Small businesses don’t believe in the value of technology, says ANZ

By Ceyda Erem · · 2 min read
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New research by ANZ has found that many small businesses aren’t convinced that digital technology is a vital tool for a company’s success.

According to the ‘Digital Economy: Transforming Australian Businesses’ report, 56% of micro, small and medium businesses (SMEs) don’t value digital tools, despite the report finding they save time and can deliver significant revenue benefits.

“Our research highlights that while business owners understand digital solutions can provide a range of benefits, many are yet to establish a well-defined digital strategy that will eventually become standard for doing business in Australia,” said ANZ’s General Manager of Small Business Banking, Guy Mendelson.

“A digital strategy becomes even more critical when considering that digitally-enabled businesses save an average of about 10 hours a week and subsequently increase annual revenue by almost a third.”  

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Unsurprisingly, the same businesses who didn’t value digital tools also lacked the internal skills required to use them effectively.

And according to Mendelson, these businesses could be missing out, big time.

“Collectively, the sector has the potential to boost revenue by a total of $385 billion per year and save 22 million hours of effort per week. These savings are significant and show the importance of effectively using digital solutions to drive business performance,” he said.

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Small businesses in the dark about cyber crime

A key issue raised by the report was cyber-security, as 55% of businesses have little to no knowledge or understanding of cyber-attacks. 

Cyber-security knowledge was also at a minimum at the outset for the majority of companies, as 71% of startup businesses admitted to knowing nothing about it. 

“As businesses become more established so does their understanding of cyber-security issues, however it’s important for every business to be aware of the different types of cyber-attacks such as business email compromise, which are growing at a significant rate,” said Mendelson. 

So if you’re a business owner who thinks it’s time you gave your company an upgrade with the help of a loan, you can check out our business loan comparison tool.