Each and every week the Square Holes team are deep in the bowels of a number of projects, working to mine all of the insights that we can to help grow businesses and support thriving cities.

These insights are used by businesses and organisations to innovate their offerings, move into new markets, track their impact and hone their products and output. Each week we will be sharing a broad insight that we have learnt for you to use in your own work.

Let us know what you find valuable!

Jason: Economic snapshot 

It has certainly been a crazy past five year or so. For many resilience training has been compulsory, and it is likely generations coming up will experience constant shifts as the norm. In a recent study we conducted with focus groups about shifting wine consumption patterns, it was difficult for participants to compare the pre-Covid world to today. For many 2019 seems like a distant memory, and who they are now is more about reaching a different stage of life, then society shifting drastically. There are consistent shifts across our research data that show consumers as more money conscious – going out less often due to cost of living and other factors. Spending has largely shifted online, with large (and small) retail and hospitality closures increasingly hitting the news. What I find super interesting about the work we do across sectors, from large building projects to tech manufacturing, wine to the arts, is that 2023 – 2024 was a challenging period economically, and at the same time heralded a huge shift in the role of technology in society, including AI. From our research, many sectors talked of a “significant slowdown” or even “pause” in decisions in recent years, and a rise in optimism in 2025, even with global economic instability. We’re not out of the woods yet. But, on a positive note, Australia is seeming more stable, with the Federal Government voted back in, inflation settling into more acceptable levels and interest rates coming down. The media signals are improving, and in many ways economic downturns are often more so loss of confidence and nervousness (that cascades) than reality. When government, business and consumers are nervous, things get tough. Coming into mid 2025 the challenge is recovery. Not just to return to profitability, but becoming profitable enough to:

• Pay off pandemic-era or post-2022 debt (loans, tax deferrals, ATO repayments, supplier debt)
• Rebuild cash reserves that were burned through during survival mode
• Invest forward in people, tech, and marketing to grow again — not just tread water

The past two years or so have seen strong businesses survive, while likely honing their voice, products, and models, through innovation – ready to lift off as spending starts to build, hopefully in the second half of 2025. Hold on tight – it has been a rollercoaster of a ride, and the past five years have built resilience and hopefully a new era of businesses proving new products and services hard to imagine back before the world went pear shaped. As Andrew Grove (former CEO of Intel) once stated decades ago: “Success breeds complacency. Only the paranoid survive.” And his visual below (attached) about the strategic inflection point seems more fitting today than ever.

Dylan: Getting to the root of it

Organisations often fail to solve problems effectively because they rush into solutions without fully understanding the root causes. Reframing (shifting how a problem is viewed) and taking the time research the problem fully, can reveal overlooked opportunities and lead to more creative, impactful solutions.

Mahalia: Queering your perspective 

As a queer person I can attest to the freedom and expansiveness that comes with viewing the world through a queer lens. The resilience, creativity, and connection found in queer community is both life affirming and inspiring. While many people (*cough JK Rowling) sit in limiting, close minded beliefs because of their own fears and repression, expanding your worldview to make space for all sorts of perspectives is only going to help opening up your world to new possibilities, community and connection.

Think your business or organisation could do with some insights? Contact us here.