The survey, which was conducted between 28 August and 8 September this year, garnered more than 1,100 responses from business of all sizes, all sectors and right across the State. The top three challenges for Victorian businesses are the cost of doing business, reducing turnover and staff and skills shortages, while the top three enablers are growth through marketing, upskilling employees and understanding Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Encouragingly, 38 per cent of respondents identified their business is in an expansion phase. Further, 60 per cent of respondents reported their top focus is growing revenue, followed by 45 per cent focused on growing brand and marketing presence, showing Victorian businesses have a sharp focus on advancement despite a tough economic environment.
Other key insights include:
- 67 per cent of respondents identified the cost of doing business as their most significant challenge.
- 62 per cent of respondents indicated that staff skills shortages and availability were still the top challenges for doing business in Victoria; however, this figure has decreased by 21 per cent since the November 2023 survey.
- More than half of the respondents (52 per cent) believe growth can be achieved through effective marketing and brand awareness, an increase of nine per cent from the previous survey.
- 41 per cent are dedicated to upskilling their employees.
- 36 per cent of businesses want to learn more about how AI can be harnessed to effectively grow and improve their operations. This is the first time that AI has been nominated as a top area of interest.
- There was an 11 per cent growth in businesses concerned with and prioritising reducing staff turnover (34 per cent).
- Almost a third of respondents expressed they need to better understand their customers, competitors and industry.
Regional vs Metro insights:
- 34 per cent of respondents were from Regional Victoria, 66 per cent were metropolitan.
- 41 per cent of regional respondents noted they were in an expansion phase (higher than metro respondents at 35 per cent).
- Top objectives for regional businesses are growing revenue (63 per cent), reducing operating costs (48 per cent) and growing brand and marketing and improving employee productivity (both tied at 44 percent).
- Top challenges for regional businesses are the cost of doing business (71 per cent), reducing turnover (35 per cent) and staff availability (31 per cent).
- Top enablers for regional businesses are growth through marketing (51 per cent), need to upskill employees (38 per cent) and need to understand AI impact on business (34 per cent).
- The need to upskill employees (43 per cent) and to understand AI’s impact (39 per cent) is higher for the metro respondents than regional.
To be attributed to Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chief Executive Paul Guerra:
“These results highlight the resilience and ambition of Victorian businesses in the face of a challenging economic climate. I’m both impressed and encouraged by the ambition for growth of Victorian business, despite the reality of skills shortages and economic headwinds.
“Businesses across Victoria have made it clear they are focused on growing and succeeding, but the cost of doing business and staff shortages remain major obstacles.
“Business is recognising how important staff are, with a focus on capability, mental health, wellbeing and upskilling. And unsurprisingly, given the emergence of AI, there is a high interest on how AI can assist business growth, along with a need to focus on marketing and brand.
“As ambitious as business will be, any assistance the Government can provide to ensure business can progress will assist with a faster pathway to growth. And that's good for all of Victoria.”
Contact details:
Mikkayla Mossop - 0412 464 897
