Just over a third of Canberra’s businesses are owned by women, and the ACT government’s new small business strategy is looking to grow that number.
About 97 per cent of businesses in the territory employ fewer than 20 people, meaning they are considered small businesses.
Lauren King, owner of Braddon Flowers, ran a small business earlier in life and said after that experience she didn’t plan to do it again.
She changed her mind two years ago, and now she employs three staff and has a blooming customer base.
But even with past experience, she said small business owners had to jump through a lot of hoops and file a lot of paperwork, just to get started.
“It was just things like bank guarantees, leases, insurance, legalities, things like that.”
Ms King said readily available resources for new business owners would have helped her a lot.
“A handbook, some resources online, and maybe some legal aid,” she said.
“That would have been really helpful.”
Having 35 per cent of businesses owned by women places the ACT slightly above the national average.
Canberra Women in Business government relations director Sheena Ireland said women were more likely to struggle to get a business started as they often had other responsibilities such as childcare.
“There’s a few different factors that mean we don’t have as high a number of female-run businesses as we probably should,” Ms Ireland said.
“Childcare responsibilities, along with childcare costs and things like that present a burden, as well as other caring responsibilities that do by and large fall to a lot of women.
Key points:
- The ACT government’s latest small business strategy prioritises increasing the number of female-owned businesses
- Currently, 35 per cent of ACT businesses are owned by women — slightly above the national average
- Florist Lauren King says more government support would have helped get her business started
