Initiatives for small business

The Office for Small and Family Business will deliver an annual small business week to celebrate the contribution of small businesses to the economy and our community. Whether starting, running, or growing a business, this will provide the opportunity to connect, learn and grow.

Dedicated Small Business Support Officers within the Office for Small and Family Business will provide consistent, in-person and online support to small businesses located in regional and metropolitan areas.

These support officers will consider the unique needs of each business to provide relevant information and facilitate connections to services and advice.

Regional chambers of commerce are important in supporting local small businesses. They will be supported through dedicated Small Business Support Officers who will consider the unique needs of each region and provide relevant support.

The Workforce Planning and Development Toolkit will provide a suite of resources to guide businesses through understanding, planning and addressing their workforce needs to assist them to become an employer of choice.

The South Australian Skills Plan being developed by Skills SA will aim to modernise and simplify the state’s skills system to address skills shortages and meet the current and future skills needs of businesses and learners.

Programs that help small businesses address key skills and workforce shortages are critical to support growth and success.

Small businesses will be connected to initiatives such as technical colleges, fee-free TAFE and vocational education and skills centres; and can connect to school students by promoting appropriate career and immersion opportunities through the Department for Education’s Student Pathways website, and raise student awareness by working with the Industry Engagement team.

The Small Business Fundamentals Program will support partner organisations to deliver business fundamentals and capability-building services such as:

• mentoring and coaching
• legal and financial management
• human resources management
• workforce development and planning
• becoming an employer of choice
• transition or succession planning
• digital literacy and planning
• developing digital business models
• growth strategies
• strategic planning.

This program will have a focus on supporting regional businesses and specific target groups, including First Nations people, women, business owners living with disability, and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) business owners.

The Small Business Fundamentals Program will support partner organisations to deliver business fundamentals and capability-building services such as:

• mentoring and coaching
• legal and financial management
• human resources management
• workforce development and planning
• becoming an employer of choice
• transition or succession planning
• digital literacy and planning
• developing digital business models
• growth strategies
• strategic planning.

This program will have a focus on supporting regional businesses and specific target groups, including First Nations people, women, business owners living with disability, and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) business owners.

The Small Business Fundamentals Program will support partner organisations to deliver business fundamentals and capability-building services such as:

• mentoring and coaching
• legal and financial management
• human resources management
• workforce development and planning
• becoming an employer of choice
• transition or succession planning
• digital literacy and planning
• developing digital business models
• growth strategies
• strategic planning.

This program will have a focus on supporting regional businesses and specific target groups, including First Nations people, women, business owners living with disability, and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) business owners.

The Office for Small and Family Business will develop and provide small business fact sheets and business information in languages other than English to support culturally and linguistically diverse business owners.

The Small Business Fundamentals Program will support partner organisations to deliver business fundamentals and capability-building services such as:

• mentoring and coaching
• legal and financial management
• human resources management
• workforce development and planning
• becoming an employer of choice
• transition or succession planning
• digital literacy and planning
• developing digital business models
• growth strategies
• strategic planning.

This program will have a focus on supporting regional businesses and specific target groups, including First Nations people, women, business owners living with disability, and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) business owners.

The South Australian Government has set a $425 million per year target to increase government work awarded to local businesses through several measures:

• Local businesses are provided with assistance to become tender ready through regular, industry-specific workshops conducted by the Industry Advocate, helping more businesses win work.
• All contracts worth more than $55,000 must be awarded to South Australian businesses or require an explanation from the department’s Chief Executive as to why the work could not be done locally.
• Government projects worth more than $55,000 must use local project managers, architects, designers, engineers, surveyors, planners, and other professional service providers.
• A broad market assessment will be undertaken to identify South Australian businesses that can deliver projects, goods and services to government.
• An independent complaints process will be established for tenderers who feel they have unreasonably missed out on government work.
• An annual project pipeline will be published detailing upcoming infrastructure projects over $10 million to enable lead contractors to prepare thoroughly.
• Public projects above $500 million will be broken into smaller stages or components to allow multiple South Australian companies an opportunity to participate in projects, unless the nature of the project makes this unfeasible.
• South Australian workers must deliver a minimum 90 per cent of labour hours on major infrastructure projects worth more than $50 million.
• 20 per cent of all labour hours on major projects must be delivered by apprentices, trainees, Aboriginal workers, or long-term unemployed.

The South Australian Small Business Commissioner will provide feedback on key government legislation, regulation, policies and cabinet decisions that impact small business.

A program of regular engagement will be developed between the Office for Small and Family Business and key regional and local government business agencies, industry associations and chambers of commerce to facilitate improved collaboration, information sharing, and business capability building.

A range of supports are available to help small businesses explore, start and expand their exporting journey.

• Export 101 - are you ready to start exporting?
• Export ready - taking the next step to exporting
• Export expansion - growing your export business to the next level.

The Office for Small and Family Business will establish a single source for information and available services from all levels of government, including a directory of industry associations to point businesses to industry-specific support to help their businesses.

We will embark on a series of workshops, networking opportunities, seminars and engagements across a range of topics, delivered direct to businesses in metropolitan and regional areas. Direct engagement with small businesses will improve awareness and uptake of new and existing support and services for small businesses.

The Office for Small and Family Business will work with other government agencies to review forms and application processes to ensure that the least regulatory burden possible is placed on small and family businesses in South Australia.

Dedicated Small Business Support Officers within the Office for Small and Family Business will provide consistent, in-person and online support to small businesses located in regional and metropolitan areas.

These support officers will consider the unique needs of each business to provide relevant information and facilitate connections to services and advice.