Business owners find ways to thrive
THE Covid-19 crisis has had a surprising upside, according to a new report which argues it has increased the capacity for Australian entrepreneurs to launch their own businesses.
The report by Shopify, the global platform for online operations of big and small businesses, says about 30 per cent of small business owners report they will launch new operations this year – even though many are wary of success.
The survey was carried out in May and questioned 502 Australian and 250 New Zealand small business owners. It found 46 per cent were only “somewhat confident” of their business thriving in a postCovid world and 8 per cent were “not at all” confident.
But Robin Marchant, head of marketing for Shopify in Australia, said experiences of the past 18 months had “awakened the entrepreneur in many of us” because of the changes in working patterns that had given people a sense of independence about their futures.
There had also been an acceleration of the use of technology which had increased the ability of businesses to operate online. For example, brick and mortar companies now had to be able to react rapidly to the fluctuations in the way people consumed products because of snap lockdowns.
Shopify now has more than 100,000 merchants on its platform in Australia, with 1.7 million worldwide.
“That can range from someone running a muffin sale to JB Hi-Fi,” Mr Marchant said.
He said online selling “democratises commerce in a way that provides an opportunity for the many, not just the few. The entrepreneurs we are talking about are in the suburbs, in the streets, all corners of the country, across a broad diversity.
“(Covid) has given more opportunity to a significant number of entrepreneurs.”
The survey also revealed that JobKeeper “ranked poorly when it came to aiding business survival” with 41 per cent of respondents stating their survival was due to personal qualities such as “grit, determination and resilience” rather than to JobKeeper, which was selected by only 22 per cent.