Business looking brighter this side of the ditch

It’s not just the sun that’s shining in New Zealand this summer; a recent report shows Kiwi small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) viewing 2016 as looking so bright, they may just have to wear shades!

In comparison, Aussie business confidence amongst small companies for the 12 months ahead looks significantly lower – no sunglasses required.

After outperforming their Australian counterparts in 2015, New Zealand small business operators are more confident of improved revenue in 2016, too according to MYOB’s latest trans-Tasman Business Monitor*.

In the second half of 2015, the proportion of Kiwi SME operators reporting a rise in revenue, at 31%, outweighed the 25% who saw a fall in revenue in the 12 months prior to the survey. In contrast, 22% of Austalian SMEs reported a rise, against a significantly higher 30% who saw a drop in revenue.

This is great news for our small businesses which will likely be reaping increased revenues – as good for the bank balance as they are for business confidence and growth.

Investing in technology looks like one of the key reasons New Zealand small business operators have a more positive outlook going into 2016 than their Australian counterparts, according to the MYOB Business Monitor.

The Monitor shows almost half of New Zealand invested in technology in the past 12 months compared to less than a third of Australian small businesses. And, 25% of kiwi businesses plan to increase that IT investment in the year ahead, while only 21% of Australian businesses have budgeted for technology spend in 2016.

The report shows that Australian businesses would be investing more funds than us on staff (14% expected increase in permanent staff in Australian SMEs vs 9% in NZ) and on marketing and advertising (23% expecting to increase online marketing spend in Australia vs 19% of New Zealand SMEs).

That SMEs here and in Australia are investing in these critical areas is vital in my opinion to maintain steady and sustainable growth. While in an ideal world I believe SMEs should be investing reasonably equally in all three, it’s likely that the increased technology investment New Zealand is making in 2015/2016 will enable more capital to increase staffing and marketing spend down the track.

It’s an exciting time for New Zealand SMEs – and a great time to capitalise on our business advantages.

What does 2016 hold for your business?

* The MYOB Business Monitor – Trans-Tasman New Zealand Report 2016 survey was completed by 1,000 small-to-medium business in both Australia and New Zealand.