The Small Business Fundamentals Program will be delivered by ten partner organisations across South Australia to increase the skills, capability and capacity of small businesses and their workforce.
The program is expected to help improve profitability and competitiveness of participating small businesses, get more South Australians employed in small and family businesses, and support greater diversity in the sector.
The fundamentals program is part of the $14.25 million Small Business Strategy, which outlines a plan to support and grow the local small business sector over the next four years, along with 20 new small business support initiatives.
The initiatives are designed to support businesses to adapt, grow and succeed, and in addition to the fundamentals program, include:
- An annual Small Business Week;
- Dedicated Small Business Support Officers;
- A Women in Business program;
- Improved government and industry collaboration.
Small business owners are now able to seek advice from a team of dedicated Business Support Officers – travelling throughout metropolitan and regional South Australia – and will soon be able to participate in capability-building programs addressing financial management, marketing, cyber security, strategic planning and more.
A $4 million Women in Business Program has been established to support female-led businesses. Program participant, Annunziata Thompson, owner of Mrs D’s Cookies, joined “to find new networks within the business space".
“I’ve met some really inspirational leaders and fellow participants, and everyone’s just been so open to sharing ideas and concepts,” she said.
“My experience so far has been fantastic, being able to channel a lot of my ideas and thoughts into a more structured plan.”
Small business is the lifeblood of the community, creating jobs and supporting workers, suppliers and families across South Australia.
In 2021-22 the sector, made up of around 150,000 small businesses, contributed $49 billion to the economy and employed around 300,000 people - around 40 per cent of the state’s workforce.
To view South Australia’s Small Business Strategy 2023 – 2030, visit https://business.sa.gov.au/strategy.
