How can small businesses grow rapidly with Airwallex in 2024?

Do you have big ambitions in 2024? Are you looking towards Australian success stories like Canva, Pet Circle, Linktree and thinking; “How can I get my business into that hyper-growth zone?”

You know you offer a great product or service, but how can you take your business to the next level and jump on that growth rocketship?

We get it! In fact, we know these questions well. Airwallex also came from humble beginnings. Our four founders started a coffee shop in Melbourne in 2015, and now we are lucky enough to call ourselves an Australian unicorn. From this, we’ve been able to support thousands of other Australian businesses achieve incredible expansion. 

We believe that one of the most powerful things you can do to support your growth trajectory is to take control of your financial operations. Because when you streamline, automate and master your finances, you can open the door to powerful new opportunities to scale. Here’s how.

1. Access a global market or suppliers

One of the most impactful ways to expand your customer base is to take your business global.

Our recent research shows that 34% of Australian SMEs are operating in an international market, with a further 35% wanting to go global. For those businesses already operating overseas, the move has been lucrative; unlocking access to new customer communities and broadening their overall market share.

For those who haven’t yet been able to break into the global market, or who may be reluctant, it’s often the administrative burden that’s putting them off. 

It’s true, that entering into new markets brings new challenges, especially financial ones… You might find yourself asking these questions.

1. How can you pay local suppliers and vendors to support global production and logistics? 

2. Do you need local bank accounts to accept and make international payments? 

3. How can you let your customers pay in their local currency and preferred payment method?

4. Is it worth selling your product or service globally when you’re being hit with foreign exchange and conversion fees, over and over again? 

Airwallex can solve all of these problems for you, making your international expansion easy. 

• Forget opening local bank accounts; Skip the excessive paperwork and open your Airwallex Global Account online in minutes. Collect payments from global customers in their preferred currency and spend your proceeds later in the same currency. Better yet, you can get started with a Global Account for free, and it only takes a few minutes to sign up.

• Skip conversion fees and costly foreign exchange (FX) rates; With our FX and Transfers features you can access market-leading FX rates no matter the transaction size and rapidly pay suppliers in 150+ countries and regions and 45+ currencies.

• Take payments from popular international providers; Accept Payments from customers around the world through over 160+ payment methods, including Apple Pay, Google Pay, WeChat Pay and Alipay.

We’ve helped businesses around Australia scale to new destinations with our incredible FX infrastructure. Together, we’re taking amazing Aussie ideas to the world.

2. Grow your funds to grow your business

We don’t need to tell you that having access to funds is one of the most important parts of operating a small business. 

Whether you’re actively raising or you simply have a cash reserve, making it work for you can be a challenge. Banks can offer competitive rates, but often this involves locking your cash away in a term deposit. This can leave you with a tough choice - be restricted from accessing your cash when you need it, or have your funds sitting in a regular account, not working for you. 

Airwallex Yield is changing that. An exciting new product in our financial suite, Yield gives you the opportunity to earn competitive returns on your multi-currency balances - with no minimum lock-up period required.

Airwallex invests into the JP Morgan Liquidity Funds, AAA rated money market funds with decades of strong performance. Sit back while your money generates returns at great rates, and if you suddenly need access to your cash - funds generally settle from your Yield account to your cash balances in 1-2 business days.

What kind of returns can I expect from Yield?

*Estimations only. Returns are subject to change.

Airwallex Yield is currently only available to select customers. Contact our sales team to see if your business is eligible for Yield. 

3. Boost efficiencies in financial administration

The old adage ‘time is money’ is especially true for those working in a small business.

It’s a classic story, founders start a business to share a vision with the world – then all their time gets eaten up with administrative hurdles. Finance operations are especially demanding and frustratingly unavoidable!

You need to boost efficiencies, and you can do that with tools that are;

• Cloud-based (so you can work on-the-go)

• Automated (helping you ditch manual tasks)

• Transparent (to help you catch any issues before they arise)

Hitting this trifecta can be transformative. Airwallex can help you remove stress from your daily finance operations – from paying bills, to managing expenses and issuing employee multi-currency cards – while unlocking opportunities for growth and scalability. 

4. Create a streamlined customer experience

It’s a simple equation, the more customers you bring in - the more money you make. You might have an amazing product or service, but without a strong customer experience, your potential buyers may never get to experience your offering. 

When you look at small business success stories, the winning customer experience formula they tend to follow includes;

• Offering a unique product or service that has great market-fit

• Getting their product or service in front of the right people with marketing that turns heads

• Helping customers commit rapidly by making the purchasing journey as seamless as possible

• Delivering on their product or service 

Each of these steps is critical in keeping a customer’s attention, and motivating them to return to you again and again. But business owners often forget to focus on the purchasing journey, which can be a critical mistake.

Nailing the purchasing journey with Airwallex Payments can reduce the risk of your customer losing interest and falling to distractions, while also building their confidence in your overall service.

5. Build a powerful integrated tech stack

Technology is transforming growth potential for small businesses. It used to be the case that only enterprises would have access to powerful technology that could help them manage operations. Systems were often custom-built and programmed, and delivered with a hefty price tag. 

Things have changed dramatically in the last couple of decades. For every part of your business, you can leverage amazing software at an accessible price that can be scaled or adapted to suit your needs. 

However, it still takes a bit of savvy to get real value out of great software. You need to curate a great tech stack - a selection of different platforms that work together and serve each other - to save yourself from manual data entry, and create new opportunities to help you grow. 

That’s why we’ve made sure that Airwallex integrates with all of the key platforms that you’re using for accounting, productivity, marketing, sales and eCommerce. We’re passionate about making things as easy, and impactful, for you as possible. 

How two Australian companies are scaling fast with help from Airwallex

Here’s how three homegrown companies have expanded rapidly with the help of Airwallex.

Vinomofo slashes conversion rates with ease

Online wine retailer Vinomofo was looking for a solution that would help them reduce costly conversion rates, without causing headaches for their team. 

“We knew we were paying too much for foreign exchange, so the ability to save money was non-negotiable,” says CFO Kieran Donovan. “But the other consideration was that we didn’t want to add any more complexity to the business. It had to be user-friendly, and we didn’t want to make anyone’s job harder”.

Airwallex was a solution that hit all the right notes. “When our team saw how much we saved in just one transaction and how easy it was to use, they were all in”.

“There aren’t many initiatives we could implement to save our business around $100,000 annually without a huge amount of effort. It’s a pretty easy win, to be honest, and something I’d encourage any business with foreign exchange exposure to look into.”

July’s finance team are now 50% more efficient

Australian luggage brand July have created seamless global financial processes with the help of Airwallex. 

Our simple-to-use cloud interface means July can pay their suppliers in seconds - no matter where they are in the world.

“Working with a traditional bank was such a slow process, and their product suites often don’t connect together well. Airwallex is simple to set up and use, and we’re able to easily pay our factories and contractors overseas,” says Richard Li, Co-Founder and CEO.

Supercharge your growth trajectory in 2024

Could 2024 be your year? Don’t just wait to find out. It’s time to take the bull by the horns. 

Airwallex was designed to empower small businesses to shoot for their growth goals. If you’re ready to step into your next expansion phase, getting started with us is easy. Sign up for your free Global Account now. 

Disclaimer: This information doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. If you are a customer of Airwallex Pty Ltd (AFSL No. 487221) it is important for you to read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the Direct Services, which is available here. If you are a customer of Airwallex Capital Pty Ltd (AFSL No. 549026), it is important for you to read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for Airwallex Yield, which will be made available to you at the time of onboarding. Airwallex Yield is brought to you by Airwallex Capital Pty Ltd (AFSL No. 549026). All investments carry risk.