JobKeeper propping up business says MYOB report

• 68 per cent of small business owners say revenue is down due to the impact of COVID-19
• 1 in 5 small businesses were very unprepared for the pandemic to hit
• 26 per cent of small businesses say the impact of the epidemic will last at least a year or two
• 1 in 4 respondents think the Australian government responded better to the pandemic than New Zealand
• Of those businesses that were eligible for the JobKeeper program, 84 per cent of small businesses said JobKeeper will allow their business to keep running
• 24 per cent say their business has or will have to permanently close

Research by leading cloud accounting solution MYOB has revealed the government’s JobKeeper supplement may be the only thing keeping the wolf from the door for many small business owners.

The special COVID-19 edition of the brand’s long-running Business Monitor report surveyed business owners throughout April and May to discover the financial impact of the pandemic on the nation’s small businesses.

The report discovered four in ten business owners have placed their business in hibernation for six months in an effort to ride out the pandemic, while almost a quarter of those surveyed said their business has or will permanently shut down.

For those fortunate enough to remain trading 84 per cent said the government’s JobKeeper program has allowed them to remain in business. The impact of COVId -19 has been far-reaching with small business across industries including financial, agriculture, trades, transport, retail and hospitality all suffering ill effects.

“The impact of COVID on the small business sector is hard to overstate, as evidenced by the data,” MYOB Economist Jon Manning said.

“Some small business owners believe their recovery will take only a few months while others are expecting it to take years.

“Ninety-three per cent of small business owners have told us they have seen a reduction in work due to the pandemic. Over the next three to six months 52 per cent of respondents say they expect their revenue to decrease by 20 per cent or more,” Manning said.

As Australia slowly enters the recovery stage, Manning says the data reveals business outlook is split by industry

“We can see 35 per cent of Transport, Postal and Warehousing industry believe the disruption will impact their business for up to six months’ time whereas 24 per cent of the Retail and Hospitality industry believe it will take between one and two years for their business to bounce back,”. Manning confirmed.

The MYOB expert encouraged small businesses to embrace contactless payments and the cashless economy if they want to get paid faster and boost their cash flow.

One way to help businesses bounce back faster will be to continue to support contactless payments.

“Contactless payments will speed up the circulation of money through the economy, improving business’ cash flow along the way and the bigger the transaction value, the bigger the benefit. As life gets back to normal and Australia starts to rebuild the economy, the shape of the recovery will differ from industry to industry.

“Businesses will bounce back faster if they continue to drive contactless payments to manage cash flow and get paid quicker.  If the velocity by which money electronically changes hands from buyer to seller gathers pace and bigger transactions are possible there is no doubt the economic recovery will speed up too,” Manning concluded.