FBA CEO Catherine Sayer discusses the 2025 Family Business Barometer Survey and FBA's advocacy activities to support the family business sector on the Business Essentials Daily podcast with Jeff Waters.
Catherine reveals how multigenerational thinking sets family businesses apart and why they are crucial to our economic and social fabric. The survey findings illustrate what keeps family business owners awake at night, the importance of long-term planning, and the impact of strong family values on businesses. Additionally, Catherine explains how the survey’s results will set advocacy priorities.
Take a listen to the podcast with full transcript below.
Nicole Goodman, Sound Cartel
I'm Nicole Goodman and this is Business Essentials Daily.
Family run businesses hold a special place in our hearts and the economic landscape, particularly ones that are multi-generational.
So, what are their unique challenges, concerns and desires? Well, much of that is revealed in the latest Pronto Software Family Business Barometer survey, produced by peak body Family Business Association.
CEO Catherine Sayer says not only is it revelatory but can help guide the organisation's advocacy with governments. She explains how some legislation impacts family businesses more than others but first describes the survey itself to Jeff Waters.
Catherine Sayer, CEO FBA
It's called the Pronto Software Barometer survey. So Pronto Software is a partner, a national gold partner of Family Business Association, and every two years we do a survey with them. And this year, we particularly focused on some key issues that family businesses are facing.
Jeff Waters
Such as.
Catherine Sayer, CEO FBA
So, couple of things. One of the questions that I thought was really interesting is, you know. What's keeping you up at night?
The top 4 responses we got out of that was future vision, goals and strategy of the business, improving business efficiencies and operations. And then specifically around family business, balancing the needs of the family versus the needs of the business. And then managing growth.
It's really interesting that there are common business issues within family businesses and then there's the breakout of what is specific to family businesses.
We also asked them what factors they attribute to the success of their business, and strong family values came out as #1, which is really interesting. Then dedicated team of employees, customer loyalty, and innovation and adaptability. So those first 3 again sit really nicely within each other because you've got the family values and then the dedication of the team and customer loyalty. That was a really interesting one. And long-term goals for the family business around financial security for future family generations. So very much that mindset of generational businesses and making sure that you're setting things up for the future for the future generations.
Then also planning for a successful exit strategy. So that can mean a whole lot of different things - it can mean selling, it can be passing through generations, all sorts of things. That's really, really interesting.
The next one was passing on the business to the next generation and then more back into the business area of expanding product or service offering.
Then we got into some information around government policy and what sort of things that family businesses were looking for from a government perspective, 74% said taxation policies and incentives for family-owned businesses. That's again an interesting one, because things like capital gains tax are paid when you transfer the ownership of the business from one generation to the other, and that seems to be a bit incongruous because it's still within the family. So that's one of the things that we talk about quite a bit. Simplified regulatory compliance processes, workforce development and employment schemes, and then access to funding and government backed loan programmes and grants, so they were the four questions we've picked out that we thought were really interesting with some of the responses.
Jeff Waters
Yes, it all is very interesting, but are there any sort of overall major patterns that have emerged.
Catherine Sayer, CEO FBA
Look, I think family businesses think for the long term, so you know, particularly when you’ve got multi-generational businesses, I mean in Australia we have some that are sort of seven or eight generations which we don't have many, but we have some. And so if you're 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th generation, you don't think about things in a short term way. You think about them very much around legacy and long term and planning and strategy. It's all much longer term from a multi-generational family business perspective.
Jeff Waters
So, what have you taken away from this? What will your organisation be learning from the survey?
Catherine Sayer, CEO FBA
Well, I think it's going to be a great advocacy piece for us actually, because both at a state and a federal level, we will be able to say this is what family businesses are telling us. And one of the things that we very much need to dissect is what is a business issue, which we want to take to the politicians that might align with other Chambers of Commerce and other more general business stuff. And then we'll carve out what is specifically for family business that we want to talk about and we want to advocate on.
Jeff Waters
And what sort of things might be?
Catherine Sayer, CEO FBA
From an advocacy point of view, I touched on capital gains tax. Recently in the lower house, there was a self-managed superannuation concessions bill. Basically, what that means is if you have a self-managed super fund with more than $3,000,000 in it, you will be taxed on unrealised gains. If I go back to how family businesses view things, they've potentially invested in property, for example, and they might have put that into their self-managed Super Fund. Well, invariably a property appreciates in value and therefore $3,000,000 is not necessarily a very high bar. So, taxing on unrealised gains when you don't have a particularly liquid self-managed Super Fund is a real problem. And a lot of family businesses have these self-managed super funds. There are certainly others that do as well. They’re the sorts of things that you really need to consider what some of the unintended consequences are from a policy decision as well. So this capital gains tax issue. You know there are a lot of things that affect family businesses because they are long term thinkers.
Jeff Waters
What does this survey tell you about the differences between family businesses and small businesses in general?
Catherine Sayer, CEO FBA
That’s a very good question. This is one of the things that we're really trying to push strongly is family businesses are small, medium and large. Some of the largest Australian businesses are actually family businesses, so instead of aligning only family businesses and small businesses together, small businesses, many are family businesses. But there are many medium and large family businesses as well. So it's about looking at it from a different perspective because the natural assumption is that family businesses are small. And yet in fact they are not. Many of them are not, and the larger ones, interestingly, make an enormous contribution to the community as well. They're very philanthropic. Those who have done very well. Small businesses are as well. But if you think of the quantum of larger businesses and what they put back into communities from a philanthropic point of view, it is very significant. And that's an area that's quite unrecognised, I think.
Jeff Waters
So, if I'm interested in reading this report, where can I find it?
Catherine Sayer, CEO FBA
The report is on our website for people to have a look at and we will be promoting it quite actively because the more people know and understand about family businesses then the better they understand how things operate. Interestingly, we have national family Business Day which is on the 19 September every year and we had a great campaign last year. There were lots of people that got on board supporting the message of family businesses, so the report is available on our website and also just lock in the diary 19 September every year to really celebrate family businesses.
Nicole Goodman, Sound Cartel
That’s Family Business Association CEO, Catherine Sayer.
This episode of Business Essentials Daily is produced by the team at Sound Cartel. Thanks for listening. I'm Nicole Goodman. We'll bring you more BEDaily tomorrow. Follow @BEDaily podcast across social media and head to bedaily.com.au for more from the Business Essentials Daily podcast.
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Discover what matters to family businesses across Australia
2025 Family Business Barometer Report
Family Business Association and Pronto Software have released the results of the biennial Family Business Barometer survey in a report titled: ‘What matters to family businesses – The largest sector in Australia’. The Family Business Barometer Report explores the evolving landscape of family businesses, highlighting your vital contribution to the global and national economy, and examining the various factors that influence family businesses' success and sustainability through generations.
