Euphoria over the change of Prime Minister and fading concerns over cuts to the public service are making Canberra's small business owners among the most optimistic in the country. But many are failing to follow their customers as they move to smart devices.
According to Sensis, which regularly takes the pulse of the nation's small business sector through its quarterly survey, a growing sense of national optimism following Malcolm Turnbull's ascension to the Lodge is flowing through to traders and their customers.
The most recent business survey released in October showed falling confidence in the state of the economy in most parts of the country, with just the ACT and NSW defying the trend. But chief executive John Allan said there had been a notable turnaround in the negative sentiment since the leadership change.
"Anecdotally I talk to businesses across Australia, including Canberra, and there is a real sense of optimism around the new Prime Minister. People I have spoken to say there has been a real movement in sales and forward bookings in Canberra and they were coming off a couple of pretty flat years," Mr Allan said.
"If I was a betting person on the next survey due in January – and I haven't seen the numbers yet – I would expect some pretty positive sentiment towards the new government," he said.
Mr Allan said two years ago Canberrans had been spooked by talk of efficiencies and job uncertainty, but the conversation had now moved on.
"Canberra is not as reliant on sectors like manufacturing, as long as jobs remain stable in Canberra I would expect it to remain at the top of the leaderboard (as the state or territory with the highest level of business confidence)".
About 70 per cent of ACT businesses are more likely to have a web site compared to the national average of 56 per cent, making them among the most digitally connected in the country. But just 28 per cent of those websites were optimised for viewing on mobile devices, compared to 35 per cent for the rest of Australia.
According to Sensis, which has seen a significant shift in its own business away from print-based products like Yellow Pages listings to mobile, many small to medium sized businesses are only beginning to understand the fundamental shift of customers onto mobile devices.
"My advice to businesses is there's no point spending a fortune on marketing and your website unless you put energy into ensuring it works on mobile," Mr Allan said.
