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The small business advocate encourages all Australians to acknowledge and celebrate National Family Business Day to bolster the local SME community.
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ASBFEO calls for national recognition of family-owned SMEs
18 September 2024
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This Thursday, 19 September marks National Family Business Day which should be celebrated to show respect and support Australian family-owned SMEs in the current economic climate, according to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO).
ASBFEO said this is an important event as seven out of 10 businesses are family-owned with 40 per cent run by a couple or team.
Ombudsman Bruce Billson said celebrating the day would have a significant impact on the business community.
“It’s a great moment to reflect on the crucial role family-owned businesses play in the economy and throughout our communities and I commend the Family Business Association on this initiative,” he said.
“So, let’s take a moment to salute the entrepreneurial families who delight customers and enrich our communities and give them our support on National Family Business Day all year round.”
According to the ASBFEO, around 170,000 people are counted as contributing family members working in a family business.
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Almost 25 per cent of contributing family workers are in agriculture, forestry and fishing and family farms running sheep, beef cattle or grain account for two out of three contributing family members across the agriculture sector.
In conjunction with this, only one in 10 people working in a family business are in construction with similarly high numbers in accommodation, food, services and retail trade.
Billson said running and owning a small business is a huge responsibility that becomes magnified when it is a family endeavour.
“The families who have the passion and drive to run their own business invest their whole life,” Billson said.
“For many, there’s no clocking off at the end of the day or on the weekends. They are always going because they know the stakes are high.”
“Typically, they have put their home on the line to build up their business, which amplifies the emotional and financial pressures.”
ASBFEO said Australia is one the few major economies that records and recognises the immense contribution of family-owned businesses.
Thirteen per cent of all workers aged over 70 are working in a family business and with those over 80, it rises to 24 per cent of all workers being a contributing family worker.
This somewhat substantial percentage of elder family SME workers can be attributed to family members taking an “all hands on deck” approach when a family business faces difficult circumstances, Billson said.
Billson noted succession planning is one of the biggest challenges for family businesses.
“How to balance variations in passion and contribution across siblings, reward the earlier generations for what they have built and navigate differences in aspiration and vision across family members are part of the tricky path of succession,” Billson said.
“For the parent, passing the business onto the kids can be an ideal way to end their business journey but sometimes the next generation are not interested or have developed skills and interests not necessarily aligned to the family business.”
ASBFEO said it encourages all Australians to celebrate the SME community and acknowledge that their “dining table is also the board table.”
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