Connected cafes provide business owners a chance to ditch the office grind
 

Small business owners around the country are ditching corporate offices in favour of their local café to improve their workspace and increase productivity, according to KPMG Demographer Bernard Salt.

This trend of flexible working is seeing business owners flock to local coffee shops in pursuit of easy access to fast broadband, relaxed meeting rooms and double strength lattes.

With nearly one million people in Australia running a business from home*, cafés connected to the nbn™ network are set to be a game-changer for ‘solopreneurs’ looking to break down their home cubicles and go it alone.

KPMG Demographer, Bernard Salt said:

“For many small businesses, there’s no need to have an office in today’s working environment. Widespread access to fast broadband means the office is no longer the anchor; it is simply a touch down point as new technology liberates businesses from the confines of set working hours or spaces.

“Business owners can now manage their accounts in the cloud and video conference clients all from the corner of a café, hotel room or airport lounge.”

nbn’s Executive General Manager Business, Ben Salmon said:

“As the nbn™ network rolls out across Australia, many businesses will be able to take advantage of new technologies which provide them with the opportunity to access customers and suppliers more efficiently, regardless of where they are located.

“We’re already seeing businesses across the country jumping at the chance to test out this new way of working as local cafés make Wi-Fi over the nbn™ network an essential offering for their customers.”

Small business owner, Rebecca Stern said:

“While starting your own business can be liberating, it can sometimes feel isolating working alone, so it’s nice to have some friendly faces when working from my local café.

“When I drop my son off to school in the morning I tend to have a spare hour to myself, which is the perfect opportunity to hook up to Wi-Fi and keep things moving while I enjoy my morning latte. I manage my own online business, so access to fast broadband from the café helps me to communicate with customers and process orders efficiently while I’m on the go.”

There are more than 2.5 million homes and businesses across the country which can already connect to the nbn™ network.

Visit our nbn™ blog series to learn more about how access to fast broadband is transforming Australian small businesses. 

 

Media enquiries

Talia Spink	nbn™ Media Hotline
Phone: 02 8918 5895	Phone: 02 9927 4200
Mobile: 0488 902 436 Email: taliaspink@nbnco.com.au	Email: media@nbnco.com.au

Resources

Click here for images

Click here for video

 

Notes to editors

• *Business.Gov: Home-based business  
• nbn is building a new and upgraded, fast wholesale broadband network to enable communities across Australia to access fast broadband. Our goal is to connect eight million homes and businesses by 2020.
• Fast broadband like that delivered via the nbn™ network can provide a range of benefits for Australians such as opportunities to work from home, access to online education tools and options for on-demand entertainment.
• End-user experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ network, depends on the technology over which services are delivered to your premises and some factors outside our control like equipment quality, software, broadband plans and how the end-user’s service provider designs its network. Access to your work network will depend on factors outside our control like your organisation’s IT policy and infrastructure.
• For more information, visit www.nbn.com.au