Money, Money, Money
Such a robust sentiment towards increasing employment would surely suggest suppliers feel the financial side of business in the region is on the up? One figure that has dropped for the good of the supplier is the amount of companies owed more than $100,000.

In 2009, 35.2% of companies were owed more than this, but the percentage dropped to 17.1% in 2010 — a good sign that hospitality companies were prepared to open their wallets a little wider last year.

Furthermore, not one supplier said they felt they “definitely did not expect to receive payment” in this year’s survey, a sentiment 6.1% believed in 2010.

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It would also appear that less suppliers fear having to close in a scenario where they don’t receive payment of the outstanding debt. Those who said non-payment would likely force the closure of their company dropped from 13.9% in 2010 to 6.7% in 2011.

Likes and Dislikes
Running a business is tough and recent economic and political turmoil hasn’t made it any easier. So why do our suppliers keep getting out of bed in the morning?

When asked what they most enjoyed about their job, the suppliers gave a range of answers, but perhaps the most apt to the current situation in the region was “there’s never a dull moment”.

Other enjoyments included; “the people”, “the competition”, and “the variation”, “creativity” was mentioned by more than one supplier, while another loved “seeing the results of the work done”.

Although one enthusiastic supplier replied “I love it!” when asked what they liked least about the job, and a couple said “nothing”, there were those who didn’t spend the whole year grinning from ear to ear.

“Long hours”, “dishonesty”, “workloads”, “chasing payments” and “unprofessional competitors” were common gripes. One supplier simply didn’t like “people”. Let’s hope 2011 cheers them up.