THE vast majority of small businesses are backing information technology as much as they can, a new survey found.
According to the latest Officeworks Small Business Survey, small business operators see their investments in IT as vital to being competitive and enabling them to expand.
Businesses interviewed ranged in annual turnover from less than $50,000 to more than $250,000.
Small businesses with an annual turnover of less than $50,000 said they spent up to 27 per cent on the purchase of IT equipment. But that percentage drops to an average of 9 per cent for small businesses with an annual turnover exceeding $250,000.
Officeworks business manager business machines David Hall said 88 per cent of small businesses were confident that their investment in IT had been worthwhile.
“We were expecting many positives as Australian small businesses are known to have embraced new technology,” Mr Hall said. “This is confirmed by the survey, as the majority of respondents say they are finding it easy to implement IT.”
He said 71 per cent believed they had to increase their investment in equipment to lift productivity in order to expand their businesses.
The survey found, on average, that a small business had 13 pieces of IT equipment, with personal computers being the most popular.
It also found small businesses had embraced other new technologies including scanners, specialised business software and modems.
Mr Hall said 52 per cent of small businesses did not have a Disaster Recovery Plan.
“This is a concern as the importance of off-site back ups is being missed by far too many,” he said.
