No break for small business owners
There is no Christmas break in sight for many of the country’s small-to-medium business owners, new data shows.
Phil Dixon, co-owner of fine food supplier Sabato, said he and his team would be working throughout the Christmas period, and would only take time off on the statutory holidays.
‘‘We service supermarkets, other retail stores and restaurants, hotels and caterers, so we can’t stop.’’
According to new research from MYOB, Dixon is not alone. Just over 20% of small-to-medium business owners said they would not be able to take time off over the Christmas/new year period, while a further 7% were unsure.
Out of the respondents, 37% said it was because it was their busiest time of the year, 33% said they could not afford to take a break, 20% said their customers or clients relied on them to be there, and 18% said they worked alone so could not take a holiday, or they were on call.
‘‘It has been a tough year, and we’re probably very lucky we’ve had a lot of resilient staff,’’ Dixon said.
Looking ahead into 2023, Dixon expected it to be a difficult year. Tomorrow, the Reserve Bank is tipped to raise the official cash rate by 75 basis points to 4.25% to help lower inflation.
Dixon said that was worrying for business. ‘‘When people’s mortgage rates click up there is going to be a little bit of a shock in the system.’’
There was little optimism coming through from local businesses looking beyond the festive season either. Just over 60% of small business owners and operators expected the New Zealand economy to decline in the next 12 months, including more than a quarter who expected the decline to be significant.
In comparison, just 23% believed the economy will improve.
In terms of what was having the biggest impact on confidence, 62% of those surveyed said the cost of living, while 54% blamed the level of inflation and 40% cited rising interest rates as influencing their view of the economy for the year ahead.
‘‘Given the very real challenges small business operators are facing currently, it’s understandable that many are taking a ‘glass half-empty’ view of the economy at the moment,’’ MYOB spokesperson Jo Tozer said. ‘‘On top of inflation and the cost of living, the shortage of skilled employees, supply chain disruption, government spending, and consumer confidence are also other factors that some SMEs have told us are on their mind as they consider what lies ahead over the next 12 months.’’