Crazy times and how to surf through the 2026 cash flow squeeze
The world of SME business in Australia is getting more challenging all the time. As I write this in May 2026, we face:
- An ongoing oil war pushing business costs through the roof – and pushing customer payments later as well.
- Continued pressure from the ATO for SMEs to address outstanding Tax Debts.
- The looming cash flow challenge of Payday Super – which effectively puts a 15% impost on SMEs – is because it reduces another cash flow “float” that used to increase liquidity.
- Interest rates that are rising – and expected to keep rising.
- The still-to-be-detailed consequences of the 2026 Australian budget and its major changes – from Negative Gearing to Family Trusts.
These combined changes mean that many of the financing tools, practices, and strategies that have served SMEs well over the past decade are no longer fit for purpose.
These combined changes ALSO mean that:
- Many “amateur” SMEs – those whose business results are limited by the size of their comfort zone – are at increasing risk.
- Those SMEs who are serious about running their businesses as actual businesses – with good practices and reality-based strategies – will most likely survive and even prosper.
Which means that:
- Those SME operators who have been meaning to “get around to” the emotionally difficult financial challenges in their business – from increasing their prices to facing their tax debt – now have to decide whether they’re ready to level up.
Why most small businesses don’t work and what to do about it (revisited)
When Michael Gerber first wrote THE E-Myth – he wasn’t just talking about sales scripts or business procedures. He was ALSO talking about learning leadership – what he called “becoming The Entrepreneur”.
It’s why he called running a small business “the biggest personal growth challenge in this whole crazy world”.
His core proposition was that the reason most small businesses struggle is that their thinking stays small – their owners get stuck in “doing” mode. They’re so busy “doing” that they don’t build the skills to run their business – their Finance, Marketing and Administration skills.
It’s crazy out there – SO whether we want it or not – today Australian SME operators have what Gerber called “a true business opportunity” – an opportunity to grow as a person and a leader and to find smarter ways to actively “surf towards the future”.
It means that it’s time for SME operators to “put on their grown-up pants” and make a list of business tasks that scare the stuffing out of them – AND do them (because the consequences of not doing them could be terminal).
This will look different for each small business – but for various business operators, it could mean:
Installing Invoice/Debtor Finance Tools
Turn down the volume of business amateur opinions like “all non-bank finance is a rip-off” – and do the numbers on whether the right Debtor/Invoice Finance product will fix your Working Capital shortage. (This practical business financing tool unlocks the cash tied up in your Receivables – and can bridge the gap between issuing higher-cost invoices and actually being paid.)
Tackling price increases
If you’ve been too scared to put up your prices to match your cost increases (or the value you deliver) – then it’s time to examine how and when increased costs can be passed through, and to communicate clearly with customers about price rises.
Tax Debt settlement planning
If your business Tax Debt is causing you sleepless nights, then it’s time to call on expert advice and draw together a team to negotiate a Tax Debt Settlement Plan. The punitive options available to the ATO are massive – and AVOIDABLE.
Evaluate Trade Finance tools
Getting over “we can’t afford more spending” and evaluating whether Trade Finance will help lock in control of critical inventory or business inputs. This practical business financing tool can give valuable stability to importers and manufacturers facing volatile pricing and disrupted supplies.
Creating a Working Capital Strategy
Reviewing – or developing – a Working Capital Strategy that fits your business and evaluating which 21st-century Cash Flow tools will support your business, including Unsecured Business Loans and Lines of Credit.
Surfing towards the future in 2026 requires strategic financing
Times are tough – and look likely to get tougher still. Successfully surfing through tough times requires strategy, discipline and collaboration. It requires giving up on “the myth of the heroic individual” and getting expert help – which is how the human tribe has prospered.
If you’re facing the future with a degree of fear and trepidation – congratulations, you’re sane!
If you’re feeling those feelings and your strategy of choice is to “play small for now – things just have to get better sometime soon” – then I wish you luck…
If you know something’s got to change – but you’re not sure how to overcome the Profitability Paradox – then book a FREE Working Capital Strategy Review today./
