Today is National Family Business Day, 19 September, dedicated to celebrating the vital role family-owned businesses play in our economy and communities. Family businesses are the heartbeat of Australia and New Zealand. Creating the family business difference takes dedication, sacrifice, passion and hard work, and that is something worth celebrating.
This afternoon, FBA CEO, Catherine Sayer spoke to Sofie Formica on 4BC Brisbane to celebrate National Family Business Day and emphasise the need for dedicated family business ministers in state and federal government.
Visit our dedicated website to access key statistics, family business stories, social media assets and more.
View the transcript here:
Sofie Formica
Today is National Family Business Day. It recognises the incredible role that family-owned businesses play right across our country and they're not just shops on the corner or farms out in the regions, they're really the backbone of our economy. Family businesses in Australia contribute about 70% of the nation's GDP, makes them one of the biggest drivers of our economy.
There are about 1.4 million Australian family businesses that are registered and they account for about half of the country's workforce, generating an estimated $4.3 trillion in wealth each year. But it's far beyond the numbers. It's also what they do in our communities because they can be community champions can't they?
We know that they sponsor local footy teams, they support our schools, our hospitals, they contribute in their own way, billions of dollars each year to different charitable causes. But I think they also can be what holds a community together and to talk more about today and why it's important, we're being joined by Catherine Sayer, who's the CEO of Family Business Association. Welcome aboard, Catherine.
Catherine Sayer, FBA CEO
Thanks, Sophie. What a lovely introduction.
Sofie Formica
Ohh thank you. I do think that it's an important day and you know obviously it's one where you get to amplify the message of what it means to the families that you represent.
Catherine Sayer, FBA CEO
Absolutely it is. And it's actually a really exciting day because it really puts a total lens on family businesses today. And we're seeing all the activity around events and and social media, and of course mainstream media as well. And it's so important for us to recognise family businesses.
Sofie Formica
What's the definition of a family business? So I just talked about Michelle and her daughter and her mum together in that business of Samantha's, where they all have the beautiful floristry together, Samantha's Flowers. How do you define what is a family business?
Catherine Sayer, FBA CEO
Well, it's a very good question. It can be multi-generational, it can be a husband and wife, it can be a father, daughter then going into the next generation. It could be cousins. So it's quite a broad definition, but you know, family is maybe not necessarily even by blood. It might be by marriage or it might be blended families, it could be all sorts of things. So there's a lot of family businesses around the place.
Sofie Formica
Yeah. I think it's also such an incredible way, when the personalities are are right and that magic can be found, there must be an incredible amount of joy and satisfaction that comes with building a business with those people that you love most in the world.
Catherine Sayer, FBA CEO
Yeah, absolutely right. I think when it does go right, it is amazing. The other thing about what you just said is around employees as well. Often what I hear people say to me is, 'we're an employee of a family business and we feel like family'. I think there's that extra element of that extension of families through the workforce. And that again, brings a very special feeling and they've got strong values about how they do things, what they do.
Your point before about, you know, being community minded, absolutely is correct. Family businesses make a huge contribution to community in terms of obviously through philanthropy, but just the support that they give communities, and it's really, really critical.
Sofie Formica
I think the other thing Catherine, is that, you know, we're speaking about this with great optimism, but we also know the realistic challenges that businesses of all types face. And when it comes to family businesses, those challenges are unique because, particularly if it's the main income source for several people in the family, there are some stresses that come with that.
Catherine Sayer, FBA CEO
Ohh absolutely. And you know succession planning, and the whole issue around succession is a uniqueness to family businesses as well. There's a lot of emotion in all of that. One of the things we're constantly saying to our members is 'communicate, communicate, communicate', because succession is a difficult topic for family businesses, but it is so important and when it's done well, it's done really well. But when it's not done so well, it's adds an enormous amount of stress to family members.
Sofie Formica
Why is Family Business Association, on a practical note, calling for there to be dedicated ministers of government in every state? Why do you think that's something that is important? And what difference are you hoping those roles would make?
Catherine Sayer, FBA CEO
Yes. So Andrea Michaels MP is the Minister for Small and Family Business in South Australia and she was the first one to pick that title up. Now we've seen in Queensland, Steve Minnikin MP is the Minister for Small and Family Business. So I suppose the interesting thing about that is family gets combined into small, and I think I'd like to make the point that family businesses are small, medium and large across all sectors. So there is a connection in with small business, but family businesses are not only small businesses by any means, and I think the thing there is family businesses... We've just talked about succession, so going from generation to generation. There's a whole lot of tax implications with that in terms of stamp duty, capital gains tax and all those sorts of things that if you take a step back and you say we want to support family businesses because 70% of Australian businesses are family businesses, then one of the things is to have a look at the whole transition within the family and why are they being taxed when we're actually encouraging that long-term sustainability of family businesses.
And there's another example, with a family business I was talking to only yesterday. There's some legislation that says if you have more than 50 shareholders then you have to be a publicly listed company and they've got 180 or so, but they are all family shareholders. So again, there's a whole lot of compliance around that, that a family business is forced into a situation which on the surface looks kind of reasonable, but when you go, 'no public can actually invest in this business', it doesn't make a lot of sense.
So it's about drilling down to what will make a difference, what will support family businesses so consumers continue to have the choice of purchasing from family businesses.
Sofie Formica
Yeah. It's really interesting because we spend a lot of time talking about this transition period that all businesses feel like they're going too big, family or not. And a lot of those challenges are not unique to any one type of business. This feeling of, you know whether it's technological transition, the challenges of cyber issues, we've talked about those this week, you know, understanding what the levers are and the economy at the moment where there's those variable input costs that continue to rise, but the inability to be able to charge more because we know discretionary spending is down. Are they more amplified in family businesses and the conversations that you have with them?
Catherine Sayer, FBA CEO
So look, I think that's a really good point. Family businesses suffer exactly the same issues that every other business faces, it's just that there's an extra layer of complexity as a family business. So all the things you talked about, they are real for any business, whether they be a family business or a non-family business. I suppose where it's a very large subset of the business community where we talk about family businesses and the nuances of them.
Sofie Formica
I know that this is a difficult question for you to answer, I think, in a short period of time, Catherine, but just while you're talking through this, are we set up in this country in a way that is friendly enough in your experience to supporting family business and the growth of them?
Catherine Sayer, FBA CEO
I don't think so, because I think the fact that, you know, if you think about all the portfolios that we have across governments, whether it be state or federal, the fact that family isn't recognised in many of those titles and portfolios means it's not actually top of mind when you sit around a cabinet table. I think that if you're responsible for a portfolio, you're gonna make sure you work as hard as you possibly can to support that portfolio. This is why elevating it into a cabinet at any state or federal level is actually really important. And again, the precendents now is set with Minister Michaels in South Australia and Minister Minnikin in Queensland, so it's not ground breaking anymore. It should be what we are focusing on.
Sofie Formica
Good stuff. Finally, it's a great opportunity for you to end by reminding us all how we can better support family businesses, big and small.
Catherine Sayer, FBA CEO
Well, family businesses are everywhere. Listen to their stories, support them because they support you.
Sofie Formica
Good stuff, and certainly it's a rapidly changing business environment as consumers, that's the one thing we have control over, where we decide to spend that hard earned dollar. Thank you, Catherine. It's been lovely to talk to you today. Have a wonderful rest of your day as you celebrate National Family Business Day on behalf of all of those businesses and a great weekend.
Catherine Sayer, FBA CEO
Thanks Sophie.
