KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 — Small businesses in Malaysia are experiencing positive conditions with many creating jobs and investing in technology, according to the
CPA Australia’s eighth annual Asia-Pacific Small Business Survey released today.
The survey concluded findings from nearly 3,000 small business operators in Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and China.
In a statement to the media, CPA Australia Head of Policy, Paul Drum FCPA, said that while Malaysia’s small businesses reported weaker business growth than in 2016, the sector was still experiencing positive business conditions and was a strong creator of jobs in 2017.
He said Malaysia’s small businesses were likely to create even more jobs in 2018.
The survey also revealed that 27.5 per cent of Malaysia’s small businesses added staff in 2017, reflecting strong growth for many Malaysian small businesses and a healthy 40.1 per cent are expecting to add additional staff members in 2018.
Drum added, small businesses from Malaysia continue to be strong users of digital technologies in their business.
It also revealed that over half of Malaysian businesses surveyed (53.4 per cent) earned over 10 per cent of their income from online sales, and over 80 per cent use social media for business purposes.
“Malaysia’s small businesses would benefit from a stronger focus on new digital payment options, such as AliPay, ApplePay and WeChat Pay. Only 29.1 per cent allow customers to pay through this new technology, well below China (65.5 per cent) and the survey average (42.7 per cent),” he said.
Malaysian businesses were the most likely to nominate customer loyalty as having the most positive impact on their business in 2017.
It is good business practice to focus attention on existing customers, as it is always much easier to keep a customer than attract a new customer.
The Australian CPA survey also showed that with high numbers of Malaysian small businesses having the characteristics associated with growth – such as a focus on innovation, e-commerce and technology – we are likely to see better results in 2018.
“ I expect we’ll see an increasing number of Malaysia’s small businesses evolve to become large, successful global businesses in the next few years,” Drum said.
