COSBOA and Square release the first quarterly Small Business Data Report

Square has worked with the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) to share data that reflects the reality for small businesses.

This release is the first in a series of reports that COSBOA will share to give small businesses across Australia access to real-time data and insights that can be used to help them navigate the current economic landscape.

We want the COSBOA and Square Business Index to serve as a longstanding resource for small businesses, as well as policymakers and the broader community, to help grow and sustain a thriving small business sector.

Click here to download the report in full.

You can read about why COSBOA is partnering with Square on these reports from its website, below:

COSBOA has traditionally been recognised for its ability to draw on anecdotal evidence from its base of 45+ industry associations in its conversations with media, governments, and regulators. Now that anecdotal evidence of small business sentiments and struggles will be supported with real and up-to-date data, representing an exciting new chapter for the nation’s peak body for small businesses.

This will be the first report in a quarterly series that compiles existing data sets to reflect the reality for small businesses.

All too often we hear politicians and government departments discuss macroeconomic figures such as unemployment rates, new ABNs, and sentiment surveys; figures which include big business data. There is recognition among data providers that there is insufficient information to reflect what small businesses – and the broader community – are seeing on the ground.

With this series we endeavour to offer an additional perspective to be considered by bureaucrats, and to challenge some of the macroeconomic data that is often too heavily relied upon to make policy decisions.

The purpose of this quarter’s report is to highlight the number one issue facing small businesses at the moment – workforce shortages. It is an issue that has been raised by COSBOA members for many months now.