Business Sentiment Survey 2025

For a second year, Council’s economic development team conducted a survey to take the pulse of local business just prior to the end of the financial year.  104 business owners responded representing all industry sectors.  Most participants represented micro-businesses with 0 – 4 employees and, as was the case in 2024, there was solid representation from the tourism (inc. retail, accommodation and hospitality) and agricultural sectors.

We thank all business owners who took the time to complete the survey.  It helps us establish benchmarks, monitor changes in the local business conditions and provides an avenue for business feedback to Council.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

• Business confidence has eroded since May 2024
• Results show the sectors most impacted are Tourism, Agriculture and Construction
• Increased concern about the cost of doing business, financial viability and profitability
• Work-life balance continues to be a concern for roughly a third of businesses
• Three quarters of business respondents are not currently seeking staff
• Three quarters of business respondents believe the cost of doing business will continue to rise
• As in May 2024, the cost of insurance is a major concern followed by the cost of energy and utilities
• There is an uptick in businesses planning to close, contract or change significantly in the year ahead
• On a positive note, the majority of businesses will continue as is or change slightly and 6% of respondents reported plans to expand significantly
• Many respondents provided comments concerning cost of living pressures impacting spending, increases in the cost of doing business and the significant impost of government taxes and red tape.

BUSINESS PARTICIPATION

104 business owners completed the survey conducted from 1 May – 31 May 2025. Of those, 3 businesses were not located in the Indigo Shire LGA but operate within our area.

79% of businesses who responded were either non-employing or employ between 1-4 employees.  16% were businesses with 5 – 19 employees and only 5% have 20 employees or more.   This is very representative of Indigo’s broader business community which is predominantly made up of micro and small business operations.

Responses came in from all sectors.  However, the most represented sector was Tourism, Retail and Hospitality at 43%, second most was Agriculture, Forestry & Related Services at 20% and, this year, there was a good number of responses from the Construction and Professional Services sectors. 

86% of business owners who participated had established or fully mature businesses.

WHAT DID BUSINESS SAY ABOUT CONFIDENCE?

In terms of an overall sense of business confidence as compared to May 2024, business confidence has eroded. 

In 2024, 39% of businesses felt less confident about their business and profitability compared to the year before, while this year 52.4% were feeling less confident.  In 2024, 27% of business owners were feeling more confident, whereas only 13.6% were feeling more positive about business and profitability this year.

We found the following sector-by-sector results:

Some notable comparisons are:

• In 2024, 40% of Tourism, Retail and Hospitality sector businesses felt less confident compared to 59% this year.  Similarly, in 2024 29% of Tourism, Retail and Hospitality businesses were feeling more confident, compared to only 7.7% this year.
• In 2024, 48% of Agriculture sector businesses were feeling less confident compared to 70.5% this year
• In 2024, 17% of Construction sector businesses were feeling less confident compared to 33% this year. 

When asked about the various issues causing a lack of business confidence, the responses were as follows:

We see an uptick in lack of confidence by nearly all measures.  There is a significant increase in the number of businesses concerned about financial viability and profitability.  Approximately 1 in 3 businesses are not managing a work-life balance consistent with 2024 which is a known challenge for small business operators.

WORKFORCE

In 2025, an additional workforce question was added.  When asked if businesses were currently seeking staff, 73% are not currently recruiting.  Of 28% who are, 14% of business owners do not advertise positions, preferring word of mouth recommendations. In terms of confidence in finding staff, the results were similar by annual comparison.

When asked to list the factors that impact business’ ability to find suitable staff, the top three factors were:

• Applicants do not have the required skills or experience       38%
• Lack of applicants   34.5%
• Type of work is not seen as an attractive option   31%

Interestingly, lack of housing for new staff fell out of the top three this year with only a 20% response.

COST OF DOING BUSINESS

When asked about the cost of running their business, 45% of respondents claimed that costs had increased substantially and maintaining profitability is hard.   24% said that costs had increased, but they had made adjustments to maintain profit margin and 24% said costs had increased, but only slightly. 

75% of business owners believed that costs will continue to increase in the coming year and 24% felt they would level out. These results are very similar to results in 2024.

Businesses were asked to nominate the areas where they would be most vulnerable to cost increases.  Vulnerable cost areas were:

• Insurances   84%
• Energy & utilities   62%
• Materials & supplies   58%
• Petrol & diesel    46%
• Wages & employee costs   44%

FUTURE PLANNING

When asked about future expectations for their businesses, once again the results are very similar to responses in 2024. However, there is an uptick in the number of businesses that intend to contract their business or close completely. The greatest change from 19.7% to 10% was in those businesses planning to change significantly in the future.

REVIEW OF COMMENTS

23% of respondents provided further detail in brief remarks and 72% of respondents provide remarks in regard to what additional risks, challenges and opportunities exist for their business. 

These are summarised as follows:

OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TEAM TO EXPLORE

These opportunities may be via advocacy, workshops with external expertise, partnerships, investigating

• Business coaching / mentoring to guide business expansion
• Succession planning skills / know-how
• Business planning and improving productivity skills
• Foster networks with commercial landlords/ commercial property agents to activate empty shops and/ or to support and enable new innovative business startups.
• Investment in public infrastructure to enable reopening of walking trails and drive visitation.  Construction projects will also boost the local economy. Also key housing and land development infrastructure 
• Increased grant writing support/assistance
• Facilitate and raise awareness of diversification opportunities to generate a supplementary income
• Empower and assist business to develop an active online presence
• Adopt technology, such as AI and software, to improve efficiencies
• Resident retention – develop campaigns and strategies to retain our residents and halt the ‘Covid time buyers’ exiting the market
• Make doing business in Indigo easier and less expensive – review Council permit charges for new and expanding businesses/ implement Business Friendly Council initiatives
• Provide greater support to businesses during the planning and building permits process – adopt an efficient business concierge process
• Advocate for reduced State Government taxes and levies
• Advocate for effective drought and disaster assistance on behalf of local businesses   

VIEW THE SURVEY RESULTS HERE(PDF, 593KB)