“Women small business owners are an untapped resource”: Here’s how budget 2023 should prioritise them

Ahead of the federal budget unveiling today, vulnerable women small business owners across Australia are hoping for relief from the relentless cost of living pressures currently plaguing the entire country.

Like many Australians doing it tough, business owners face the stressors of increased fuel and electricity prices plus increases in the cost of raw materials. Still limping from the aftereffects of COVID, small businesses are being hit with a triple whammy of ongoing labour shortages, a slowing economy, and cash flow issues.

Women small business owners, who are an untapped resource, are watching and waiting for the government to lend a much-needed helping hand — not just “hand-outs” — through investing in them.

A strong and stable economy starts with its smallest component, from the cafe on the corner to the e-commerce startup. The health of these ventures are indicators of the overall health of the economy — without them, there is no community, no innovation, and no growth.

Women are the ones driving Australia’s economic recovery as they turn out in droves to start businesses and take up jobs. Women unemployment is currently well below their counterparts and women’s small business ownership numbers are surging to represent more than one-third of all small businesses in Australia. 

When it comes to the small business world, an estimated 99.8% of all Australian businesses are classified as small to medium enterprises, contributing almost $418 billion to the national GDP. In terms of job creation, the average small business employs between 1 to 4 people, which adds up to just under $5 million people employed in this sector. As the cornerstone of the communities they operate in, small businesses bring life and character to our streets as well as provide the essential services we all rely on. 

 So we need the government to open the doors and make room at the table for women small business owners and at the tables where decisions are made. We also need the government to respect how their decisions can impact the small business community. Our local beauticians, bakers, and grocers deserve as much support as the big corporations and unlike big corporations, they neither have the time nor spare resources to devote to costly bureaucratic processes like paying crippling amounts of employee super or applying for meager grants to get through tough times. 

When delivering the budget this year, Treasurer Jim Chalmers must not forget these women small business owners who are bravely battling a volatile economy just to stay open til the end of the year.

The same goes for the startup community that is waiting for the right support, advice, and opportunity to turn an idea into a commercial success story that will hire employees and contribute significantly to the economy.

Small business women often don’t have the luxury of being able to shop around for better employers, lured by the promise of higher pay. These proud and hardworking businesswomen just want to be given the same opportunities and be put on an even playing field. Despite the odds being stacked against them, entrepreneurial women are still making a go of it and putting their hearts and souls into their businesses. Research suggests that increasing the number of women business owners to be equal to that of men could add between $70 billion and $135 billion to the economy.

What small business women need

How can the government better assist women small business owners in their endeavours? The same concessions that are available to individual Australians to help with rising fuel and food costs should be applied to small businesses as well.

The government must also stop increasing the financial burden on small businesses, which already operate on paper-thin profit margins before even accounting for employee super requirements,  tax and other obligations. As it stands women small business owners have no choice but to take on the rising cost of inflation, at times reducing their take-home pay or forgoing a wage altogether just to stay afloat. A pause on the mandatory increase in super payments until 2026 will give women small business owners much-needed breathing room in a bad economy.

Second, more equal opportunities need to be created to help women get more access to big-ticket tenders and contracts. In practice, if a commercial entity is securing a large government contract, there ought to be a clause requiring they contract a percentage of work to a women-run small business (as is already the case for SMEs and local businesses). 

Similar criteria in large contract tenders would also go a long way towards achieving parity for small businesses owned by women. It took me years to learn the secret to pursuing government tenders, but I know with the right training and opportunities such as a dedicated women-only website for local, state, federal and commercial tenders, can help close the gap.

Training programs and initiatives to make small business employers attractive to employee talent, particularly youth workers is also a win/win proposition for all. Small businesses are brimming with opportunities for young people to develop valuable skills and experience, but more needs to be done to connect youth with potential employers. 

The private sector makes up a substantial portion of traineeships and apprenticeships, contributing to nearly half of all applications in most years and more than 59% in 2021. Industries in the private sector that take on a disproportionate share of all traineeships and apprenticeships are traditionally women-dominated such as community and health services.

Finally, a genuinely inclusive workforce participation initiative cannot neglect the question of childcare and family support. Making childcare tax deductible would go a long way towards increasing women’s participation in the workforce. Federal funding for domestic violence leave and universal childcare will alleviate family pressures on all women, freeing them up to meet their full productive capacity.  

The cost of these initiatives on a small business owner may actually break them so they need government support to enable this to become a reality.

Budget concessions for more funding in new services in regional and remote areas where there is a lack of suitable child care is a good start, but other options for women small business owners could be group child-care arrangements at co-working hubs to minimise costs and give them the peace of mind they need to continue growing their businesses.

Australia’s women small business owners have proven themselves to be strong, resilient, and innovative, but their entrepreneurial spirit must be nurtured if they are to reach their full potential. These business owners and entrepreneurs need access to investment, mentoring and support to get their ideas off the ground. 

To create a truly inclusive and well-rounded budget, the government must listen to the voices of Australia’s small business women. It must act to mitigate the damage being done to small businesses by offering more concessions and more support before the economy spirals further and small businesses disappear.

Amanda Rose is the founder of Small Business Women Australia.