Displaying items by tag: Small businesses

COMPANY NEWS: Sendle,  Australia’s leading courier service for small businesses, has expanded its shipping services with its new Print In-Store feature, enabling super small business senders and side hustlers to print labels and do returns at nearly 100 locations across the country and counting.

Sixty-percent of all Australian businesses are already using, or planning to integrate, AI into their operations over the next two years. according to an independent survey commissioned by a small business organisation.

Nearly half of small and medium businesses in Australia (46 per cent) anticipate a decrease in turnover by the end of the year due to economic pressures, according to research from RFI Global, commissioned by Australia’s online small business lender Prospa.

Australia’s competition watchdog, the ACCC, is seeking stakeholder feedback on its preliminary view that it will not object to Australia Post’s proposal to increase the price of its reserved ordinary letter service by 25 per cent.

Australia’s competition watchdog the ACCC has welcomed the Australian Government’s in-principle agreement to new competition and consumer laws recommended by the ACCC to address harms caused by digital platforms, and the potential benefits to consumers and small businesses from the regulatory changes.

In a worrying sign for general employment levels, the demand for executives has fallen across the country, according to the latest Executive Demand Index from E.L.Blue, the Human Resource outsourcing firm and part of the E.L Consult group .

The ACCC has urged households and small businesses to contact their energy company and ask if a cheaper electricity plan is available, in light of recent price increases above the regulated safety net for some customers.

The competition watchdog, the ACCC, has vowed to continue to support reforms to protect consumers and businesses following a new report into social media services which has highlighted a range of harms occurring across the services.

One in three Australians have started a small business or ‘side hustle’ since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic or plan to start one in the next 12 months, according to a new research study just released by the Commonwealth Bank.

Australia’s competition watchdog, the  Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), has called for new competition and consumer laws for digital platforms and recommended a range of new measures to address harms from the platforms to Australian consumers, small businesses and competition.

Global spend on identity and access management solutions is forecast to rise from US$16 billion in 2022 to $26 billion by 2027, representing an “absolute growth” of 62% over the next 5 years.

Leading members of NSW universities, industry and government have met at Western Sydney University to officially launch a project which is designed to create a best practice methodology for different air quality issues local governments face in different communities across NSW.

Australian small businesses will have access to a range of tools and services to help them stay safe online, with a collaboration between the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre (A3C) and the non-profit organisation Global Cyber Alliance (GCA).

The majority of businesses are upbeat about the future and believe they’ve faced the worst of the pandemic, despite challenges like labour shortages and supply chain disruption, according to new research from Westpac.

Australia’s small businesses are investing in their recovery, with the Commonwealth Bank saying that financing for equipment and machinery across the sector is up 17% so far this financial year, compared with the same period last year - and investing in IT is also on the investment lists for SMEs.

Regardless of case numbers or restriction rollbacks, the impacts of COVID-19 are likely to continue throughout 2022 across all industries and for Australia’s 2.4million+ small businesses, many owners are ready to continue adapting to these ongoing challenges, according to the 2022 Small Business Bravery Report from online business insurance service for SMEs BizCover.

COMPANY NEWS: Barracuda, a trusted partner and leading provider of cloud-first security solutions, has released key findings about the ways spear-phishing attacks are evolving. The report, titled Spear Phishing: Top Threats and Trends Vol. 7 – Key findings on the latest social engineering tactics and the growing complexity of attacks, reveals fresh insights into recent trends in spear-phishing attacks and what you can do to protect your business.

Personal services businesses, such as hairdressers and beauty salons, in Victoria welcomed a 481 per cent increase in sales in their first weekend post-lockdown compared with the previous weekend, according to Commonwealth Bank merchant terminal data.

Australian consumers are overwhelmingly in favour of small businesses being given the ability to choose the cheapest option to process debit card payments through Least Cost Routing (LCR), according to new research by eftpos.

Ecommerce payments provider Eway has finalised an agreement with CRM platform provider Keap that will see Eway become the preferred payment provider for its customers in Australia and New Zealand.