What are the big trends affecting Aussie small businesses in 2023 and beyond?

With Andrew Sykes, Chris Oates, and Young Han | S2 E7 PART ONE 


In this two-part episode of talkBIG, hosts Andrew, Young and Chris explore the big trends affecting small businesses in Australia in 2023 and beyond. If you own a small business, listen up because this episode is just for you.

 

The world is changing fast, so it’s important for business leaders to reflect on their strategies and look for ways to improve. Obviously, knowing what to expect makes it that much easier to plan ahead. Earlier this year, RSM released an in-depth report which identified 8 trends changing the Australian business world in 2023. Our talkBIG panel discuss the report, talking about each trend and what it means for the average Aussie small business owner.

In part one of this two-part series, the gang talks about some pretty important topics that could make or break your business. First up, they cover wage compliance and how to stay on the right side of the law when it comes to paying your employees. Trust us, you don't want to get caught out on this one!

Then, they delve into data privacy, discussing the hefty price tag that comes with collecting customer data. With data breaches on the rise and the government cracking down on privacy breaches, it's important to take data privacy seriously. Luckily, the guys have some tips on how to do just that.

Next up, they tackle the topic of digital business and how to give your business a digital makeover. With remote working becoming the norm, it's time to start thinking about how you can use technology to improve your business and save money.

Last but not least, they chat about data insights and how to use the data you collect to make smarter business decisions. By combining data from different sources and incorporating external data, you can gain valuable insights that will help you make informed decisions for your business.

Stay tuned for part two, where we cover the remaining four trends impacting small businesses in Australia.

Highlights include:

  • Wage compliance: How to make sure your business stays compliant with wage and salary awards

  • Data Privacy: The hefty price tag attached to your business’s customer data collection

  • Digital Business: How to give your business a digital makeover

  • Data Insights: How to use the data you collect to make smarter business decisions

 

Take a listen and subscribe to talkBIG on your favourite podcast platform.

 

 


EPISODE TRANSCRIPT 

 

00:00:01:04 - 00:00:14:13

V/O

Welcome to the RSM talkBIG podcast. Helping you invest well, understand money, and achieve the best tax outcomes. Your hosts today are Andrew Sykes, Chris Oates and Young Han.                                                                                                    

00:00:18:11 - 00:00:42:15

Andrew Sykes

Hey everybody, and welcome to the RSM talkBIG podcast. This is our podcast where we talk to you about how to save, invest and protect your wealth. So we'll unpack a few ideas and welcome to the New Year. I'm joined by our regular hosts, Young Han and Chris Oates. Welcome guys. And how was the break?

00:00:43:03 - 00:00:49:24

Chris Oates

Yeah, wasn’t it good to get that little bit of time off? I think everybody enjoyed it. Everybody deserved it. 2022 was a tough year.

00:00:50:19 - 00:00:55:14

Andrew Sykes

It was a big year for us. And what do you think businesses are talking about in the New Year, Young?

00:00:56:01 - 00:01:20:00

Young Han

Well, with the interest rate's just going up and everyone's just thinking that 2023 is going to be really difficult. But at the same time since we’ve come out of the unusual COVID conditions, there are more people that are saying that “my business is actually booming.” So, it really depends on what industry you are in and whether you have planned for bad days or not.

00:01:20:04 - 00:01:51:02

Andrew Sykes

Yeah, and we will say that this year brings new challenges and opportunities for small business. The team at RSM have gotten together and produced a report on those trends. Our thinkBIG report has information about eight trends affecting small businesses in 2023 and they're looking at how fast the world is changing, what's important for business leaders to reflect on, business strategy and what we think is going to change.

00:01:51:02 - 00:01:58:17

Andrew Sykes

I reckon today we just have a chat through those trends and we talk about how they're going to impact on small business.

00:01:58:17 - 00:02:10:01

Young Han

That's nice. And I think if you know what's happening with the changes and trends for this year, it no longer becomes a challenge. It’s going to be an opportunity for you.

00:02:10:07 - 00:02:40:09

Andrew Sykes

Yeah, and we think - our team reckons that the eight big trends are going to be: Wage compliance. What's happening in that space has been really big in the in the news and this is about paying employees right, getting it right. Data privacy. We saw that blew up at the end of last year, that's going to continue the digital wave. And digital business, how that’s changing. Tie that in with a bit of data analysis is trend number four and I think we’ll cover those off in this episode.

00:02:40:09 - 00:03:08:19

Andrew Sykes

But in our next episode we want to also then talk about cyber security, the continued impact of staff shortages and the challenges of attracting and retaining staff. Talking about cash flow; very relevant with your comment on interest rates, Young. And virtual CFO. How we can start to use some of those trends and flow them into getting a virtual CFO and what we see happening with those.

00:03:09:04 - 00:03:15:07

Andrew Sykes

So, I reckon let's break it down a little bit. Wage compliance. Chris, what are you seeing there, mate?

Wage compliance: How to make sure your business stays compliant with wage and salary awards

00:03:15:07 - 00:03:34:19

Chris Oates

I think the wage compliance, is becoming more digital and it's so much easier for it to be tracked to make sure wages are being paid, staff are getting what they should be as well as staff receiving the correct superannuation contributions. So, it's really important now that businesses are on top of it.

00:03:35:07 - 00:04:00:04

Young Han

And everyone probably knows and have heard of single touch payroll. They are seeing that the second pays are rolling out. So what happens is, the ATO is going to get all the information as to what kind of wages you paid, the leave tracking and everything else so that it becomes more transparent for the employee as well as the employer and the ATO.

00:04:00:04 - 00:04:14:10

Young Han

The other thing is that, depending on what which industry you are in, your awards are going to be changed again. So you have to make sure that each 1st of July, that's usually when it changes, to make sure that you're paying your employees right.

00:04:14:16 - 00:04:35:23

Andrew Sykes

Yeah, and it's a good point. Single touch payroll sort of crept up on a lot of business owners and they didn't understand the implications. But if you look back on it, if we went back a few years ago, you would report your obligations by an employee once a year, you just do your reconciliation. Now it's every pay run, isn't it?

00:04:35:23 - 00:05:11:16

Young Han

That's correct. And then also it's relevant to your closely held employees. In other words, your family members. A lot of businesses used to do their yearly return. So, deciding how much wages we want to pay to my family members, is no longer possible. You're going to have to have them on the books and you have to include them in their regular pay run so that even that the money paid to your family members or yourself as a working director, it's still included and treated fairly as if it was the business paying a third party.

00:05:11:22 - 00:05:36:12

Chris Oates

And that's what we've seen. From the financial planning perspective, talking to people about their superannuation, if you sometimes work for a small business, if the cashflow isn’t there, if it's cyclical income that you might not get your super contributions until a bit later in the year. But single touch payroll changes that. You can now see that regular payment coming in so people are getting their retirement, all their retirement money as they should.

00:05:37:03 - 00:05:52:02

Chris Oates

I think if you own your own business and you've been an employee, as you said Young, your super was always the last to get paid. But now it's making sure that people are still in your own business, but still make that compulsory saving.

00:05:52:05 - 00:05:58:14

Young Han

And talking about that super guarantee as well. It's a big change. So, what's the rate for the ‘23 financial year now?

00:05:58:14 - 00:06:06:21

Chris Oates

We're at ten and a half per cent. So, what your gross income is, if it's 50,000, if it's 100,000, it's ten and a half per cent.

00:06:07:03 - 00:06:28:17

Young Han

And also, it's important to check what your contract actually says, because a lot of employers – not intentionally - sometimes do not pay their employees properly. It’s been changed. And what's the implication? It needs to be happening in your system because sometimes people think that well, it is just taking up more into super.

00:06:28:17 - 00:06:37:00

Young Han

It depends on how your contract is drafted. It might just say that it's an extra cost to your business that you have to pay on top of your salary

00:06:37:00 - 00:07:02:14

Andrew Sykes

That's very right. And when we talk wage compliance, that's what we really mean is understanding what you should be paying your employees for the time that they work for you, including all the allowances, the superannuation and long service leave, annual leave, personal leave, all the entitlements under the modern Fair Work Act, under their awards, under any individual contracts.

00:07:03:10 - 00:07:23:23

Andrew Sykes

There is so much information available now and employees themselves take more care to understand what their super is, what they're entitled to, what their award should be. So, you have a much more informed employee base, so you've got to get it right. So, what happens, Chris, if we don't get it right?

00:07:24:21 - 00:07:38:11

Chris Oates

Well, the ATO, as I said, can track it down and administer penalties. So that'll be the directors of the business - the business owners are the ones liable for it.

00:07:38:14 - 00:08:10:14

Young Han

That's right. And we've seen some businesses become insolvent because they couldn't pay for those obligations. So, what I mean by obligation is their super guarantee and the PAYG summary. So, you're supposed to withhold that money and put it aside so that when you lodge your business activity statement every quarter or monthly, you are supposed to pay that to the ATO. But some of the businesses just didn't put that money aside and they didn't pay at the end.

00:08:10:14 - 00:08:14:24

Young Han

Some of the businesses couldn't pay back and they become insolvent.

00:08:15:08 - 00:08:37:09

Andrew Sykes

Nowadays, liabilities can become personal liabilities of the directors. And I think if we have a look at it, one of the key things is not just the regulatory part, it's the impact on your business. And we've seen businesses shamed publicly and they're being accused of wage theft. It's gone beyond just cutting a few corners to now it's viewed as wage theft.

00:08:37:09 - 00:08:58:02

Andrew Sykes

A really important area. And in terms of trends, we are going to see increased compliance from the ATO and we're going to see increased scrutiny from employees themselves coming back and saying, hey, you're not paying me right, and you need to fix that. That has a real impact on modern business. We have the systems and processes available there and get things right.

00:08:58:06 - 00:09:01:05

Andrew Sykes

As business owners, we need to make sure they're right, don't we?

00:09:01:11 - 00:09:02:03

Young Han

That's correct.

Data Privacy: The hefty price tag attached to your business’s customer data collection

00:09:03:12 - 00:09:14:14

Andrew Sykes

Okay. So, trend number two data privacy, data really blew up at the end of last year as there were various scandals.

00:09:14:14 - 00:09:41:03

Young Han

Yes. Data breach is serious. And it occurs in many organisations. Last year it was Optus and Medibank. They had data breaches and a lot of confidential info, individual personal information was leaked and the impact of that was quite significant. And there's a significant penalty as well. Chris, have you heard about the penalty price we are looking at in 2023?

00:09:41:14 - 00:10:03:18

Chris Oates

The penalty has changed, and it's increased massively. It used to be about $2.2 million maximum penalty. But if it can be repeated. Now offences can now be $50 million and that's the minimum. It could be $50 million, or it could be three times what the burden is on people.

00:10:03:24 - 00:10:06:17

Chris Oates

Or if you can't work it out, it could be up to 30% of your turnover.

00:10:07:03 - 00:10:32:04

Andrew Sykes

These are really big penalties. And I understand we've been advised that government’s conducting a review of the Privacy Act, which is likely to result in even stronger mandates around that collection of only necessary data and keep it around only as long as necessary. As well as having penalties now, the actual burden of keeping data is going to get a lot more expensive, isn't it?

00:10:32:04 - 00:10:40:00

Andrew Sykes

Are businesses going to have to be more careful about how we store it and if we get it wrong, I mean, 30% of your turnover is a big amount.

00:10:40:09 - 00:10:50:23

Chris Oates

Oh, definitely. It can be more than your profit. That can definitely wipe you out for a year or couple of years, depending on what your business is and how you're traveling.

00:10:51:06 - 00:10:53:21

Andrew Sykes

Yeah. So, who's responsible for the data breach?

00:10:54:06 - 00:11:06:18

Young Han

Well, business owners are, even though and even if you're using another agency to collect data on your behalf, it's still going to be the data that you use and that you collected.

00:11:06:21 - 00:11:13:09

Andrew Sykes

So, if it's my customer and I go and pay someone to look after the data, I'm still responsible? I can still get fined.

00:11:13:11 - 00:11:14:19

Young Han

Yes, that's correct.

00:11:15:08 - 00:11:35:07

Andrew Sykes

Yeah. So be careful. There's a lesson - be careful of who you use to store your data. And that's going to be one of the key trends, isn't it? Is having a look at it how we actually curate this data. I think personally, if I was a small business owner that had data, I'd want to not keep it.

00:11:35:21 - 00:11:40:12

Andrew Sykes

If I could, I'd want to use it and then destroy it.

00:11:40:12 - 00:11:47:22

Chris Oates

But takeaway is the risk to the business. If you don’t have the data, there’s no risk.

00:11:48:06 - 00:12:08:16

Young Han

And that's why we're saying that just collect the data that you need and then once you used it, you need to safely destroy that and also, if you are going to be keep it on your database for whatever the reason, maybe because of the marketing purposes, then you need to have the right info system to secure it.

00:12:09:03 - 00:12:27:21

Andrew Sykes

Doesn't that tie in with the wage compliance as well? If we're looking at underlying trends on both of those, the government's out there with a big stick for getting it wrong and there's fines and penalties, but probably the bigger damage is the damage to your reputation.

00:12:28:17 - 00:12:49:01

Chris Oates

Well, you look at Optus, everybody still talks about it. Same with Medibank. The big businesses are the ones that are in the news. But if you're a local small business and people know you, you might know Joe Bloggs down the street, he'll know somebody else, she'll know somebody else. All of a sudden, you're the person that's leaked everybody's data and nobody wants to deal with you.

00:12:49:01 - 00:12:52:05

Andrew Sykes

And they talk about it. So, this is not just a big business problem, is it?

00:12:52:16 - 00:13:14:09

Young Han

No longer a big business problem and it's not something that... You must consider it, because it could become a big problem. And the statistics says that. More than 60% won't survive from such an incident because of those impacts on your business.

00:13:14:12 - 00:13:22:20

Andrew Sykes

So, hang on. So, you're saying that more than one in two businesses are going out of business when they have a data breach?

00:13:22:20 - 00:13:29:01

Young Han

Yeah, they just don't have the capacity or the resources to recover from the damage.

00:13:29:01 - 00:13:49:15

Andrew Sykes

Okay. Well, wow, that's I think we're all a bit speechless at that. That's a lot of damage. So, it's worthwhile getting in front of this business and just getting a data specialist to review where you're at. And it doesn't matter the size of the business. So, conducting that comprehensive review and trying to determine where the leaks are.

00:13:50:07 - 00:13:59:13

Andrew Sykes

Yeah, like other things we do in business, we go and get insurance, we make sure of our work, health and safety. This is just another area we need to manage in business.

00:13:59:13 - 00:14:24:18

Young Han

And more importantly, when we are talking about data privacy, we only talk about the actual security. But it's also what the people involved in the business and how we actually educate them is really important. For example, I work with a lot of doctors within the medical practice, sometimes a patient calls and then they want to confirm their name, date of birth and address.

00:14:24:18 - 00:14:31:22

Young Han

And then if he repeated over the phone in front of everybody else in the waiting room, that is a privacy breach

00:14:32:04 - 00:14:55:01

Andrew Sykes

Yes, I tell you, treating the data when you've got it. And I rang up a company the other day and I had to pay with my credit card and the lady was really good on the other end. And she said, just hang on, we've got an automated service. And she didn't take my credit card details. I typed it in on my phone into their system and they didn't even store them.

00:14:55:18 - 00:15:00:08

Andrew Sykes

So, they took the payment, did it over the phone, typed in, and they don't keep the data.

00:15:00:12 - 00:15:02:20

Young Han

Tell you what, that company knows what they're doing.

00:15:02:20 - 00:15:17:09

Andrew Sykes

Yeah, and I was pretty impressed with that. I think this is a trend that’s going to impact on businesses. When companies ask me now for date of birth address etc - what do you need that for exactly?

00:15:17:09 - 00:15:17:17

Young Han

Yes.

00:5:17:24 - 00:15:38:17

Andrew Sykes

So, dealing with your customers and I think being conscious and upfront with your customers and having a strategy, you can add to your business and your reputation. So it's not only the fear of getting it right it may also be the fear of getting it wrong.

00:15:38:17 - 00:15:46:17

Chris Oates

Right and people will talk about it. If you use your experience, and you're saying, yep, I've had these positive experiences, they were great. People will go there.

00:15:46:19 - 00:15:52:17

Young Han

Again, if they know the issues to be addressed. And if you’ve got the right actions in place, it's an opportunity for you.

Digital Business:How to give your business a digital makeover

00:15:52:21 - 00:16:18:17

Andrew Sykes

Yeah, and just a reminder to everyone listening, you can get more information on these trends by reading our report. Head to the RSM website rsm.com.au. Have a look there under talkBIG and it's our Top Trends for 2023 report which we have just released. The third trend we wanted to have a bit of a talk about was digital business.

00:16:18:17 - 00:16:23:23

Andrew Sykes

We've been talking about this for years. Is there still momentum? Are we still seeing it being a top trend?

00:16:23:23 - 00:16:31:13

Young Han

Well, isn't it a part of our life now? I don't think there are many businesses left that don’t have an online shop now.

00:16:31:24 - 00:16:40:06

Andrew Sykes

Not only online shopping marketplaces. By the end of 2022, most businesses had some form of remote working in place.

00:16:40:12 - 00:16:57:06

Chris Oates

Well, I was reading articles the other day that businesses that don't even have offices anymore because people can just work from home. They can travel to see clients or who they need to. So that's been, well, since COVID came in. There was a lot of businesses that were probably a bit slow to the mark that had to make the move.

00:16:57:14 - 00:17:00:06

Chris Oates

It’s changed the world and how people operate.

00:17:00:12 - 00:17:24:01

Andrew Sykes

And that's probably the trend for 2023, isn't it. We've now implemented this work from home and changed work practices. It's potentially now, how do we reduce our costs? So maybe we don't maintain full offices for all our workers. Maybe we say, well, let's get rid of some space, let's look at ways that we can actually maximise the benefits.

00:17:24:02 - 00:17:25:23

Andrew Sykes

Yeah, now that has become the norm.

00:17:26:04 - 00:18:09:13

Young Han

Yeah. And also, I guess the digital business started with the business customer relationship moving online.

COVID has altered the traditional relationship of “within the business how people operate and how they interact and that is now becoming digital. So if you’re looking at the whole cycle or the supply chain to the customer… it’s becoming all entire process becoming online and which means that, it just everything ties in together. Your data privacy, your cyber security, how things are working, how payments are made, automation, digital payment and everything else just, just folds in part.

00:18:09:22 - 00:18:34:04

Andrew Sykes

Yeah. And I mean, we're accountants. Well, Chris is not, he is a financial planner, but yeah, you and I are accountants. And what accountants love to do, we like to save money. I think this is the year where businesses can start working on integrated systems. Before, we were quite happy to access an application and you would go in and log in and close that down and go and access another one.

00:18:34:05 - 00:18:40:09

Young Han

Like a different style. Having five or six different apps running. Yeah, but they don’t talk to each other.

00:18:40:09 - 00:19:01:21

Andrew Sykes

And now I think it's, it's a year for things like single sign on where you just sign in. Once you access everything, all your systems integrate and talk to each other, and you start saving and reducing costs by having integrated systems. So maybe some of the promises technology's been making about eliminating unnecessary costs.

00:19:02:24 - 00:19:03:05

Andrew Sykes

And boosting efficiency, minimising human error. Maybe this is the year we're going to start seeing that as a strong trend.

00:19:08:16 - 00:19:24:08

Young Han

A huge trend is becoming paperless. The whole process when you're talking about account payable and receivable, there's no more of the sent invoice printed out scanning in and someone approve it and get that in. And then make someone pay me.

00:19:24:13 - 00:19:43:15

Andrew Sykes

But that's where you need your digital advisor to come in and say, hey, I can get that bit of software or that process to talk to the other process so we can have a single entry. So, we're not entering multiple data, we're not using spreadsheets to reconcile. Everything's just flowing through.

00:19:43:15 - 00:20:10:14

Young Han

That's right. And then I think it's the biggest thing that you need to remember about the digital business. It's not about the actual system. It’s change management of people’s behaviour. That's why you want to engage a professional to actually look at your process and then implement the right tools, because there are so many apps and tools available to address the issue that you want to address.

00:20:10:19 - 00:20:21:11

Young Han

But it really depends on what your business is about, what's the priority, how the people work, and what’s going to drive the right way of choosing the right tools.

00:20:21:16 - 00:20:42:17

Chris Oates

And if you've got the right tools and your business is operating efficiently, that works with what Andrew said - saving money and therefore gives you the chance to work on your business. By doing this, you may be able to pick up some extra clients or go out and do a bit of extra work. If everything's working in the background for you and everything's talking to each other, you're not there trying to type everything in five times.

00:20:42:20 - 00:20:54:11

Young Han

And you know what the biggest strengths or the advantage of that? It is the real time data, which links to the data inside that we want to talk about.

00:20:54:14 - 00:21:19:14

Andrew Sykes

Yeah, it's real time data and it does link into that. But I will say if you implement digital well on your point Young, it's about people and it's about making people's workplace better, their job better, more efficient because you're not doing mundane, boring tasks. So, the digital aspect is about people first and foremost. I love how you touched on the change management.

00:21:19:14 - 00:21:28:20

Andrew Sykes

Part of it is work with people and change. Business is always about people and use of digital to make their lives better.

00:21:28:21 - 00:21:54:04

Young Han

And that that means that these changes shouldn't be coming from the top to bottom. It's getting everyone involved in the process. Even in RSM, we go through this workshop with all the employees. We’re telling them what kind of digital strategy we’re looking at, what kind of changes we want. We are open to everybody to put in their opinions, their experience, which makes a nice strategy that works.

00:21:54:12 - 00:22:00:14

Young Han

Also, they get the buy in of the stakeholders who are going to use it every day.

Data Insights: How to use the data you collect to make smarter business decisions

00:22:00:21 - 00:22:10:12

Andrew Sykes

Yeah. And our fourth trend is data. What do you mean by data? What does digital do for data?

00:22:10:12 - 00:22:36:16

Young Han

I think the very basic data digital journey started with bank feeds. We as accountants, no longer need to import a data entry. We know that what the business did yesterday based on the cash that comes into the bank account. We also know how the money is being spent and for what expenses and what kind of jobs that they are doing.

00:22:36:21 - 00:22:46:05

Young Han

So, as the business advisor, that gives us what we need to know about the challenges and the cash flows of the business in real time, not 12 months ago.

00:22:47:19 - 00:23:01:02

Chris Oates

It lets you make the make the decision when you want to look at it, rather than wait till the end of the year. You can adjust your strategy as you need to during the year.

00:23:01:04 - 00:23:11:12

Andrew Sykes

Yes. So, getting all your data into one spot and ensuring it's relevant and accurate and then we can progress by getting some AI. Who else has played with ChatGPT?

00:23:12:01 - 00:23:15:21

Chris Oates

You're always on it! It’s great because you ask it a question and it gives you the answer.

00:23:16:01 - 00:23:37:04

Andrew Sykes

I love ChatGPT. I think it's fantastic. It took off straight away and this is only the start of it. I don't think we yet understand how beneficial that kind of AI assistance will be in business.

0:23:37:05 - 00:23:53:11

Young Han

It's just going to get better because of the machine learning, it's going to get more information. And I'm not saying that it's not accurate, but there are some things that the answers were not accurate, but it's the start of the new norm and it's going to get smarter.

00:23:53:11 - 00:24:08:23

Chris Oates

And it can point you in the right direction to look further because you think about how much time we all spent searching for an answer online. Whereas if you use the AI gives you the general information that you might be looking for, and it means that you can really narrow your search for that more in-depth insight.

00:24:09:06 - 00:24:32:05

Andrew Sykes

Yeah, and I don't think AI is going to do everything for us, I'm not in that camp, but I certainly think it's a great tool. And as I said before about being an accountant, I love to see value creation and part of value creation is removing low value, mundane, boring tasks out of business.

00:24:32:05 - 00:24:54:01

Andrew Sykes

You can make it do anything. For example, write a quick email to a customer and it'll do all of that for you in seconds. What might take you ten or twenty minutes or half an hour to do. Really interesting that if you get start combining these trends and you get your digital business right. This means you have good data, you can actually start combining it with external data as well.

00:24:54:21 - 00:25:09:15

Andrew Sykes

Whatever economic data, whatever you can see, all can combine and then you can use that in in your own analysis rather than just the data you produce.

00:25:09:16 - 00:25:43:05

Young Han

Yeah, so, if you're in a business that has the capability to understand what the data means and collecting all the data, you can make the right combination and produce a new outcome or a result. That's the key strength of your business which makes your business stand out from others. And we've seen a lot of tech business tapping into R&D, tax incentives and all different benefits because they know what the data actually means of what they can actually do or the potential, commercial benefits of those utilising that.

00:25:43:11 - 00:26:03:11

Andrew Sykes

Yeah. Imagine doing something like “I'm a cafe owner who has a large outdoor cafe area” and I tie in my sales data, the weather data, and my payroll rostering system to work out, okay, well, that's going to be raining all weekend. This weekend I can put less staff on.

00:26:03:20 - 00:26:04:11

Young Han

Yeah, that's fine.

00:26:04:12 - 00:26:05:05

Andrew Sykes

Or more staff.

00:26:05:15 - 00:26:07:00

Chris Oates

All at the click of a button, too.

00:26:07:00 - 00:26:27:04

Andrew Sykes

At the click of a button – and that A.I predictive capability. Hopefully we're going to start seeing that coming through in business. I will say that this, like any other trend, this needs to be driven by the business side. Data needs a data champion who will not only use the data but work out how you can implement it.

00:26:27:09 - 00:26:30:07

Young Han

And remember, garbage in, garbage out.

00:26:30:24 - 00:26:41:12

Andrew Sykes

Yeah, exactly right. It does take time and investment from the business to start accessing any one of the trends that we've just spoken about.

00:26:41:16 - 00:26:54:01

Chris Oates

And as Young said, it's from bottom up. You need everybody to be involved. You can't just say one or two people are going to run this. You really do need to have everybody in your business on the same page.

00:26:54:01 - 00:27:14:23

Andrew Sykes

And adopting all these trends is a part of maturing your business over 2023. And I think after a couple of hard years with the pandemic, a bit more fun in business, I think we can all look forward to that and changing and evolving in a different direction. Well, guys, I'm glad we split this into two episodes because we're out of time for today.

00:27:15:06 - 00:27:39:04

Andrew Sykes

So, I encourage all our listeners to look out for part two of our top trends. In 2023. This is the RSM talkBIG time and thank you for listening. I encourage you to subscribe and maybe get a couple of your friends to subscribe on your favourite podcast platform. My name's Andrew Sykes. Thank you very much for listening and thanks from the team.

00:27:39:07 - 00:27:42:05

Young Han

Thank you.

Chris Oates

Thanks.