The report, Australian small business – profitability and risk benchmarks, is the first of its kind and details the typical performance for different business categories across different industries, assessing sales, net operating profit, net operating profit margin and percentage of wages.
According to the report, the more profitable sectors as measured by net operating profit are:
- Legal Services ($182,974)
- Goods Wholesaling ($198,265)
- Chemist ($230,394), and
- Finance and Investment Services ($258,331)
Some of the less profitable include:
- Takeaway Food Services (typically $30,574)
- Cafes and Restaurants (typically $30,596), and
- Hairdressing and Beauty Services (typically $43,721)
The five industries with the greatest typical average annual revenue for small businesses are:
- Fuel Retailing ($3.74 million)
- Other Hardware Goods Wholesaling ($3.70m)
- Goods Wholesaling ($3.59m)
- Electrical & Electrical Goods Wholesaling ($3.57m)
- Supermarket and Grocery Stores and Goods Wholesaling ($3.29m)
Chartered Accountants ANZ Chief Executive Officer, Ainslie van Onselen, said:
“Small businesses, in partnership with their Chartered Accountant, can use this rich data to better understand where they sit amongst their peers, while entrepreneurs can make more informed decisions about future ventures.”
“Whether setting up, buying, or selling a small business, being able to understand how that sector is performing and what the future might look for that business, is vital. It will also help small business owners and entrepreneurs make better budgeting, forecasting, risk management and valuation assessments,” she said.
“Chartered Accountants ANZ represents nearly 140,000 financial professionals and we are continually searching for new ways to equip our members to provide the best possible advice to their clients.
“Small and medium-sized businesses are also the focus of economic policy and political discussion. This report will be useful for those discussions as it provides insights on the state of play across Australia,” she said.
The numbers for each small business sector included in this release are based off the median for a small business with 5-19 employees. There is considerable variation in performance across, and within, industries.
Data for the analysis is based on the company tax returns of the population of Australian SMEs in the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Business Longitudinal Analysis Data Environment.
