Annual Business Survey

Each year, local businesses are encouraged to take part in the annual Victor Harbor Business Survey. The survey is a collaboration between the City of Victor Harbor and Business Victor Harbor, and seeks to provide a clearer understanding of the challenges and opportunities that face our business community.

2024 Annual Business Survey

The key findings from the 2024 Victor Harbor Business Survey have been released, with rising rent and utility costs highlighted as common challenges for businesses.

The survey was circulated in late 2024 by the City of Victor Harbor and Business Victor Harbor to gain insight into the opportunities and difficulties faced by our local business community.

Businesses who completed the survey were from a range of industries with retail, food and hospitality, and health and human services heavily represented amongst respondents.

Business owners were asked a series of questions relating to challenges, opportunities, and forecasts for their business. They also shared their opinions on a range of aspects relating to operating a business in Victor Harbor.

Despite the challenges facing business owners in the current economic climate, 54% of businesses indicated that they were ‘optimistic’ or ‘very optimistic’ about the future of their business in the region, with a further 32% indicating they felt ‘neutral’.

Other key findings from the survey included:

Just under half of respondents believe their business will perform ‘much stronger’ or ‘somewhat stronger’ in the next six months compared to the last six months.
Finding suitably skilled and experienced staff continues to be a challenge, with a third of businesses currently navigating this difficulty.
The extent of low income households, government charges, and rising wages were the top three factors making it difficult to operate a business in Victor Harbor.
Proximity to Adelaide was the top factor making Victor Harbor an attractive place to operate business.
Many business owners are interested to learn more about managing cashflow, grant funding opportunities and marketing their business.

Read the full media release here.

View the results