The topics covered in this blog include Snapshots Edition 19, Purchasing Locally, Home Based Businesses and Higher Education.
Snapshots - Edition 19 - June 2011 Just Released
“Snapshots” is a quarterly publication from the Economic Development Section, providing data and commentary on the performance of the local economy. Its aim is to assist business owners with their business planning and potential investors with their decision making. June 2011 - Edition 19 has just been released and is available together with the previous editions – please click on the link.
Key Highlights
1. Gross regional product (January 2011) - $3.092m which is a 5% decline over the previous year.
2. Employment (December 2010) - 29,997 persons work in the Greater Port Macquarie region).
3. Number of businesses registered to pay GST (June 2009) - 6,250.
4. Building and Construction Industry down by almost one third over previous year.
5. Population projections to 2036 – 107,600 persons, (1.3% per annum average growth).
6. Unemployment (December 2010) – 5.7% compared to 5.3% for NSW.
7. Visitor numbers – approximately 1.7m (2010).
Purchasing Locally
There appears to be lots of activity from organisations promoting the need to purchase locally.
While I support this, I think the value is less about price but more about all of the other benefits of localness. Business ownership matters in terms of impact. The key question is, where do businesses source their products and services and distribute their profits?
Don’t be fooled by a big size or big numbers. Typically a new chain store is a clone of others using a minimum of local goods and services. The profit from company owned stores are generally sent to their corporate headquarters elsewhere. On the other hand, dollars spent at locally owned businesses create a strong local multiplying effect – well evidenced in Council’s input-output tables.
Well, I guess I am preaching to the converted here and the effort needs to be made in informing your customers. The following is available for your use at point of sale. It can also be tailored to your circumstances should you wish, please contact Wendy Beverley on 6581 8221 to discuss.
Home Based Business
The Home Based Business sector is a largely an unrecognised but emerging business sector of our economy. Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics reports show that about 29% of all businesses in Australia are home based. If this figure applies to our area, it means 2,000 businesses might be being operated from home.
Last week I had the pleasure of attending a home based business forum. A group of about 40 or so owners who meet every two months. What a resource. I even met Anton Vissor who designs specialised vehicles such as fire trucks!
Wise Words from the Trenches
Last week, I visited a number of local firms – reports about which I will provide in the future with their authority. However, one manufacturer said something very wise to me that is well worth repeating “The internet has forced me to stop focusing on my products and services. Rather, I now need to focus on the customers who buy them. If my customers are unhappy, my competitors are only a mouse click away.” My take on this, is that modern customers buy more than the product. Instead, they buy a package of benefits and advantages.
Higher Education – Encouraging Signals
While no financial commitments were made, the meeting with the Prime Minister and senior representatives of the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) regarding the feasibility study, guided by Wayne Graham was very encouraging. The Prime Minister was well informed, listened intently and was very accommodating with her time. Thank you to Rob Oakeshott for arranging the meetings.
