Small Businesses

Small Business Australia

The landscape of small businesses throughout Australia.

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 Businesses
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%. 

Australian Flag
71 %

Born in Australia

Businesses Worldwide
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.

Top Countries for Business Startups

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

  1. Immediate deductibility on all assets under $20,000 (purchased from the 2015 budget until June 30, 2017)
  2. 1.5% deduction on tax (from 30% to 28.5%)
  3. 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.

See if you qualify