Profitability among Queensland small businesses has risen 42% since 2019, outpacing the rise in wages/salary (22%) and total expenses (21%) a new report from the Queensland Small Business Commissioner reveals.
- Over the last four years, small businesses in several industries experienced above-average survival and growth – including agriculture, healthcare and real estate.
- The report provides key data and insights to the strength of the Queensland small business community.
This report provides a bigger picture of household spending, small business survival and profitability through COVID-19.
It found the pandemic had a severe but short-lived impact on household spend in Queensland.
In March 2023, the overall growth in household spend was 28.3% higher compared with the same period pre-COVID – in March 2019.
In the four years to 2023, consumer spend for hotels and food service grew by 50% and also significantly for recreation/culture (46%) and clothing/footwear (41%).
With ongoing community spending and Government support, the survival rate for Queensland small businesses rose slightly between 2018 and 2022 – to 64.3%, just shy of the national survival rate of 65%.
However, Queensland is leading the way when it comes to sector growth, with the number of small businesses growing by 9.5% since mid-2020 – above the national average of 7%.
Regions experiencing the largest small business growth include Ipswich, Logan, the Sunshine Coast and Central Queensland.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Employment and Small Business, Di Farmer:
“Through COVID-19, the Queensland Government provided more than $2.5 billion to support small businesses – including through Small Business COVID-19 Adaption Grants and COVID-19 Business Support Grants, red-tape reduction, loans and rebates, and financial counseling.
“It’s now clear how valuable this kind of support is – allowing many small businesses to recover from a brief dip in household spending in 2020, to quickly return to profit and job creation.
“This report should provide Queensland innovators, creatives and entrepreneurs with the confidence they need to dream, develop, and launch their businesses.
“More than 82,000 new small businesses launched in Queensland during 2021–22 taking the number of small businesses in Queensland past 473,000.
“I know that there are businesses swimming against the tide, dealing with the challenges thrown up by cost-of-living pressures. There is more to be done to help turn things around for these businesses and we will be relentless in this pursuit.
“But it is encouraging to see positive data emerging.
“This data will inform Government policy and strategy into the future – as we continue to seek solutions to workforce challenges and the rising cost-of-living.”
Quotes attributable to the Queensland Small Business Commissioner, Dominique Lamb:
“We believe small businesses deserve to be seen and celebrated, as they contribute $119 billion of economic activity to the Queensland economy.
“The report provides the means to, and sets out how to benchmark against the small business industry using two simple ratios: profit margin and wage ratio.
“The challenge now for small businesses across Queensland is to manage their costs, profit margin and wage ratios while keeping a close focus on metrics and business performance.
“Situated in a state that has a history of strong growth, Queensland small businesses are unique.
“Despite the challenges on the horizon, we hope that this report will assist in providing insights to help small businesses continue to prosper.”
Explainer/fast fact and or further information:
- The Queensland Small Business Commissioner was established by the Queensland Government in May 2022 under the Small Business Commissioner Act 2022 (SBC Act)as an initiative to enhance the operating environment for small businesses and reduce the time and costs associated with resolving disputes involving small businesses.
- The Commissioner previously operated from May 2020 through to May 2022 under the COVID-19 Emergency Response Act 2020.
- The Queensland Small Businesses Outlook – Beyond the pandemic report is produced by Qi Insights, from a number of sources including publicly-available datasets from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
- To read the full report, please visit https://qsbc.qld.gov.au/beyond-covid
