Australian small business owners are seeking ecommerce experts to help them compete online, with Shopify experts listed as the most in-demand freelancers in Australia, according to the latest Fiverr Small Business Needs Index.
New business owners have also driven demand for business planning, providing a growing market for freelancers with C-suite and senior finance experience and high-level business qualifications.
‘Turning passions into profits’ and ‘starting new businesses’ were identified as key priorities for Australians with the Small Business Needs Index research revealing a huge demand for the specialised digital skills of ‘Shopify Experts’. Demand for this was up 176%, indicating the rise of Australians turning to the platform for digital retail support in starting their own businesses.
Similarly, search terms for ‘Business Name’ and ‘Business Plan’ were also up 89% and 29% respectively, again supporting the notion that businesses were migrating online, or starting out online.
Recent research from Fiverr revealed 37% of Australians considered freelancing, more than half of which (56%) were motivated by their experience of Covid-19. Similarly, one in five (20%) were interested in changing their job to something they were more passionate about.
Fiverr vice president of international expansion, Peggy de Lange said people have become aware of the lifestyle benefits tied to being their own boss and starting their own ventures.
“However, with this comes the need for specialised digital support to help bring ideas to life. Navigating the digital world for the first time is daunting, and new business entrepreneurs can sometimes be overwhelmed by the amount of specialised expertise they may not have,” she said.
Whether it is Amazon, Shopify, or WordPress, small businesses are looking to create and optimise their digital presence with searches for Amazon virtual assistant up 778%, searches for Shopify store design up 302% and searches for Shopfiy sales funnel up 103%.
Building back is top of mind starting with a focus on stronger finances and higher profits. Food delivery app searches were up 117% where restaurants were trying to save and serve their customers by building their own delivery apps; crowdfunding searches were up 115% and Quickbooks specific accounting searches were up 83%, with general bookkeeping up 40% and accounting up 33%.
Having extra time due to Covid lockdowns has proven itself good for entrepreneurialism and innovation with searches for services to help with starting a business steadily rising, led by business card design (106%), followed by product mockup (89%) and trademark (82%).
Business owners are tapping into new technologies to help support their workflows and business processes, led by searches for automated marketing platform, GetResponses (91%), website builder plugin, Elementor Pro (89%) and Square owned mobile payment service, Cash App (83%).