Innovation plan for uncertain times: MYOB

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's innovation agenda comes at a time when small businesses aren't that happy about the economic outlook.

Business software provider MYOB boss Tim Reed welcomed this week's call for more businesses to take more risks to foster growth, backed up by measures to encourage investment in start-ups.

"We'll be watching closely to see what impact this has, especially as ... small business owners are harbouring concerns about the economic year ahead," Mr Reed told AAP.

The latest MYOB business monitor shows that while three-quarters of small and medium-sized enterprises feel secure about their short-term position, 45 per cent expect the economy to decline over the next 12 months.

Less than a quarter think it will improve.

At the same time, while the government may have spent a lot of energy spruiking its free trade agreements, the survey suggests it has more work to do.

Three out of five small and medium sized enterprises say the agreements with Japan, China and Korea will have no impact on their business.

Mr Reed said the government and industry bodies had placed great emphasis on the benefit of the free trade agreements to the SME sector and past evidence suggested they would boost economic growth.

"These results call for more work to be done to show SMEs the opportunities they will bring," Mr Reed said.