The Australian economy is still worrying Australian small business owners and operators according to a survey of MySmallBusiness readers published today.
Of the 1791 readers surveyed in   November last year 33 per cent are "very concerned" about how the Australian economy will impact on their businesses performance. 
Those surveyed are all involved in owning or operating a small to medium business which employs less than 200 staff and has an annual turnover under $2 million.
Aaron Smith, founder and chief executive of fitness business KX Group, says while the share market has dropped significantly recently, he doubts it is affecting small business on a local level.
"Scare tactics from the media really dictate what small business see happening," he says.
"In a small business you always worry because you get up every day to open your business and then you worry about what will happen the next day in the economy."
The next major areas of concern cited by readers were cash flow problems and lack of finances which are very concerning for 27 per cent of those surveyed, followed by the cost of insurance and superannuation/retirement plans.
Small business has backed last year's leadership spill with 67 per cent saying they prefer Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister.
"By having an entrepreneur as our leader it is only going to be a positive thing for small business and he understands more than anyone that small business runs Australia," Smith said.
But MySmallBusiness readers are divided over Turnbull's cabinet reshuffle which resulted in Kelly O'Dwyer replacing Bruce Billson as small business minister.
O'Dwyer is the preferred Small Business Minister for 38 per cent of readers while 31 per cent would prefer Billson and 31 per cent would prefer another candidate such as Peter Whish-Wilson or the Labor party's Michelle Rowland.
Despite industrial relations shaping up to be a key issue, only 8 per cent of those surveyed said industrial relations was an area they are very concerned about and only 11 per cent nominated wages and awards as a concern.
Peter Strong, chief executive of the Council of Small Business of Australia, says confidence is up among small business.
"But people are still unsure and for good reason really," he says. "More work is needed."