The COVID-19 pandemic wrought havoc on businesses and economies, but it also sparked a surprising new trend: a surge in entrepreneurship and startups.
Research released by one of Australia’s major banks, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), revealed one in three Australians either started a small business or ‘side hustle’ following the onset of the pandemic or plan to start one in the next 12 months.
Often is the case that when times get tough — as they did during the pandemic when layoffs and business closures swept the globe — people start to instinctively become more entrepreneurial.
CBA’s survey revealed that 9 per cent of the people it surveyed started a business between March 2020 and January 2022, while 16 per cent started one within the past 12 months.
Over 2023 so far, CommBank said it had already seen 109,500 new business transaction accounts opened — equating to some 4200 accounts per week.
As a result of the pandemic, some everyday Australians stepped away from their regular nine-to-five in a bid to test their luck at starting up a new business venture. Others began to morph their hobbies into side hustles, and some simply jumped at the opportunity to fill gaps in sectors struggling with labour shortages.
ABS confirms Commbank’s findings
Research on the entrepreneurship boom as a result of the pandemic is widespread, with data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) also revealing new business entries increased by 19.7 per cent in the 2022 financial year — significantly higher than average.
Commbank’s study, carried out with YouGov, looked at Australians’ attitudes towards business startups and what payment methods they’d prefer.
Results indicated that almost 87 per cent of those surveyed considered the ability to accept payments on the go in their small business as important.
Also, four in five people expressed concerns about the speed of settlement and/or security of non-cash payments.
The study was conducted over three days in February this year using a sample of 1046 people across the nation.
CBA’s study coincided with the release of its Smart Mini product, a solution complementing the growing demand for portable payment devices amongst small businesses.
Ease of transaction: Commbank’s Smart Mini
As with today’s society, fueled by the increase in entrepreneurship, consumers are looking for easier ways to complete transactions.
CommBank’s said its Smart Mini combined the latest technology and customisable features to transform payments in Australia.
CBA’s Group Executive for Business Banking Mike Vacy-Lyle said it was important to come up with an easier way to complete transactions to go with the rapid rise in business startups.
“The continued growth in new transaction account openings from small businesses shows an increasing number of Australians who are willing to open a small business, and this is also driving a growing need for mobile payments,” Mr Vacy-Lyle said.
“From speaking to customers, it is clear that the ability to take payments on the go is now a key requirement. Smart Mini meets this need with seamless and secure integration of mobile payments with their main transaction account, saving valuable time in managing multiple accounts.
“Smart Mini will help those business owners start, run or grow, no matter where they are in their business journey.”
Although the pandemic brought on challenging times, it led people to become more entrepreneurial and chase new opportunities.