In the loop | Big 4 business bites

Описание: In our second edition of 'in the loop', you'll find the latest insights on what's got the business world buzzing right now.

From economic contradictions, to the ATO's increased scrutiny and the surge in cyber attacks targeting small businesses, we cover a range of hot topics impacting businesses today.

To make sure you’re kept in the loop, watch our short video [with transcript below].

transcript:

In this episode of 'in the loop', we're going to talk about the big four big picture business bites. These are the things that are simmering in the background in the economy that could be impacting your business now or into the future.

1. contradictory data

First, is that we're seeing contradictory data coming out of the government organisations. With February's unemployment rate back down to 3.7%, it seems contradictory to the other data we're seeing where job ads are actually starting to drop.

We saw the February inflationary data came back in unchanged at 3.4%, but the commentators I'm hearing talk about CPI are really commenting on the difference between the goods inflation, and the services inflation, with services inflation still on the rise even though goods inflation may have dropped.

We've got the unions pushing for minimum wage increases of 5%. And so there's a real contradiction in all this data, and the concern is that wage pressures will keep on going up, and that unfortunately might still keep inflation going within that services sort of space as well.

2. ATO comes out swinging

The second big four big picture business bite is that the ATO definitely came out swinging this calendar year. They've issued 18,000 director penalty notices since 1 July 2023, and there's been 724 wind up notifications. We've noticed ATO balances starting to creep up, but we're definitely also seeing more aggressive tactics from the ATO in pursuing those debts.

3. cyber attacks

Number three, cyber-attacks. I heard a stat the other day that 43% of cyber-attacks are targeted at small businesses, and yet only 14% of those small businesses are ready. Cyber, data security, it's all going to consume a lot more of our attention in the next couple of years.

4. business owners feel stuck

And last but not least, the human side of things, number four, we're seeing this feeling of business owners that just feel stuck. They feel they can't make the big decisions they need to make to progress or to implement the plans that they have for their business. As a result, we're seeing many business owners putting their hands up and just listing their business for sale.

we’re here to help

If you have a burning question on your mind, you’re probably not alone! If you’d like us to answer any questions you might have, feel free give reah out to contact us here: https://businessdepot.com.au/contact/