Small business owners have always had to be jacks-of-all trades: salesperson, marketer, logistics coordinator, customer service agent, and more. With the internet rewiring our entire economy, many Aussie small business owners are now adding “web expert” to this list.
Following Deloitte’s Connected Continent research, which showed the web to be worth as much to Australia as iron ore exports, we wanted to better understand how business owners are using new online business tools to run and grow their operations.
Released today by Deloitte Access Economics, “Connected Small Businesses”, shows that the web is quite simply rocket fuel for small business. Small businesses with high digital engagement—that is, SMBs that are making the most use of online tools like websites, online marketing, and social media—are two times more likely to be growing revenue and earn two times more revenue per employee than those with low engagement. They’re also job creators for Australia, being four times more likely to be hiring than those with low digital engagement.
The research also shows that high digital engagement is linked to better business outcomes, with a 20% uptake in revenue for businesses that move up just one level of digital engagement. They also have better growth prospects, more diversified sources of revenue and a bigger customer base.
Oliver Hagen, who runs an organic butcher in Melbourne’s South Yarra, is one small business owner who is using the web to grow. With a strong online presence which includes social media, Oliver also uses online marketing to attract customers across Victoria. In some cases, he gets orders from as far as the Mornington Peninsula or Perth.
Yet, Deloitte found that only 16% of Aussie small businesses are highly digital engaged ones like Hagen’s Organic Butchers. Of those small businesses surveyed, 25% have medium digital engagement, 24% low engagement, while 35% have very low digital engagement or not using the internet at all.
According to Deloitte, there are three main things that set high digital engaged business from others:
- Digital presence: have a presence on social networks
- Use of internet: to reach new customers in the local marketing
- Use of digital marketing: search engine marketing and search engine optimisation to be found
This report card shows there’s some work to be done convincing small businesses about the benefits of the web, but also signals the huge potential for our wider economy. Our two-million small businesses employ 7 million people and make up half of the private sector economy, so even a small step forward can mean more free time, more customers, and more revenue or jobs for businesses owners. And that’s good news for Australia.
Posted by Jason Pellegrino, Director, Google Australia
