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SMEs happier with government

Small to medium business owners are the happiest they’ve been with the Federal Government since 2009.

Small to medium business owners have the highest level of satisfaction the the Federal Government since 2009, a new study reveals.

Six months after the 2013 Federal Election, the March 2014 MYOB Business Monitor study reveals dissatisfaction has significantly eased when SMEs were asked about the government’s support for helping businesses like theirs succeed.

Satisfaction has improved with almost one quarter (24 per cent) of respondents are happy with the Liberal Government’s backing of the sector, while 32 per cent of respondents are dissatisfied.

This is a significant turnaround from the September 2013 report, where 50 per cent of SME operators were dissatisfied and only 16 per cent were satisfied under the Labor Government.

MYOB CEO Tim Reed says it appears sentiment is moving from negative to neutral.

“In particular the drop in dissatisfaction could mean small business owners like what they are hearing from the Government but may need to see more action to lift their levels of satisfaction,” he says.

“There’s also likely to be a relationship between the significant easing in SME dissatisfaction with the Federal Government and strong performance in the SME economy. “

SME annual revenue growth is at a level unseen since 2011 – around one quarter reported rising revenue, an improvement on the previous five consecutive surveys.

Around one third reported a revenue decline and this was the best result since March 2011.

Reed says the SME business outlook is definitely more upbeat, with one third expecting their revenue to increase in 2014, up from one quarter in September 2013.

“Small and medium businesses are the bedrock of our GDP health, and their needs are paramount to the success of our economy. We should do all we can to make their business life easier,” he says.

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