Weakened competitors have larger SME's smacking their lips
Oct 2 (BusinessWire) - The most common opportunity to emerge from the economic recession is the chance to knock over a
competitor, according to the first KPMG "Mood of the Market" survey of small and medium-sized enterprises, released this
morning.
The global accounting, tax and audit adviser has joined the bandwagon of companies producing new, regular measures of
economic activity and attitudes. The survey asked a short questionnaire of 189 firms in Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton,
Wellington, and Christchurch between August 6 and 13.
Asked what opportunities their businesses were likely to take as a result of the economic downturn, 48% nominated
"increase in market share due to competitor weakened position", although firms with annual turnovers exceeding $10
million were more likely to cite this than firms around the $1 million turnover mark.
The survey also suggests big shifts in staff attitudes and companies' performance culture were two other positive
impacts from the recession. Just on 40% of the firms questioned said their company culture had shifted to a greater
focus on outcomes, while a third reported employees had a greater focus on their own performance. Again, this trend was
more marked among larger firms.
Views about the year ahead were consistent with other business sentiment surveys, with 51% predicting a "slight
increase" in economic activity, while managing cashflow, liquidity, costs and profitability outstripped other possible
causes for concern, and three-quarters of those sampled expected to maintain staff at current levels for the next 12
months.
Some 41% of respondents were keen to see the Government introduce new incentives for investment or innovation, and a
further 31% thought the most useful thing the Government could do right now would be to cut tax compliance obligations
for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Almost one-third of firms surveyed had no formal business plan, but half of those which do were reviewing performance
monthly, again with a bias towards more formal planning and regular review among larger SME's.
While 8.5% of firms reported results in the last financial year were "within 20% above forecast", 14.3% reported being
"within 20% below forecast".
The survey also found strong support for a common Australasian currency, with 52% of those surveyed in favour, and 46.5%
against.
(BusinessWire)