Just compiled a list to pair the total number of businesses and population by each council in Victoria. Interesting to see the dominance of inner suburbs (5 kms from Melbourne CBD) in terms of where businesses are located (and jobs as well). The only non-metropolitan local council made it to top 10s is City of Greater Geelong.

Rank Local Govt. Area (LGA) No. of businesses State % share Population State % share 1 Melbourne 35,276 6.52% 122,207 2.09% 2 Boroondara 23,655 4.37% 172,612 2.95% 3 Port Phillip 18,309 3.38% 104,846 1.79% 4 Monash 18,263 3.37% 185,037 3.16% 5 Casey 16,850 3.11% 283,415 4.85% 6 Stonnington 16,807 3.10% 105,981 1.81% 7 Greater Geelong 15,731 2.90% 224,926 3.85% 8 Kingston 15,533 2.87% 153,079 2.62% 9 Glen Eira 14,693 2.71% 144,059 2.46% 10 Whitehorse 14,531 2.68% 163,697 2.80% 11 Mornington Peninsula 13,825 2.55% 153,800 2.63% 12 Yarra 13,541 2.50% 86,506 1.48% 13 Hume 13,163 2.43% 188,832 3.23% 14 Yarra Ranges 13,085 2.42% 150,098 2.56% 15 Knox 12,683 2.34% 155,508 2.66% 16 Bayside 12,646 2.33% 99,947 1.71% 17 Manningham 12,643 2.33% 118,521 2.02% 18 Greater Dandenong 12,531 2.31% 149,518 2.55% 19 Brimbank 12,275 2.27% 197,701 3.38% 20 Moreland 11,576 2.14% 163,488 2.79% 21 Whittlesea 11,442 2.11% 187,006 3.20% 22 Darebin 11,330 2.09% 148,728 2.54% 23 Wyndham 11,182 2.06% 199,715 3.41% 24 Moonee Valley 10,089 1.86% 117,337 2.00% 25 Banyule 10,037 1.85% 125,503 2.14% 26 Frankston 9,439 1.74% 135,243 2.31% 27 Maroondah 8,763 1.62% 111,223 1.90% 28 Ballarat 7,636 1.41% 100,283 1.71% 29 Greater Bendigo 7,541 1.39% 106,971 1.83% 30 Cardinia 6,752 1.24% 87,008 1.48% 31 Nillumbik 6,380 1.18% 62,872 1.07% 32 Hobsons Bay 6,233 1.15% 91,148 1.56% 33 Greater Shepparton 6,215 1.14% 63,269 1.08% 34 Melton 6,189 1.14% 127,677 2.18% 35 Maribyrnong 6,092 1.12% 81,859 1.40% 36 Mildura 5,046 0.93% 53,036 0.90% 37 Baw Baw 4,910 0.90% 45,945 0.78% 38 Macedon Ranges 4,411 0.81% 44,715 0.76% 39 Latrobe 4,222 0.78% 73,653 1.26% 40 East Gippsland 4,213 0.77% 43,772 0.74% 41 Campaspe 4,142 0.76% 36,881 0.63% 42 Wellington 3,985 0.73% 42,220 0.72% 43 South Gippsland 3,689 0.68% 27,937 0.47% 44 Surf Coast 3,116 0.57% 28,481 0.48% 45 Moira 3,075 0.56% 28,833 0.49% 46 Wangaratta 3,040 0.56% 27,117 0.46% 47 Mitchell 2,850 0.52% 38,515 0.65% 48 Warrnambool 2,802 0.51% 33,501 0.57% 49 Bass Coast 2,737 0.50% 31,623 0.54% 50 Wodonga 2,683 0.49% 38,131 0.65% 51 Moorabool 2,496 0.46% 30,926 0.52% 52 Swan Hill 2,480 0.45% 20,580 0.35% 53 Corangamite 2,350 0.43% 15,996 0.27% 54 Moyne 2,317 0.42% 16,344 0.27% 55 Colac-Otway 2,221 0.41% 20,501 0.35% 56 Horsham 2,148 0.39% 19,691 0.33% 57 Southern Grampians 2,070 0.38% 15,919 0.27% 58 Glenelg 2,008 0.37% 19,357 0.33% 59 Indigo 1,720 0.31% 15,409 0.26% 60 Murrindindi 1,654 0.30% 13,595 0.23% 61 Golden Plains 1,640 0.30% 20,544 0.35% 62 Mount Alexander 1,580 0.29% 18,102 0.30% 63 Benalla 1,511 0.27% 13,597 0.23% 64 Alpine 1,494 0.27% 12,028 0.20% 65 Hepburn 1,469 0.27% 14,888 0.25% 66 Gannawarra 1,353 0.25% 10,145 0.17% 67 Strathbogie 1,319 0.24% 9,810 0.16% 68 Northern Grampians 1,196 0.22% 11,719 0.20% 69 Ararat 1,055 0.19% 11,184 0.19% 70 Yarriambiack 1,048 0.19% 6,892 0.11% 71 Loddon 1,047 0.19% 7,365 0.12% 72 Buloke 1,006 0.18% 6,086 0.10% 73 Mansfield 980 0.18% 8,217 0.14% 74 Towong 902 0.16% 5,797 0.09% 75 Pyrenees 850 0.15% 6,979 0.11% 76 Central Goldfields 845 0.15% 12,606 0.21% 77 Hindmarsh 830 0.15% 5,644 0.09% 78 West Wimmera 755 0.13% 3,982 0.06% 79 Queenscliffe 388 0.07% 3,027 0.05% Victoria Total 540,589 100.00% 5,840,910 100.00%

Latest small business stats from the Australian Bureau of Statistics

The ABS has just released the relevant data cubes which will enable us to understand number of small businesses by State by industry by location.

For Victoria, the number of small businesses (June 2014) reached 532,244, comprising of 333,128 non-employing micro businesses, 149,640 employing micro businesses (1-4 employees) and 49,476 other employing small businesses (5-19 employees)

ABS Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (CABEE) just released

The annual ABS publication Cat.8165.0, in what ABS terms as "CABEE" has just been released. It provides he latest headline statistics on number of businesses in various sizes in various categories. I am still going through it at the moment. But it is a bit of shock that all States and Territories posted decreases in number of actively trading businesses, going against the trend for last few years. Will post more results later.

My home State, Victoria went from 551,111 number of businesses in June 2012 to 538,775 in June 2013 - a -2.2% decrease (lower than the national average of -2.9%). The worst happened in Queensland, down by -3.3% to 414,438, total number even less than that achieved in June 2009 (420,974).

New release from ABS on characteristics of small business 2011-12

Another major release on small business stats from the ABS - Cat.8167.0

http://bit.ly/1h6ZPIZ

 It covers a large range of characteristics which deserve our attention, including:

• Business Structure and Arrangements
• Business Markets and Competition
• Business Finance
• Business Use of Information Technology
• Business Innovation
• Business Performance
• Barriers to Innovation and General Business Activities or Performance
• Skills

Datacubes are available for download if you wish to do some analysis.

When the word productivity appears in nearly every discussion on business development, there is one key message that ABS wishes you to know:

Businesses that pursued innovation were more than twice as likely to have improved their productivity than those that didn't.

Business use of technology - new ABS data released today

One of the drivers to business growth is of course to do with the use of technology in various manners. ABS has just released its latest results for 2011-12.

Small businesses, in particular micro-businesses, continue to lag behind compared with medium and large enterprises in their use of technology to drive growth and productivity.

Further info are available here.

http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/8129.02011-12?OpenDocument

Latest data on Australian businesses - Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has recently released data cubes from Cat. 8165.0 Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits, which enable me to determine the number of small businesses by State, by employment size, by industry and by statistical area (as at end June 2012).

Here is my first cut analysising what is happening on small business counts in my home state (Victoria).

• As at June 2012, there were 551,220 actively trading businesses in Victoria, representing 25.7 per cent of all businesses in Australia (2,141,280).

• There has been a net increase of 8,868 actively trading businesses in Australia (June 2012 compared with June 2011), due to an increase in new registrations, as well as decline in the exit rate of businesses

• The largest increase in businesses for a single state, as highlighted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, is Victoria (7,291), among which 6,794 are small businesses.

• While NSW (3,849), ACT (403) and NT (165) also recorded increases, there are States posted a decline: Queensland (-2,032), WA (-771) and Tasmania (-181).

Changes in number of businesses (June 2012 compared with June 2011)

• Victoria    7,291
• NSW    3,849
• ACT    403
• currently unknown    170
• NT    165
• Queensland    -2,032
• WA    -771
• Tasmania    -181
• SA    -26
• Australia (net increase)    8,868

The figure of 551,220 represents businesses of all sizes, with the breakdown by size of employment as follows:

• Non-employing micro-business     336,149 
• Employing micro-business (1-4 employed persons)    135,249
• Other employing small business (5-19)    58,292
• Medium business (20-199)    19,977
• Large business (200+)    1,630
• TOTAL    551,220

• As at June 2012, ABS confirmed Victoria had more than half a million actively trading small businesses (529,690). The ABS defines a small business as a business employing less than 20 people.*

*The ABS defines a small and medium enterprise (SME) as a business employing 199 or less people. As at June 2012, the total number of Victorian SMEs is 549,667.

• When compared with June 2011 (522,896), there has been an increase of 6,794 small businesses, representing an average annual growth of 1.3%.

• Small business is an essential part of the Victorian economy, representing 96 per cent of all businesses and supplying 47 per cent of private sector jobs. Around 28 per cent of small businesses are located in regional and rural Victoria.

• Small businesses can be found in almost every industry and sector.

• The top five sectors with the greatest numbers of small businesses are:

o construction (87,857 - 16.6 per cent of all small businesses);
o professional, scientific and technical services (65,353 - 12.3 per cent);
o rental, hiring and real estate services (55,494 - 10.5 per cent);
o agriculture, forestry and fishing (43,770 - 8.3 per cent); and
o financial and insurance services (43,694 - 8.2 per cent).

Number of small businesses by local council

I have managed to obtain the following list for Victoria in Australia from my Commonwealth counterpart (DIISRTE Industry Policy & Analysis Branch).

As the official data from ABS is provided at Statistical Area Level 2 since 2011, this is not an official dataset.

But it is still being useful to have a quick understanding which local councils have the highest number of small businesses.

There is also a list of small businesses by Commonwealth electoral division, which is more relevant to pollies than me.

Local Government Area	No of small businesses
Victoria
Alpine (S)	1430
Ararat (RC)	1110
Ballarat (C)	6960
Banyule (C)	9880
Bass Coast (S)	2680
Baw Baw (S)	4790
Bayside (C)	12230
Benalla (RC)	1470
Berrigan (A)	1100
Boroondara (C)	22610
Brimbank (C)	12530
Buloke (S)	1000
Campaspe (S)	4110
Cardinia (S)	6400
Casey (C)	16070
Central Goldfields (S)	890
Colac-Otway (S)	2280
Corangamite (S)	2370
Darebin (C)	11040
East Gippsland (S)	6310
Frankston (C)	9180
Gannawarra (S)	1370
Glen Eira (C)	14610
Glenelg (S)	2060
Golden Plains (S)	1550
Greater Bendigo (C)	7150
Greater Dandenong (C)	11710
Greater Geelong (C)	15190
Greater Shepparton (C)	6070
Hepburn (S)	1360
Hindmarsh (S)	870
Hobsons Bay (C)	6650
Horsham (RC)	2040
Hume (C)	11960
Indigo (S)	1660
Kingston (C)	14970
Knox (C)	12640
Latrobe (C)	4270
Loddon (S)	1050
Macedon Ranges (S)	4410
Manningham (C)	12370
Mansfield (S)	1090
Maribyrnong (C)	5930
Maroondah (C)	8880
Melbourne (C)	30500
Melton (S)	5880
Mildura (RC)	4780
Mitchell (S)	2840
Moira (S)	3020
Monash (C)	17000
Moonee Valley (C)	9910
Moorabool (S)	2370
Moreland (C)	11150
Mornington Peninsula (S)	13470
Mount Alexander (S)	1440
Moyne (S)	2200
Murrindindi (S)	1710
Nillumbik (S)	6430
Northern Grampians (S)	1200
Port Phillip (C)	16350
Pyrenees (S)	800
Queenscliffe (B)	300
South Gippsland (S)	4260
Southern Grampians (S)	2030
Stonnington (C)	16000
Strathbogie (S)	1330
Surf Coast (S)	2920
Swan Hill (RC)	2400
Towong (S)	900
Unincorporated Vic	110
Wangaratta (RC)	2970
Warrnambool (C)	2710
Wellington (S)	3900
West Wimmera (S)	740
Whitehorse (C)	14040
Whittlesea (C)	10480
Wodonga (RC)	2630
Wyndham (C)	8860
Yarra (C)	12380
Yarra Ranges (S)	13060
Yarriambiack (S)	1060

Replication of the Small Business Saturday campaign in Australia

Just received the regular e-newsletter from the US Government agency Small Business Administration (SBA) regarding their immiment Small Business Saturday coming up on Saturday (obviously) 24 November.

It is an annual event held between Thanksgiving and Christmas with the purpose of encouraging Americans to shop local, in particular small retailers in high streets rather than shopping centres (or shopping malls as commonly called in north America). Over there and to a large extent here in Australia, small businesses with shop fronts are increasingly under threats from shopping centres and online retailers. This kind of campaign is necessary to re-educate new generations of shoppers that survival of small retailers can bring vitality to the community. And more importantly, creation of a lot local entry level jobs (both full time, part time and casuals).

I do think Australia should learn from it and see if that can be replicated here. By the way, its relevant Facebook page have over 3 million "likes".

How reliable are those lists of Australian exporters commercially available?

I have been given a task in my day job lately to locate or more precisely compile a list of top Victorian exporters. In fact, not just one list, if possible lists of Victorian exporters by destination, by industry sector and by size of business, in partcular SME exporters.

So far I have managed to locate two sites which can provide a list on demand. One is operated by JPM Media. Fairly expensive. The other is less so - operated by australianexporters.net

But one issue I don't have an aswer is how reliable are those data? It seems that exporters can just fill in a form and then after a few steps, it will be listed there.

Can someone who have used these services can share their experiences?

Many small business operators are franchisees nowadays

Many small business operators are franchisees nowadays. Buying a franchise is one of the popular means to start a small business in Australia.

The overwhelming majority of people who are attracted to franchising are first-timers in business who are drawn by the branding, support and infrastructure provided by a franchise chain. Interestingly enough, I have seen so many newly arrived migrants attending the Franchising Expo at the Jeff's Shed (Melbourne Exhibition Centre).

PricewaterhouseCoopers once again provided a snapshot on the franchising sector here in Australia. Apparently, franchisees are enjoying a good time with revenue grown by 6% in the last 12 months and will continue to grow.

Access the 2012 full report Franchise Sector Indicator here.

Where are the small exporters in Australia?

I am working on some statistics related with small exporters in Victoria. Just want to share the initial outcomes with you.

Approximately 17,774 small businesses in Australia exported goods in 2010-11 (up by 1.4% from the previous year). This represents 41.6% of all businesses exporting goods (up from 41.1% in 2009-10).

Of the 13,643 small exporters with an ABN (which allows identification by main state of location of exporter), 3,777 of them are based in Victoria (27.7% of the national total) - compared with 4,853 in NSW (35.6%), 2,558 in Queensland (18.8%).

Interestingly, there are 4,132 small exporters which export without an ABN which makes identification of their belonging industry and state of business location not possible by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Around 34.8% of small business exporters in Victoria were from the Wholesale Trade subsector - followed by Others 24.4% (ICT+financial and insurance services, education and training etc), Manufacturing 21.4%, Retail trade 10.7%, Transport, postal and warehousing 3% and construction 2.9%.

3rd NatStats Conference to be held in Brisbane - 12-14 March 2013

Just received an invitation to attend the 3rd NatStats 2013 Conference hosted by the Australian Bureau of Statistis (ABS).

When: Tuesday 12 - Thursday 14 March 2013

Where: Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre

A wonderful opportunity to meet all the "number crunchers" around Australia!

I attended the past two conferences: Melbourne 2008 and Sydney 2010. A trend of seeking better sunshine.

ABS cat 8165.0 Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits

ABS Cat 8165.0 is the essential Australian Bureau of Statistics release in which you can find number of businesses in Australia, by States and Territories, by industry, by employment size etc. For example, you can even find out the number of retailers in your suburb. By the way, the latest data set is for June 2011.