But some economists are wary that it may be too soon to be calling a revival of business gung ho amid concerns that the domestic economy remains weak and warrants the need for record low interest rates.

The latest Commonwealth Bank Future Business Index shows that one in two businesses are looking to expand their market share, sales and client numbers instead of continuing with cost cuts, which has been a key theme after the global financial crisis.

The need to unleash the inner animal of Australian business was recently highlighted by RBA governor Glenn Stevens, who said that more animal spirits to help speed up growth in a domestic economy struggling to offset the decline in mining investment.

Of the 424 businesses surveyed for the CBA report, 48 per cent said that they expected to grow revenues within the next six months, compared to 44 per cent last quarter. A further 46 per cent said they expected profits to grow compared to 40 per cent in the June quarter.

"We saw a more pronounced focus on growth in the retail, wholesale trade and manufacturing industries," said CBA's executive general manager corporate financial services, Michael Cant.

"These industries have all faced challenging business conditions in the past few years. Many businesses in these industries have done a good job to remain sustainable and are again looking at how they can achieve growth," Mr Cant said.

The business index also found that confidence levels remained steady among surveyed businesses, which have a yearly turnover between $10 million and $100 million. The survey was undertaken in September.

This backs up the results of last week's quarterly business survey by National Australia Bank, which found confidence held steady at 6 points in the three months to September 30 - in line with the result in the previous quarter.

National Australia Bank senior economist David de Garis said there are some encouraging signs in the economy but businesses largely remain in protection mode. He added that animal spirits were definitely stronger this year than in previous years.

"We haven't seen a lot of change in business confidence. What we have seen is capital expenditure expectations for the year ahead have improved - suggesting that businesses are intending to spend more on cap-ex next year, and that plays into the rebalancing story," he said.

But Bank of America Merrill Lynch chief economist Saul Eslake is pessimistic on the latest economic data and maintains a view that Australia could be experiencing an income recession.

"I continue to be more in the 'glass half-empty' camp when it comes to growth. While gross domestic product (GDP) growth might be reasonably close to trend, what it doesn't tell you is the loss of income associated with the declining terms of trade, linked to weaker commodity prices."

"I don' t seen any other evidence of [animal spirits]," he said. "I haven't interpreted recent data to mean that there has been any material shift in firms hiring or investment intentions."

Mr Eslake defines an "income recession" as being two or more consecutive quarters of negative growth in real gross domestic income, which is real GDP adjusted for changes in the terms of trade. The more conventional definition of a recession is two or more quarters of negative growth in real GDP.

"The falling terms of trade means each real dollar of GDP is associated with fewer cents of nominal income," said Mr Eslake. "Moreover, as more of the growth in real GDP comes from resources exports, the producers of which are 80 per cent foreign-owned, the income generated will disproportionately flow to overseas not Australia.

"I think this explains why many companies are not hiring, because they are not seeing it in their revenue. I would therefore be surprised if we see much of a pick-up in hiring or investment any time soon, no matter what these surveys might say," he said.

Despite the lift in business optimism around profits and revenue expectations, the index also found that only 38 per cent of respondents said they were well prepared for fluctuations in the business cycle. This compares to 45 per cent in the June quarter.

Mr Eslake defines an "income recession" as being two or more consecutive quarters of negative growth in real gross domestic income (GDI), which is real GDP adjusted for changes in the terms of trade. The more conventional definition of a recession is two or more quarters of negative growth in real GDP.

"The falling terms of trade means each real dollar of GDP is associated with fewer cents of nominal income," said Mr Eslake. "Moreover, as more of the growth in real GDP comes from resources exports, the producers of which are 80 per cent foreign-owned, the income generated will disproportionately flow to overseas not Australia.

"I think this explains why many companies are not hiring, because they are not seeing it in their revenue. I would therefore be surprised if we see much of a pick-up in hiring or investment any time soon, no matter what these surveys might say," he said.

Despite the lift in companies' optimism around profits and revenue expectations, the index also found that only 38 per cent of respondents said they were well prepared for fluctuations in the business cycle. This compares to 45 per cent in the June quarter.