The latest Sensis Business Index survey has revealed that although small and medium enterprise (SME) retailer confidence improved slightly this quarter, retail remains one of the least confident sectors.
Being an established business and having an optimistic attitude were the main influences on confidence, with hard business conditions and weak sales key causes of industry pessimism.
Along with retail, the survey found that the building and construction industry also lacks confidence, while wholesale trade saw a 12 point rise in confidence.
Overall, business confidence fell slightly but remains relatively high, with 55 per cent of businesses feeling confident as opposed to 20 per cent who are worried.
“Positive wages and prices helped influence confidence, while on the other hand there were negative ratings for sales, employment and profitability,” explains Sensis CEO, John Allan.
“A lack of work or sales again dominated as the key concerns for SMEs, while half reported barriers to taking on new staff.”
The index, which reflects the views of 1,000 SMEs from across the country, also found that only 13 per cent of Australia’s small and medium businesses think the economy is growing.
“More than three times as many businesses think the economy is slowing as those who think is it growing,” says Allan.
“The projections for the economy in a year’s time have also deteriorated by 13 points, moving from positive to negative territory.
By Ruth Cooper
