So many Aussie media outlets trade off speculation, especially speculation about economy-related numbers, like interest rates.
For several weeks now it’s a lead story for many news outlets, speculation about an interest rate rise, with many expecting the Reserve bank board to make a decision at their monthly meeting tomorrow.
The volume of the speculation makes the possibility off interest rate rises a topic of discussion in retail. The speculation worries people, it negatively impacts consumer confidence.
I wish news outlets would stick to reporting news, and stop covering speculation as if it is news.
Here in our local small business newsagencies, we can’t control interest rate movements, but we can buttress our own businesses to enable them to be less impacted by interest rate increases. There are plenty of moves we can make so our businesses rely less one month that has an interest cost. We can also not engage with the speculation in-store or on socials.
Consumer confidence is vital to local retail, especially in these mid-year wasteland months.
I have been thinking about how small business retailers can deal with interest rate rises when preparing advice for my POS software company customers recently. Freeing up dead cash remains the most vital, and immediate, move any local retailer cam make:
We help retailers free up cash in their businesses. And, this can help reduce their reliance on loan funds, which means a lower impact of rising interest rates. now, how do we help retailers free up cash. We do this in a range of ways, through smart tools in our POS software. We helped one business release more than $20,000 of hitherto dead money. The released funds helped them reduce their overdraft and that reduced the amount of interest the business was paying. It all comes back to using business data.
If you are concerns about the speculation, it’s better to act rather than amplify what might be.