InterTradeIreland’s all-island business monitor highlights need for SMEs to embrace digitalisation
InterTradeIreland’s latest All-Island Business Monitor painted a broadly positive picture with 37% of businesses saying they were growing, just over half (53%) were stable, and 60% said they were profitable.
This quarter also saw issues such as cash flow and demand starting to increase. This is contributing to an overall sense of uncertainty and potentially dampening the appetite for investment.
The survey of 750 SME owner/managers across the island, showed that sales performance, which is the nuts and bolts of doing business, remains positive across the wider business economy. Three in 10 businesses reported increased sales and over a third were expecting sales to grow over the next six months.
The largest challenges for businesses remained the high costs of energy and other overheads which have their roots in wider economic and geopolitical issues.
InterTradeIreland’s director of strategy Martin Robinson said: “There are also certain concerns that are coming into sharper focus in the third quarter. While these are not yet causing sleepless nights for business owners, they have increased in importance. Emerging issues reported include business and consumer confidence, cash flow, access to finance and demand for goods and services. Together, these could subdue investment intentions.”
When asked about investment, seven in ten businesses said they had no plans to increase employee numbers, upgrade new plant or equipment or invest in IT over the next 12 months. One in four SMEs reported their biggest barrier to growth was finding the time to focus on it. The survey also showed that access to skills was a real pinch point for firms.
Robinson said: “Increasingly, we would encourage firms to seek support from agencies across the island, including InterTradeIreland that can work with them to embrace innovation to plug skills gaps and improve productivity. It may take time up front, but in the longer run it will accelerate your business growth.”
Business consultant Denise Murphy who works with companies in Co Mayo and often directs them to InterTradeIreland for assistance said: “These findings don’t surprise me. Many of the business managers that I work with are very time poor and are looking for practical solutions to solve challenges around productivity or smarter ways to bring more people into the business that can focus on sales.”
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