Already there have been some shocks for small/medium enterprises in the first couple of months in 2012. How are these events affecting your business?
- Decision by the Reserve Bank of Australia, not to decrease interest rates in February and March.
- Political uncertainty affecting businesses conditions.
- Carbon tax – commences on the 1st July 2012. Whilst it is not expected that any SMEs will be directly involved in incurring direct costs for carbon tax, your business will be affected by an expected increase in the costs of electricity (5-7% increase expected) and other energy prices which are also expected to increase.
- In the Transport Industry the diesel and excise rebate will be sliced back. This will probably lead to increased freight and transport charges for most small business.
- There are many other business activities that could be affected by the introduction of the carbon tax. We recommend that you do some calculations now as to the effect on your business and ensure that the extra costs are factored into your pricing calculations applicable from the 1st July 2012.
Many economists expect there to be a surge later in 2012/2013. This could then lead to some interest rate increases. Now would be a good time to lock in better deals for customers and develop new long-term customer relationships, so that you are able to benefit from the expected upturn in 2013.
