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 Community Survey Results
by Kate Tribe
Do you ever wonder how your situation compares to other Australian businesswomen? Tribe Research recently conducted the 2007 Australian Businesswomen's Network Community Survey, which was completed by over 800 businesswomen across Australia. Here are some of our interesting findings:
Age
The most common age of participating businesswomen was 35-44 years old.
- A small number were under 25 (2.6%)
- One fifth were 25-34 (21%)
- Over a third were 35-44 years old (39%)
- One quarter were 45-54 (26%)
- The remainder were over 54 (12%)
Family
Over half of the businesswomen were married, and 38% had dependent children.
- Married (56%)
- Single - Never married (15%)
- Partnered - Not married (14%)
- Divorced / Separated (13%)
- Widowed (2%)
Work
Survey participants were most likely to own their own business and not participate in any other work.
- Own their own business and not employed (57%)
- Employed and have a part-time business (14%)
- Employed and have an idea for a business (16%)
- Employed and do not have a business or idea (13%)
Business Owners
Businesswomen who own their own business were likely to be older, be in the start-up phase of development, work from home, have less than five staff, use a variety of technology and e-commerce tools, and be planning to grow their business.
- As age increases the likelihood of business ownership also increases: a quarter of women in the 18-24 age group had their own business, compared to over three-quarters in the 55-64 age group.
- The most common business development stages were start-up (44%) and growth (25%).
- 63% have a home office, 31% have an external office and 12% have a virtual office (note: some participants had more than one office type).
- Almost half (48%) of business owners had no staff, and 40% had only 1-5 staff.
- The most popular technology tools were hosted CRM’s, laptop computers and the Internet. Most business owners also use e-commerce, especially for online business banking (85%).
- Most business owners (84%) plan to grow in the next 1-2 years, using a variety of financing sources, including bank credit, business angels and family funds.
Issues for Business Owners
The issues currently facing business owners were quite varied, but accounting and business development issues were selected most frequently
- Accounting / bookkeeping (40% rated as an issue)
- Business planning (37% rated as an issue)
- Business with other countries (36% rated as an issue)
- Cash flow management (33% rated as an issue)
Success Factors
Attitudinal factors that were considered important to business success by almost all participants
- Energy / enthusiasm (93% rated as important)
- Determination to succeed (93% rated as important)
- Dedication to the business (93% rated as important)
Barriers to Getting Ahead
In contrast to success factors, the biggest barriers for participants were related to business aspects and skills, rather than attitude.
- Running costs (81% rated as a barrier)
- Competition (73% rated as a barrier)
- Lack of self promotion skills (70% rated as a barrier)
- Lack of business skills (56% rated as a barrier)
Skills to Master
The skills participants most wanted to master were in line with those identified as barriers to getting ahead – self promotion and business skills.
- Networking (43% want to master)
- Business growth strategies (42% want to master)
- Marketing (42% want to master)
- Planning / Systems (40% want to master)
Thank you to all the businesswomen who participated in this survey. The ABN will use these findings to tailor services and develop new resources, in order to address the needs of the Australian businesswomen's community.
The 2007 ABN Community Survey was conducted and analysed by Tribe Research
Kate Tribe is a member of the ABN Executive Committee, responsible for research of the Australian businesswomen's community. She leads Tribe Research; a Sydney-based quantitative research company that manages health, education and social research projects as well as commercial market research for small and large business. Kate's research has been published widely in academic journals, and she has presented at conferences in Australia and overseas.
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