What is the definition of a small business?
A business that employs fewer than 20 employees.
The importance of small businesses
Small businesses make a significant contribution to employment in Australia, responsible for 44% of all jobs and employing over 4.7 million Australians. Interestingly, 62% of small businesses do not employ any staff. See the latest ABS stats.
Number of small businesses vs. number of employees (2014-15)
| Number of Employees | Number of Small Business |
|---|---|
| 0 | 1,284,615 |
| 1 - 4 | 584,744 |
| 5 - 19 | 197,164 |
|
62% for non-employing businesses |
28% for businesses with up to 4 employees |
10% for businesses with 5–19 employees |
Who owns small businesses?
New business registrations over the 2013-2014 period showed a slow yet consistent increase in the number of women business owners with a 4% year on year growth, versus men at 0.8%.
71 %
Born in Australia |
29 %
Born Overseas |
Globally, Australia comes second only to the USA in terms of the number of new businesses.
2013-14 Sets Record of 280,000+ New Business Registrations Made
The Construction industry accounts for the greatest percentage of small businesses in Australia representing 16.5% or 341,080 small businesses. See business loan options for each industry.
Total number of small businesses by industry
Total number of small businesses by industry
| Industry | Total | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Construction | 341,080 | 16.5% |
| Professional, Scientific and Techincal Services | 249,919 | 12.1% |
| Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services | 232,648 | 11.3% |
| Financial and Insurance Services | 182,962 | 8.9% |
| Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | 177,320 | 8.6% |
| Retail Trade | 126,657 | 6.1% |
| Transport, Postal and Warehousing | 124,919 | 6.0% |
| Health Care and Social Assistance | 114,334 | 5.5% |
| Other Services | 88,092 | 4.3% |
| Accommodation and Food Services | 80,235 | 3.9% |
| Manufacturing | 77,258 | 3.7% |
| Administrative and Support Services | 75,723 | 3.7% |
| Wholesale Trade | 72,490 | 3.5% |
| Currently unknown | 33,949 | 1.6% |
| Education and Training | 25,460 | 1.2% |
| Arts and Recreation Services | 25,247 | 1.2% |
| Information Media and Telecommunications | 18,707 | 0.9% |
| Mining | 7,459 | 0.4% |
| Public Administration and Safety | 6,672 | 0.3% |
| Electricity, Gas, Water and Waste Services 5,665 | 5,665 | 0.3% |
| Total | 2,066,803 | 100% |
The future of small business
Small businesses often require funding and incentives to grow. Thankfully, the Australian Government recently announced a $5.5 billion plan to further energise small business success.
3 Key highlights you should be aware of
- Immediate deductibility on all assets under $20,000 (purchased from the 2015 budget until June 30, 2017)
- 1.5% deduction on tax (from 30% to 28.5%)
- 5% tax discount for small unincorporated business
What is the future of funding small business?
What the large majority (89%) of small business owners will tell you is that they do not believe that business finance is easily accessible. Since the GFC in 2008, big banks have been notoriously difficult to get a loan through (especially when you haven’t been operating for 10 years with millions of dollars of consistent revenue). Typically big banks want some form of security which a lot of us small business owners simply cannot provide or are hesitant too. We are typically “all in”.
The Australian Government do provide a number of funding grants for small business and it is worthwhile checking these out. Experts say you have around a 28% chance of being successful.
One of the biggest challenges business owners face are payment delays from our own customers adding insurmountable financial pressure and cash restraints.
Queue the rise of the “alternative bank lender”. Businesses are using alternative business finance more frequently and the space is booming. Focused on technology and the ability to make quick decisions, a non bank lender uses different metrics to assess your business credit worthiness. There are multiple small business loan options to compare from short term unsecured commercial loans to invoice financing to traditional long term finance and even equipment finance.
Before considering any loan you should seek professional advice and work out your ability to repay it with our business loan repayment calculator.
Grow the business you want.
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