But 74% of them believe the banks’ lending appetite has decreased
It seems small business owners are seeing better days in the current political and financial climate as 62% of them expect to be financially better off this time next year, according to the small business survey conducted by business financial provider GetCapital on its customers.
The survey also revealed that although 74% of survey participants believe the banks’ lending appetite has dropped this year, 63% of them said they are financially better off or about the same as last year.
They bat well
When asked about the biggest impediment to their business growth in 2019-20, 33% of the respondents point to the general economy, 30% to access to capital and 17% to regulations.
Although the government’s budget initiative aims to stimulate small businesses, 55% of business owners think its policies will not be effective enough to stimulate growth.
In an interview with MPA, GetCapital CEO Jamie Osborn said the government’s business tax policies “is a good start but it hasn’t gone far enough”.
“The great thing about small businesses is that they respond really quickly to economic stimulus and the effects are felt at a ground root level in local communities. Small businesses are the first to hire in an upswing and last to fire in a downturn,” Osborn said.
“When they invest, they invest locally — hiring additional staff, sponsoring local sports teams and putting on local events. This means they bat well above their weight in terms of impact on the Australian economy and the government should do all it can to support them to grow and flourish.”
Growth without limit
According to Osborn, a whopping 49% of their customer base intend to take advantage of the Instant Asset Write-Off, the budget’s main policy for small businesses. However, he added, while that indicates the policy is good, a business needs to be profitable and faithful in paying taxes in order to benefit from the program.
Osborn would like to see more done to stimulate businesses that are loss making or just breaking even. “Access to capital continues to be one of the biggest impediments to growth for small businesses,” he said.
“We'd like to see capable and responsible small business owners be able to grow their businesses to the size the market allows them without being limited by their access to capital.”
