Home business growing

The latest statistical snapshot of the small business sector has highlighted the emergence over the past decade of home-based businesses, which account for 72 per cent of the 139,500 small businesses in Western Australia.

This proportion is substantially higher in WA than nationally, where 67 per cent of small businesses (i.e. up to 19 staff) are home-based.

Small Business Development Corporation managing director George Etrelezis said communications technology has played a critical role in enabling so many people to operate home-based businesses.

The political weight of the small business sector reflects both the number of small businesses and the large number of people they employ.

In WA, small businesses account for nearly half of all private sector employment, split between owner operators (193,500) and staff (170,500).

Most of this employment is in the larger firms.

In fact, 62 per cent of small businesses do not employ any staff and 28 per cent employ between one and four staff.

By industry, the biggest employers in the small business sector are retail trade and property and business services.

The small business sector has many part-timers, with 33 per cent of small business operators working less than 35 hours per week.

This pattern is even stronger in the home-based sector, where 41 per cent of small business operators work part-time.

Among female home-based operators, nearly three quarters work part-time, no doubt reflecting the desire of many women to strike a balance between their work and family commitments.

The statistical snapshot indicates little link between size and longevity, with more than half of small businesses operating for more than five years and one-third operating for 10 or more years.

The small business sector also has a strong international flavour, with 39 per cent of small business operators in WA having been born overseas.

139,500 small businesses in WA

• 62% do not employ staff.
• 28% employ 1-4 people.
• 10% employ 5-19 people.
• 13% had operated for less than one year.
• 24% had operated for 1-4 years.
• 20% had operated for 5-9 years.
• 33% had operated for 10 or more years.

WA small businesses are owned and run by 193,500 people

• 33% work part-time (less than 35 hours/week).
• 41% work 35-50 hours/week.
• 22% work 51-75 hours/week.
• 4% work >75 hours/week.
• 9% are less than 30-years old.
• 58% are aged 30-50 years.
• 33% are aged over 50 years.

WA has 100,400 home-based small businesses

• 70% of these do not employ staff.
• 41% of home-based operators work part-time

Source: Bureau of Statistics