Must-know statistics for women-led businesses in Australia

If imposter syndrome has been creeping in lately, this episode is your reminder that you are not alone, and you are not behind. We’re talking about the rise of women-led businesses in Australia, why women entrepreneurs are a force in the economy, and what it means to build success on your own terms.

We’ll unpack the shift happening right now as more women business owners choose flexibility, purpose, and sustainable growth over outdated business models that lead straight to burnout. Because success does not have to mean running yourself into the ground, and you do not need to earn your place by exhausting yourself.

This is also a practical reality check on why strong foundations matter, especially when small business risk is real and planning and support are what keep things steady long term. If you’re building something meaningful and want it to last, this conversation will leave you feeling grounded, proud, and clear on the bigger movement you are part of.

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Transcript

0:53

Hello everyone, and welcome to episode 231 of the Rise Up in Business podcast. That feels like quite the milestone, and we've just hit seven years in business, which is something else that I think is worth celebrating and just pausing to reflect on, and I've been doing a lot of that lately. It feels timely to be recording this episode, having reached such a milestone in business, and that's because there is a common theme amongst discussions I'm having with female business owners lately. Probably over the last couple of months I've really noticed it, and that is around imposter syndrome, uncertainty, and insecurity. And I think that's wild given the statistics I'm gonna share with you. so I'm recording this episode today because I really wanna dive in and share with you some hard statistics and some good old-fashioned facts, because I don't think enough women are backing themselves in business, and it breaks my heart to see so many women working so hard to create a life that works for them and to create a different type of business, but they're riddled with doubt. I'm gonna take you through some stats that I've found and some facts which I hope you'll reflect on in those moments of self-doubt and imposter syndrome, because the reality is women are changing the business landscape here in Australia, and I'm gonna explain to you why. I've researched for this episode as best I could for the statistics. Please don't write a thesis and rely on my statistics here. Please do your own research. What I will say is I've taken what I could from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and I've taken other statistics from other reputable business sites. Some of them are a little bit old, couple of years, and I'll tell you when that is. Some of them are taken from 2025. But it's going to be enough to illustrate my point and to get my message across for this episode. Hundreds and thousands of women are creating businesses in Australia in a different way. They're changing the business landscape, and they're changing the way business is looked at. Female business ownership in Australia since 1991, wrap your head around this, since 1991, female business ownership in Australia has increased by more than 77%. Let that sink in. Since 1991, female business ownership has increased by more than 77%. To me, that's mind-blowing and impressive for all the right reasons. Right now, women make up just over 35% of all small business owners in the country. So just above 35%, that's women. That's more than one in three How amazing is that? The actual number of businesses in Australia as of June 2025 was just over 2.7 million. So with female ownership being just over 35% of that, that's just under a million women-led businesses in Australia as of June 2025. That fills my heart with so much pride to, read out those stats. Let that land. Almost a million women-led businesses. Women are doing something right, ladies. So let that sink in if you're doubting yourself, if you've got imposter syndrome, if you're thinking of throwing the towel in, let that sink in. There's a couple of reasons that I could drill into on the statistics and the facts that I was looking at, but I also draw from conversations that I'm actually having with business owners. Women are creating businesses and changing the way businesses operate for themselves, for their lifestyle, for the flexibility that they want. Not because they can't cut it in the old school way or in the traditional business sense, but because they don't want to. There's an overwhelming trend of women moving away from what we've always been told is the right way to build a business and run a business, and they're creating something that works for them for now, because we're in a different time than we were 20, 30, 40 years ago. That's one aspect of it. The other aspect that I wanna just pause and shine a light on here is the workforces that women are creating. Women are contributing in such a meaningful way to a shift in what workforces look like. SMEs, that's who I, who I represent, small and medium enterprise. SMEs account for over 98% of all businesses in Australia on my, research, and they're employing around 70% of the workforce. That's huge. When we talk figures- This probably won't be all that relative, but it's generating around 500 billion of economic activity. That's hard to wrap your head around. But the point is, again, we're coming back to around that one-third of our GDP. We're around that one-third. When we look into the small businesses and we drill down, so small businesses, annual turnover of less than 10 million, employing less than 15 employees, They employ just over 40% of Australia's workforce. With women running more than a third of those businesses, based on what I've shared from the data I've found, Pause and appreciate for a moment that women-led businesses are responsible for millions of jobs across the country. But beyond that, let's look at the why. Women-led businesses are creating flexible work environments, and they're leading the charge on this. There is no doubt. The flexibility, the policies, the focus on wellbeing and balance, dare I say the word balance, nonetheless balance, means that women are valuing more than the job. They're valuing the people. There's an increasing shift to this, which I think is really powerful. Please don't take offense to this if you're listening. I'm not suggesting that men don't, or I'm not actually making any references to men whatsoever, so please don't take those inferences. I'm focusing purely on the power of a woman, the power of women-led businesses, and the impact that women-led businesses are making. And as I said at the beginning, I wanted to record this episode because the common theme of conversations I'm having with so many women in business at the moment is around imposter syndrome and doubt and self-doubt. It doesn't need to be that way, and the data and the statistics suggest that it really doesn't need to be that way because women are doing incredible things. That's the genesis of this episode. This part of the episode, when I'm talking to you about the statistics around the workforce, what I'm saying to you is women aren't just creating jobs in the workforce. They're creating workplaces that people value and that value the people in such a way that they're leading on flexibility and culture and purpose-driven environments. And I find that really empowering, and frankly, I find it really inspiring, and I hope that you do too. Knowing that we're a part of this movement and this shift Is something that fills my heart with so much joy and so much validation, to be really honest, that I'm so happy to be sharing this with you here. I've shone a light on women redefining what it means to build a business. Get this statistic. From what I could find, the latest data is almost two years old, but as at then, 81% of women-operated businesses were mothers. When I kept digging and was reading interviews and was reading other data that other publications have gathered, the overwhelming sense here was that women are starting these businesses Out of necessity because the traditional model doesn't serve them anymore. These women are intelligent, they're educated, they're skilled, they've got the experience. They can hack it in any traditional workplace, but they don't want to. And that is just about every female business owner that I'm speaking to. They're starting something to suit their life and where they're at now. The stats here said that 56% of women in Australia were starting businesses to gain more flexibility, and 75% of women have their sights set on growth and expansion, building teams, and creating workplaces. So this is not an overwhelming sense of micro-businesses and women just going it on their own. Women are intent on impact and ensuring that they're having an impact on those around them and on other women. It's really clear to me that this is intentional business. This is not money-driven, profit first at all costs. This is not growth for growth's sake. This is intentional business built around life, around values, with a real focus on the end game and the long term. I love this so much, and it was such a pleasure diving into the research on this episode. seems to me that a constant through all of this is relationships and women building these intentional businesses with relationships at the heart of what they're doing because it matters so much. And that feels so good to share. I know when I started my business, it was very much, I wanna build a business that works for me. My background had been traditional legal practice. I was a litigation and disputes lawyer for 12 years, and my goodness, talk about a male-dominated field. It absolutely was. And living in masculine energy 98% of the time, year after year after year. So it's no wonder I had so much trouble falling pregnant with my first child and then discovered that I was suffering from chronic stress and adrenal fatigue. Living in that state of intensity and masculine energy is not sustainable, but I didn't know that. And my metrics of success back then were purely what I was taught. If you work long hours and you're really exhausted and you burn out, you're doing it right. That's what I was taught, and that's what I thought success was, and if I wasn't exhausted or thinking about work, I thought, "I'm not doing enough." Fast-forward to when I left litigation practice, I went to teach law at ANU, and things really slowed down. I was there for five years just readjusting and appreciating that you can be treated with such respect and be valued for being a person, not just for being a lawyer who burns themself out. That was a massive paradigm shift for me. So when I was sitting in my bedroom, I remember it, it was March 2019. I was sitting in my bedroom. I actually remember the chair that I was sitting in with my daughter, who was about to start pre-K the following year, and I thought to myself: Gosh, do I want to stay in academia forever? Didn't really feel I integrated all that well, so it wasn't my soul on fire work. Do I wanna stay here forever, or do I wanna try and build a business that suits me and that meets business owners with where they're at and what they need?

And I remember saying to my husband: 11:04

I might just give it a crack. Those were my words. I might just give it a crack and see how it goes and see if this is something that I can do and if this is what business owners want. The rest, as they say, is history. As I say, we've just hit seven years, so I would say that's a success. It's certainly been successful for me in terms of building a life that I want. That means I'm not the stressed parent at drop off and pick up, and honestly, I can hand on heart say there is not a day where I drive to drop off or

pick up without thinking to myself: 11:31

I'm so grateful to be able to do this. This is a success metric for me. One of my success metrics now is slow mornings And I cherish those every day. The other is being able to drop my kids off to school and pick them up. I love those moments, and my daughter will often say to me on the way home, " Mum, what was your favorite part of the day?" Because I always ask them, and I'll always say, " Now, picking you up," because it is. That's not to say it's easy and hasn't been rocky, and there are days that I just wish they'd stop bickering, not at all. But overwhelmingly, those are my success metrics. I'm not burnt out. I'm not constantly thinking about work, and I am carving out time for me and for them, and I love that. When I'm in my business working for my clients and talking to people, I love that so much. I actually have to be really careful because I could just spend more time in here than what's good for me in terms of balance and needing breaks. But that is an example, a really personal, close-to-my-heart example of the reason I started my business, not to do it the traditional way, but to do it the way that served me and the life that I wanted, so that I could support other women in business and meet them where they're at. And I've shared this on the podcast before. When I started, for the first little while, probably the first year, the legal profession, at least those that I was in contact with, were really negative and no one was supportive, bar one person, I should say. Bar one barrister who I cherish dearly and have the greatest respect for. He was supportive. Everybody else, "It's not sustainable. It won't work. You can't do a values-driven business. You can't price that way." But I did it anyway. Incidentally, during the COVID lockdowns, many of those lawyers rang me to ask me, "How did you do those meetings? How did you do that?" Which I thought was, very interesting. Nonetheless, that's a classic example of someone building a business in a different way to serve different needs. If you are feeling the pull, if you are feeling a desire to do something bigger or more or to lean in, I'm hoping that this episode will provide you with the inspiration, the context, the drive, whatever it is that you need to go forth and do that and back yourself to do that. Because you can see from what I've shared in this very short and sharp episode, the data's there, the facts are there. Women are doing amazing things. You can too. That's the point. That's why I'm sharing this. Before I wrap up, I just want to share some failure statistics. Not to be Negative Nancy, but let's just put things in perspective. From the research I was doing, this is not women-led failure statistics, this is Australian small business statistics, so revenue of less than 10 million, employing 15 or less employees. Approximately 60% of small businesses in Australia fail within the first five years. Sixty percent, it's more than half. Approximately 20% fail in their very first year- And close to 50% will fail within the first three years. So first year, 20% fail roughly. Within three years, 50%. Within the first five years, 60%. They're big chunky numbers. don't share that to be off-putting. I share that because I'm a realist. What I want to say about that is when I dug further, two of the top five reasons as to why those failure rates were so high, one was inadequate planning, and two was poor financial management. I say it so often here and on social media, and when I email my list, there is no substitute for preparation. Prevention is better than cure in business, and if you want to set yourself up for long-term sustainable success, who you surround yourself with matters. This is goes to the heart of what I do in business. So I spent the first 12 years of my career as a litigation and disputes lawyer, so I've seen all the things when it comes to what can go wrong in business. What I do now in this business, seven years in, is I support business owners to avoid being someone's litigation client. I support business owners to set themselves up for success with documents, strategy, processes, and systems. That's the core of what I do, to set business owners up for long-term sustainable success so they don't become one of the failure statistics. That's my passion. That's my drive. That's why I do it. When I was in litigation, I spent all my time in court or mediation or arbitration dealing with businesses in dispute, so either suing or being sued over something that's gone wrong. Usually, it had something to do with money. Most of what I saw could have been avoided. It could have been avoided with proper legal advice, proper documentation, and the right support. That's why I do this in business. That's why I'm here. That's why I support small and medium businesses to avoid the disputes, the heartache, the destruction that I've seen. That's the driver for me. you're a woman in business and you are experiencing self-doubt, imposter syndrome, insecurity, fear, all the things, I'm hoping you can take something away from this episode and know that you are one of the hundreds of thousands of women doing some really amazing things in business in this country right now. If you're not sure, if you're insecure about your frameworks, your structures, your legals, please reach out and have a conversation with me, because I would love to support you to set you up for long-term sustainable success so that you can work through those moments, they're just moments, but those moments of doubt and fear and worry, and keep you away from being someone's litigation client or being a failure statistic I have loved sharing this with you. I have been researching this for a little while, so I've pulled it together for you in what I hope is a clear and sharp way. If you're listening to this and you know other women in business that you think would get some inspiration or some motivation or drive out of this episode, it would just mean the world to me if you could share it in any way that works for you. Thank you so much for joining me. I'll catch you next time.