SMEs focused on increasing client, revenue growth this year, survey finds

About half of small- and medium-sized enterprises are focusing on increasing their client and revenue growth in 2012, while only 13% are focusing on minimising losses, according to a new survey by MYOB.

The findings are a slight improvement on the last MYOB Business Monitor survey in October, which painted a stark picture due to few businesses expecting a boost in Christmas sales. That survey saw 46% of business owners planning to increase client and revenue growth (up 3% this quarter).

The business management software provider found the key business development strategies for SMEs in 2012 were targeting customer attraction, customer retention, as well as diversifying their business into new areas.

MYOB chief executive Tim Reed says that customers remained the core focus for SMEs going into 2012.

“What I found especially interesting was the insight we received into the importance SMEs place on driving growth through diversification,” he says.

“It makes sense for today’s business owners, many of whom face increasingly financially conservative consumers, to foster a ‘stickier’ customer by providing more products or services to whet their appetite.”

“For many it will be the key to their survival in a two-speed economy.”

Council of Small Business of Australia executive director Peter Strong told SmartCompany this wasn’t surprising, as small businesses had a greater ability to diversify than large business.

“They’re either closing or diversifying in many cases,” he says. “The beauty of small business is they can diversify really quickly, as they have few people in charge and they’re very close to the marketplace.”

“They’re capable of responding to change.”

The survey also underlined the importance of businesses being online. Businesses with a website generated 6% more revenue in the previous 12 months than those without.

“The key is getting online, being found, communicating well to your online audience and in doing so getting solid access to the digital economy,” Reed says.

He says that recent data showed two out of three consumers searched online for businesses, so it was heartening to see small- and medium-sized enterprises taking that on board.

“Selling online is a must for businesses,” Reed says.

“It’s fantastic that a lot of businesses realise that, and are being proactive in planning for it.”

Nearly a quarter (24%) of those surveyed said they planned to go into online sales in 2012.

Strong, while stressing the diversity of the SME sector as complicating any generalisations, said small businesses who sold online were succeeding in monetising the opportunities provided by the internet.

“They’re dealing with the change,” he says.

“But small businesses that are stuck inside leases are struggling, because no matter how they change things they still have that lease.”

The survey also found 33% planned to move into new markets this year.

“That is a staggering proportion,” Reed says. “It might be a new local market, they might be going interstate or exporting.”

“They realise economic environment is here to stay and are being proactive in seeking new opportunities.”

More than 1,000 SMEs were involved in the MYOB survey.