Australia has a business environment that is nothing short of dynamic and competitive, thanks to a stable political system, a strong economy, and a welcoming attitude towards foreign investment. With a thriving startup ecosystem and a reputation for innovation and entrepreneurship, Australia is an ideal destination for those seeking business opportunities. Its reliable and robust regulatory structure includes strong banking and finance regulations.
Business Challenges
Australian firms, however, are not immune to business challenges. The ones currently of most concern are:
- Rising inflation. According to Forbes, annual inflation rate in Australia has climbed to 7.8% over the year to December 2022, the highest annual figure since 1990. This is attributed to the higher demand for goods and services than supply after the lockdowns. This has obviously put pressure on businesses to maintain profitability, manage expenses effectively, and find innovative ways to provide value to their customers.
- Skills shortage. With the rapid advancements in technology and the increasing demand for specialized skills, it can be challenging to find professionals with the right expertise to fill critical roles. This has led to increased competition for talent, higher wage demands, and difficulty maintaining a stable workforce.
Solutions
- Digital transformation. Now, more than ever, digital transformation through the automation of manual processes and streamlining of workflows has become a necessity particularly due to the adoption of remote work during the Covid-19 pandemic. Business software solutions can save costs by reducing human workload and errors. Generally, to be considered successful, a digital transformation initiative must be able to save 40% of the overall cost.
- Speaking the customer’s tongue 24/7. Businesses who offer round the clock customer support in their customers’ native languages are more likely to build trust and loyalty among their buyers. According to ICMI, 74% of consumers are more likely to purchase again from the same brand if after-sales care was offered in their own language. Also, real-time customer support allows for communication with customers at the moment, giving assurance that their concerns are of importance and are being addressed immediately. Thus, offering 24/7 customer support helps build and maintain customer loyalty. Having loyal customers not only help your bottom line through repeat purchases, but they are also more likely to recommend your brand and refer more customers, thus boosting your revenue. Besides, it is said that investing in new customers is five times more expensive than retaining existing ones, thus retaining customers through excellent customer service should be a priority.
- Outsourcing. All the abovementioned recommended solutions may be fulfilled by a reliable Managed Services Provider (MSP). By partnering with an experienced and established MSP, a business gets access to the right solutions and is assured that these will be implemented by experts under experienced management. This not only solves the skills gap, but also provides savings on operational costs, while allowing inhouse teams to focus on core tasks.
Combining these solutions with the business environment in the country will surely help Australian businesses hurdle the current challenges and grow, not only locally, but globally.
About the author:
Kamal Asarpota is the CEO of Eastvantage. He has over 22+ years of global experience and a successful track record of delivering financial and business results with large, reputed multinational organizations in the ITES/BPM Industry. Kamal has a deep understanding of various processes that go into organization building with respect to contact centers through his significant exposure in setting up, scaling up, and leading multiple verticals across different channels in India, China, Japan, and the Philippines. He is adept at managing complex business challenges and making high-stakes decisions within fast-paced, high-pressure environments, and has a proven track record of developing new service models and turning around under-performing operations. He has consistently demonstrated the ability to drive results through vision and strategy setting, team development, and an unwavering focus on execution. Kamal is an Executive of the Year awardee in the Best in Biz Awards 2022 and named Expatriate Executive of the Year in the Asia CEO Awards Circle of Excellence 2022 for his leadership role in Eastvantage’s phenomenal growth in 2021.
Eastvantage provides tech-enabled services, a full suite of software development services, customer relationship management, and business support for finance and accounting and other niche roles like traffic management. Learn more about our flexible solutions.
