I hope you all had a good break. The 2024 year looks like one that is sitting in a fine balance waiting to see which way the wind blows to tip the scales between great, good, average, fair or terrible!

Most small businesses have had a battering over the last three years, with the effects of Covid, supply chain issues, difficulty finding and retaining staff and inflation all taking their toll.

There definitely appears to be some green shoots showing up with inflation showing promising signs of easing towards the end of 2023 and continuing this trend entering 2024. Some small relief on interest rates is looking to be coming during the year and there is a generally better balance around supply chains and staff availability.

To offset that we have growing tensions around the Red Sea, which is a major trade route. This is causing some shipments to be rerouted via the southern tip of Africa, taking longer and costing more. This might also impact oil prices which would impact all transportation.

The high inflation has caused consumers to tighten their belts and Christmas spending was noticeably down with some retailers and hospitality businesses feeling the pinch.

Generally automotive repair businesses fare well in these conditions, as consumers put off upgrading their vehicle to a new (to them) one, so tend to spend more on maintaining their existing vehicle.

Let us all cross our fingers that the year progresses well, with inflation continuing its retreat along with some modest relief in interest rates so that 2024 can be a less trying year than the last three for everyone.