South Australian Women’s business aspirations

Consultation has concluded

Are you a South Australian woman or gender diverse person? Are you running a business, or keen to start your own business? The Premier’s Council for Women wants to hear from you! Take this survey to provide your views.

What's the survey about?

The Premier’s Council for Women (PCW) are keen to find out about the business landscape in South Australia for women and gender diverse people.

This survey is designed for women who own a business, or who aspire to start a business, in South Australia. PCW are interested to find out about the size and types of businesses run by women and gender diverse folks, and the barriers to starting and growing businesses.

We want to find out about you, what you do or what you aspire to do, who and where you turn to for inspiration, and the opportunities and challenges in your journey starting and running a business in South Australia.

Background

Women across the world are less likely to be entrepreneurs than men. Globally, women-founded and co-founded start-ups return 78 cents per dollar invested, compared with 31 cents for men-founded start-ups. While the number of Australian women operating their own business has steadily increased over the past 20 years, when compared with other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, they remain substantially under-represented as entrepreneurs.

Get involved

Premier's Council for Women was established in December 2002 as a women’s advisory council to provide leadership and advice to the South Australian Government on the needs and interest of women, through the provision of well-informed and strategic advice on policies, programs and matters of significance to women.

The Premier’s Council for Women are keen to understand where to focus their advocacy for South Australian women business owners, or those aspiring to own businesses.

Have your say by taking our survey!

The survey is anonymous – we do not ask for any identifying information and you will not be identified in any reporting. Participation in this survey is voluntary and you are able to quit at any time. The survey takes approximately ten to twenty minutes, depending on how much information you provide.

After the demographics section at the start of the survey, there are separate sections for business owners and those aspiring to start businesses. You will automatically be taken to the appropriate section based on your answer to the question about whether you own a business.

You will have the opportunity to write some free text answers as well as participating in the multiple choice questions – any question without an asterisk is not mandatory and you may opt out if you wish.

We understand that there has been significant upheaval in recent years that has significantly affected the business community. If this survey raises issues that are triggering or upsetting for you, please reach out to any of the following supports:

• Women's Information Service (08) 8303 0590

• Lifeline 13 11 14

• Mental Health Triage 13 14 65

• Call or drop in at the Urgent Mental Health Care Centre (08) 8448 9100

To complete the survey you will need to register through YourSAy below.

The survey will close at 11pm on Monday 11 July, 2022

What are the next steps?

Results from this survey will provide a snapshot of information that will inform the work of the Premier’s Council for Women moving forward, and will give them an idea of the kinds of things to advocate for on your behalf.

A summary of results will be provided through YourSAy.

Are you a South Australian woman or gender diverse person? Are you running a business, or keen to start your own business? The Premier’s Council for Women wants to hear from you! Take this survey to provide your views.

What's the survey about?

The Premier’s Council for Women (PCW) are keen to find out about the business landscape in South Australia for women and gender diverse people.

This survey is designed for women who own a business, or who aspire to start a business, in South Australia. PCW are interested to find out about the size and types of businesses run by women and gender diverse folks, and the barriers to starting and growing businesses.

We want to find out about you, what you do or what you aspire to do, who and where you turn to for inspiration, and the opportunities and challenges in your journey starting and running a business in South Australia.

Background

Women across the world are less likely to be entrepreneurs than men. Globally, women-founded and co-founded start-ups return 78 cents per dollar invested, compared with 31 cents for men-founded start-ups. While the number of Australian women operating their own business has steadily increased over the past 20 years, when compared with other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, they remain substantially under-represented as entrepreneurs.

Get involved

Premier's Council for Women was established in December 2002 as a women’s advisory council to provide leadership and advice to the South Australian Government on the needs and interest of women, through the provision of well-informed and strategic advice on policies, programs and matters of significance to women.

The Premier’s Council for Women are keen to understand where to focus their advocacy for South Australian women business owners, or those aspiring to own businesses.

Have your say by taking our survey!

The survey is anonymous – we do not ask for any identifying information and you will not be identified in any reporting. Participation in this survey is voluntary and you are able to quit at any time. The survey takes approximately ten to twenty minutes, depending on how much information you provide.

After the demographics section at the start of the survey, there are separate sections for business owners and those aspiring to start businesses. You will automatically be taken to the appropriate section based on your answer to the question about whether you own a business.

You will have the opportunity to write some free text answers as well as participating in the multiple choice questions – any question without an asterisk is not mandatory and you may opt out if you wish.

We understand that there has been significant upheaval in recent years that has significantly affected the business community. If this survey raises issues that are triggering or upsetting for you, please reach out to any of the following supports:

• Women's Information Service (08) 8303 0590

• Lifeline 13 11 14

• Mental Health Triage 13 14 65

• Call or drop in at the Urgent Mental Health Care Centre (08) 8448 9100

To complete the survey you will need to register through YourSAy below.

The survey will close at 11pm on Monday 11 July, 2022

What are the next steps?

Results from this survey will provide a snapshot of information that will inform the work of the Premier’s Council for Women moving forward, and will give them an idea of the kinds of things to advocate for on your behalf.

A summary of results will be provided through YourSAy.

Consultation has concluded

  • SA Women's business aspirations report released

    Keen to understand the state of play for South Australian women, the Premier’s Council for Women (PCW) undertook a survey of South Australian women business owners and those aspiring to own businesses. The aim of the survey was to inform the work of PCW and determine where to focus their efforts to best support South Australian women’s participation in business, and, ultimately, women’s economic wellbeing.

    The survey was available through the South Australian Government’s YourSAy digital engagement website from 9 May 2022. It was open for nine weeks, in which time 180 responses were received.

    • The overwhelming majority of respondents (67 percent) stated their start-up funding came from personal savings.
    • The top three most important things when they started their business: to increase awareness of my brand/product/business; help finding a customer base; an understanding of business basics.
    • The top three barriers women business owners are currently experiencing are: lack of capital; time commitment to caring responsibilities; COVID-19.
    • We asked respondents what their top three reasons were for starting, or wanting to start, their own business: I wanted to be my own boss (74 percent); I had an idea / I found a gap in the market (71 percent); I wanted flexibility (66 percent).

    Based on the full report provided on YourSAy, the Premier’s Council for Women has developed 11 recommendations. These recommendations will be provided as advice to the SA Government on actions that could be taken to foster and support the entrepreneurial spirit, creative drive, and resilience of South Australian women in business.

    We would like to sincerely thank all those who responded, for your generosity and courage to share your insights and experiences with the Premier’s Council for Women.