The Women in Business Foundations Program continues to achieve great success with more than 450 South Australian women enrolled in the program and receiving support.
The milestone was recently celebrated at the Women in Business Foundations Program networking event where participants exchanged advice and formed new connections.
Delivered by the Adelaide Business Hub, the program assists women in the early stages of their business journey by developing their skills and capability in business management, finance, accounting, human resources, cyber security, and marketing. It also provides one-on-one mentoring, small group workshops, networking and support.
To date, 237 women have completed the program, with more than 700 expected to complete the program by the end of the year.
Recent engagement conducted by the Office for Small and Family Business showed that almost 40 per cent of women across South Australia experienced barriers such as gender bias, not being taken seriously, and customer preferences for men.
The Premier’s Council for Women survey also showed that the top barriers for women wanting to start a business are a lack of capital, limited business knowledge, and a lack of understanding tax, insurance and government policies.
A Deloitte report, commissioned by SBE Australia, also found that only 22 per cent of Australian startups were founded by women and only 0.7 per cent of funding secured by startups went solely to women-founded companies.
The South Australian Government’s $4 million Women in Business program aims to address these challenges by providing specific support and advice to women who are starting, running or growing a business.
For more information, visit the Women in Business Foundations Program.