The 2014 Small Business Trends in Australia

Smart Company spoke to experts about what's in store for the small business owner in 2014. Here are the small business trends in management, technology, human resources, financial management and marketing.

Management

“Before the global financial crisis, there was a war on talent,” said Tony Gleeson, chief executive at Australian Institute of Management. “It will come back into play.”

Small business owners and managers will restart hiring as they fight to keep staff and attract top talent. They will also focus on building customer relationships by keeping up with policy changes and re-prioritising corporate social responsibility. Leaders will be more active in adopting flexible working environments.

Technology

Fronde CEO James Valentine predicts that small businesses will focus on the cloud and mobile devices.

As businesses adopt the cloud, they will be better educated about data sovereignty, privacy, and security. Customers now demand easy access anywhere and everywhere, which will shift the focus from desktop PCs to mobile devices. Concepts such as responsive web design will be a requirement for new applications.

Human Resources

“Companies seeking to distinguish themselves as best places to work embrace innovation and process improvements,” said Karen Cariss, global chief executive at PageUp People. “When we look back on 2014 to make our predictions for 2015, I’m confident that those organisations that follow these trends will be further ahead of their competition.”

Analytics tools will play a huge role in employee management. They will enable companies to evaluate the impact of talent on business performance and to predict workforce demands. New features such as career path management and candidate relationship management will be utilised.

Mobile technologies will be used for recruitment. Businesses will use mobile career sites and applications to source talent. This will enable them to tap new talent pools while reducing time and cost to hire.

Financial Management

“There will be continuing growth in small businesses using the cloud for their finance data,” said Sarah Riegelhuth, co-founder at financial advisory group at Wealth Enhancers.

More small businesses will use software and outsourcing to better manage their finances. They will partner with other businesses to outsource non-core services and access skills for specific projects.

Marketing

Megan Barrow, director of marketing firm JoElla, says that small business marketing will still focus on online media. But businesses will shift to a “brand story” as consumers look for “authentic marketing”.

“It is a more traditional concept,” she said. “Online, they will want more of a story or a connection to a brand.” Social media and websites will play a huge role, but there's a chance that print marketing will make a comeback. However, budgets will stay relatively the same as small businesses can only afford short-term marketing strategies.

Hat tip: Smart Company