1. Roy Morgan Research
Business Survey
A focus on the economy,
telecommunications and
micro-businesses
April 2012

2. Introduction
• Consumer survey of over 50,000 Australian’s per annum, continuously
running for over 20 years in Australia
• New Business survey of over 12,000 businesses per annum, running for
past 18 months
• Economic
• Financial
• Telecommunications
• Media
• Today, will look at businesses through the lens of:
• Industry in which they work in
• State in which their head office is located
• Size of business by employees, with a focus on micro-businesses

3. There are just over 2 million businesses in Australia…
Business Size by Number of Employees Top industries (by number of businesses):
Top industries (by number of businesses):
Medium Business
Large Business (200+)
(20 - 199) 3.95%
0.39% 1.
1. Construction
Construction
Small
Business
11.41%
71%
71%
2.
2. Professional, scientific and
Professional, scientific and
technical services
technical services
3. Rental, hiring and real estate
of all
(5 - 19)
3. Rental, hiring and real estate
of all
4.
4.
services
services
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
84.20%
businesses
businesses
5.
5.
6.
6.
Finance and insurance
Finance and insurance
Retail trade
Retail trade
7.
7. Transport, postal and warehousing
Transport, postal and warehousing
Micro Business
(Under 5 employees)

4. Location
Location
Single State
Single State 93%
93%
Years in operation Capital City 63%
Capital City 63%
More than 20 years 32%
10 to less than 20 years 30%
60% 54%
6 to less than 10 years 13% 50% 44%
40%
3 to less than 6 years 9%
30%
1 to less than 3 years 7% 20%
10%
9%
4%
6 to less than 12 months 3% 0%
Commercial Home Mobile Other
Less than 6 months 3% space location
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

5. Business’ view of the economy

6. Financial Expectation for the Business in next 12 months
60%
Expect the Business to be Better off next year
50%
40%
40.2%
30%
20%
13.7%
10%
Expect the Business to be Worse off next year
0%
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7. Business Confidence (monthly)
180
160
140
131.5 132.9 129.5 130.5
128.2
119.5 118.7
120 115.7 117.2
112.6
107.8 108.1
99.8 101.8
100
80
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8. Business Confidence by head office location
160
140.92
140
127.65 127.56
120.95
120 112.01 109.44
104.47 101.85 99.93
100
80
60
40
20
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NT
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LD
SA
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9. Confidence doesn’t necessarily equate to investment
Confidence Index compared against Aust
Score business avg.
Information media and telecommunications 131.28 84 (16% less likely)
Mining 129.46 160 (60% more likely)
Administration and support services 119.62 129
Rental, hiring and real estate services 118.53 132
Arts and recreational services 112.97 169
Construction 105.12 67
Electricity, gas, water and waste 100.7 129
Finance and insurance 126.1 107
Education and training 126.02 107
Accommodation and food services 124.23 119
Health care and social assistance 123.33 95
Professional, scientific and technical services 121.55 98
Wholesale trade 116.85 110
Public administration, safety and security 115.85 99
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 111.55 95
Retail trade 110.31 101
Transport, postal and warehousing 107.59 96
Manufacturing 103.78 100
Personal, repair and other services 101.12 83

10. Technology as a driver of business growth

11. Factors having ‘more influence’ on business performance
Next 12 months
CHANGE IN BUSINESS STRUCTURE 7%
AVAILABILITY OF QUALIFIED TALENT/SKILLED STAFF 13%
IMPLEMENTATION OF BUSINESS PLAN 15%
ACCESS TO FINANCE 15%
NEW SYSTEMS 17%
EXCHANGE RATE FLUCTUATIONS 18%
COMPETITION 20%
COST OF FUNDING (I.E. CHANGING INTEREST RATES) 28%
TECHNOLOGY 29%
LABOUR COSTS 30%
BUSINESS TAXES AND GOVERNMENT CHARGES 33%
GOVERNMENT 33%
COSTS FOR RAW MATERIALS, TRANSPORTATION, ETC 34%
CHANGING CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS AND DEMANDS 35%
43%
ECONOMY/LEVEL OF DEMAND
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

12. Technology as a factor on business in next 12 months
By industry: By head office locations
(% of businesses that rated this as a factor) (% of businesses that rated this):
International 40%
• Information media & telecommunications 50%
NSW 30%
• Public administration, safety & security 40%
NT 28%
• Education & training 40%
VIC 28%
• Rental, hiring & real estate services 39%
QLD 27%
• Mining 38%
SA 27%
• Finance & insurance 37%
Tas 24%
• Professional, scientific & technical services 30%
WA 24%
• Health care & social assistance 29%
ACT 18%

13. Telecommunications expenditure in next 12 months
18%
16% 16%
15%
14%
12%
12% 11%
10%
8%
7%
6% 6%
6%
4% 4%
4% 3%
3%
2%
0%
Fixed-line Mobile Fixed Mobile Private Tablet Video Web External Portable Fleet
Telephony Phone Internet B/Band IP Computer Conferencing Hosting payment tracking
Services Internet Network systems

14. Telecommunications expenditure in next 12 months
By industry: By head office locations
(% of businesses that plan to increase expenditure): (% that plan to increase):
International 46%
• Highest: Administration and support services (35%)
Tas 20%
• Lowest: Manufacturing (19%)
• Professional, scientific and technical services (27%) NSW 25%
• Rental, hiring and real estate services (27%) VIC 25%
• Finance and insurance (27%) QLD 25%
• Retail trade (26%)
• Agriculture, forestry and fishing (24%)
• Construction (22%)
• Transport, postal and warehousing (23%)

15. Expecting a benefit from the NBN
40%
50% Intern.
44%
ACT 27%
40%
34% NT 10%
29% 30%
30% Tas 31%
WA 26%
20%
SA 25%
QLD 27%
10%
Vic 33%
0%
NSW 29%
Micro Small Medium Large
Business Business Business Business 0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

16. A profile of micro businesses

17. There are just over 1.7 million micro- businesses in
Australia…
Industry Sector Make-up Business Head Office Location
O/seas 0.4%
Construction, 17%
NT 0.7%
Other, 29%
ACT 1.1%
Professional,
Tas 1.8%
scientific & technical
Transport, services, 12% SA 7.1%
postal &
warehousing, 6% WA 10.2%
Agriculture,
Retail trade, 6% forestry QLD 20.5%
& fishing, 11%
VIC 25.1%
Finance
& insurance, 8% Rental, hiring & NSW 33.2%
real estate
services, 9% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

18. Core telecommunications services - Today
% has relationship with Provider Avg. number of Provider
relationships a business has
100%
88%
Micro 1.71 vs. Large 1.95
90%
78%
80%
70%
60% Other
50%
All in a personal 29%
40%
25%
name
30%
20% 17%
20%
9% 9% Some in business
6% 4% 6% 3% 6%
10% /some in personal
0%
Telstra Optus Vodafone iiNet TPG Internode All in a business 45%
86%
name
0% 40% 80% 100%
Large Micro
Micro Business (Under 5 employees) Medium Business (20 - 199)
Small Business (5 - 19) Large Business (200+)

19. Core telecommunication services expenditure
% that have service today % that intend to increase in N12M
65% 22%
Private IP Network Private IP Network
10% 2%
77% 37%
Mobile Broadband Mobile Broadband
43% Internet 11%
Internet
90% 37%
Fixed Internet Fixed Internet
84% 14%
93% 37%
Mobile Phone service Mobile Phone service
90% 15%
94% 24%
Fixed-line Telephony Fixed-line Telephony
90% 6%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Micro Business (Under 5 employees) Medium Business (20 - 199 employees)
Small Business (5 - 19 employees) Large Business (200 employees or more)

20. 0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
Administration &
support services
Mining
20% 20%
Health care & social
19%
assistance
Education & training 19%
Finance & insurance
18%
Construction
16%
Professional scientific &
technical services,
16%
Wholesale trade
16%
Art & recreational
services
15%
Retail trade
14%
Agriculture ,forestry &
fishing
14%
Information media
& telecommunications
13%
Rental, hiring & real
estate services
13%
Transport, postal &
13%
warehousing
Manufacturing
10%
Electricity, gas,
9%
water and waste
Mobile Phone intenders next 12 months – by industry
Accommodation &
8%
food services
Personal, repair &
8%
other services

21. Other telecommunication services/products expenditure
15%
25%
% that intend to increase in N12M
Fleet tracking
3%
1%
12%
43%
Portable
payment systems 14% 5%
44% 7%
External managed 16% 6%
hosting 16%
36%
Web conferencing 4% 3%
37% 13%
Video conferencing 5% 3%
46% 27%
Tablet computer 12% 11%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Micro Business (Under 5 employees) Medium Business (20 - 199 employees)
Small Business (5 - 19 employees) Large Business (200 employees or more)

22. Conclusion
• Business confidence is on the rise, but this doesn’t necessarily equate to increased
spending
• The economy is the number 1 factor influencing business in the next 12 months,
technology ranks 7th with 29% of businesses rating this.
• 1.7 million micro-businesses in Australia employing under 5 people
• 1.71 is the average number of Telco relationships it has
• 55% have a bill in a personal name or mixture of personal/business
• Fixed telephony, fixed internet & mobile phones are ubiquitous
• Only 43% have a mobile broadband internet service
• Additional, non-core, telecommunication services have low penetration amongst
micro-businesses
• Industry and head office location matter for confidence, expenditure & intention

23. Andrew Braun
Director – Mobile, Internet & Technology
andrew.braun@roymorgan.com
Twitter: abraun64