MBF President Update March 2026
- Mar 23
- 2 min read
Hi Everyone,
Well, a lot has happened on the global stage since I wrote my last newsletter. If you had asked me a month ago if we would have been facing a serious and escalating war in the Middle East, Canada leading a breakaway group of major countries away from trade with or via the USA, with trade tensions ratcheting up, almost daily increases in fuel process – if you can get it! - the destabilisation of the US dollar, the continued fallout from the Epstein files, major fires and flooding in Australia….it just seems never ending.
With small businesses in Australia making up 97.5% of all businesses and contributing roughly one third of the GDP, they are currently facing the “perfect storm” of challenges, global economic instability, geopolitical tensions and environmental issues.
Out of curiosity I asked Google AI, what it thought were the challenges facing small businesses currently, and not surprisingly it listed many of the issues that I have noted above:
With inflationary pressures and rising costs, this will inevitably lead to financial strain and potentially more insolvencies, reportedly 60% of small business owners are unable to pay themselves, and 25% having to dip into personal saving to stay afloat.
As the cost-of-living bites, customers are reducing spending, which feeds back into the financial pressures small businesses face.
With these intense financial pressures felt by so many small businesses currently, the issues of mental health and resilience become ever more important, with 76% of business owners reporting stress and anxiety and 57% experiencing burnout.
It noted that whilst many small businesses are facing a tough environment and despite the challenges, around 63% of owners remain satisfied with their decision to run a business, particularly driven by strong community connections.
And I do think this is where MBF can play such an important role. With Judiths excellent talk on the 5 Simple Habits every business owner must know to improve their financial literacy. Given that I have been in business for over 10 years and thought that I was pretty up on my figures, I found that I really only got a B+ - needs improvement. But the really important thing is that I now know what I need to improve, here’s to an A+ in coming months!! Plus, with Anna Martin coming up next month to our Forum Meeting on Wednesday 15th April, with a talk on how we can all protect our Mental health, we are definitely” en pointe”.
I do feel that at MBF we can offer the business community exactly what both we and they need. Not only can we offer the knowledge, but possibly even more importantly, the feeling of community, the feeling of being with others who can understand what you are going through, because they are experiencing it as well. So, whether it’s a chat over coffee, (our next coffee Connect is at Bonney Hills Garden Centre on Thursday 9th April from 10am. Free to come along, just buy your own coffee), a conversation on the phone or an excellent learning environment. I do feel that we at MBF have so much to offer our community. Do come and join us.
Thank you.
Alison Carroll
MBF President
