Sole traders say the worst of the pandemic is over, but many still doing it tough, new poll shows

The Hnry-commissioned poll shows a rise in sentiment, but gig and creative workers still say business conditions are poor.

VOnly 15 per cent of tradespeople said they had performed poorly. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

The nation’s sole traders say the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic is over, with new data showing confidence among tradespeople and consultants is on the rise.

Taken between February 28 and March 6, a Resolve Strategic poll conducted for fintech Hnry reported a 13 per cent rise in sentiment compared with October.

“We know that recovery will be uneven and sole traders should be supported by both

governments and the community as they look to brighter days,” said Hnry Australia head Karan Anand. “In particular, reducing red tape, and making tax easier are two things our respondents were united upon.”

The survey, however, found uneven levels of sentiment across the country, with West Australian and Queensland sole traders less enthused bout the economy and creative and gig workers reporting they were going backward financially.

In NSW, some 31 per cent of sole traders surveyed said they performed better financially in the past three months than in earlier quarters, compared to 25 per cent who reported that they had performed worse. This figure was 38 per cent and 20 per cent in Victoria respectively.

Among various sectors surveyed across the nation, 55 per cent of gig workers and 36 per cent of creative workers said they had performed poorly in the past quarter.

Only 15 per cent of tradesmen said they had performed poorly.

Gig workers were also most likely to rate conditions of doing business now as “poor” – with 50 per cent describing it in that way compared to 23 per cent of overall sole traders.

Almost two-thirds of gig workers said clients had cancelled or deferred work due to the latest Covid-19 outbreak, higher than tradespeople (58 per cent). Some 69 per cent of those gig workers said conditions still felt like a lockdown.