in the next 12 months.

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