Better Balance, Better Business
To order your copy of Better Balance, Better Business, contact WIRE on 1300 134 130..
Women now own more than 30% of Australian small businesses. According to a recent Westpac survey, 80% of those women started their own business in order to achieve a greater work life balance.
These figures were supported by the 12 small business owners who participated in the ‘Women’s Business – Family Friendly Business’ project, who also said that work family balance was a major motivation for starting their own business. The project was conducted by WIRE – Women’s Information and Queen Victoria Women’s Centre with funding provided by Industrial Relations Victoria.
According to participant Diane Gibney, part owner of Ballarat Family Pet Care Clinic, this was often a difficult goal to achieve in practice.
‘Starting a business is like having a baby. You give birth to it and then it takes on a life of its own,’ Ms Gibney said.
Manager of WIRE Samiro Douglas said many of the women struggling to create a balance between their businesses and their families often wound up feeling stretched thin between their competing obligations.
‘The women we worked with talked about feeling guilty for leaving their children when they had to attend to their business, and guilty about leaving the business when they had to look after their family,’ Ms Douglas said.
Sue McDonald says owning her own business has been challenging but has helped her spend more time with her children. Photo: Gabriella Favretto.
‘They were also sometimes hesitant to tell their clients that they work part time or are sometimes out of the office attending to family, because they feared being seen as 'unprofessional',’ Ms Douglas said.
‘Some of our participants realised through the course of the project that they could turn what they had thought of as a negative into a positive by 're-branding' their business as 'family friendly',’ Ms Douglas said.
‘The real ‘light bulb moment’ for me was realising we don’t have to be shifty or reluctantly admit that we only work part time,’ said Anne Tzouvelis, part owner of Axia Solutions.
‘We can say ‘these are our office hours, this is when we’re available’, we can put it right on the door, that we’re a family friendly business and that’s why we shut at 2.30pm,’ Ms Tzouvelis said.
A new resource created as a result of the project to help women who run their own small businesses to find better work family balance and create more family friendly workplaces was launched by Minister for Women’s Affairs Jacinta Allan at QVWC on 31 July.
‘Better balance, better business’, produced by WIRE and the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre with funding from Industrial Relations Victoria, is filled with case studies drawn from the 11 small businesses that participated in the project.
Carolyn Cresswell enjoys the diverse aspects of her family friendly business, Carman's Fine Foods. Photo: Gabriella Favretto.
Options available to enhance flexibility in the workplace, such as job share, purchased annual leave and self-rostering are outlined, as well as easy common sense ideas like inviting families along to work social events.
Setting up a family room in the workplace where children can come after school is one simple idea that participant Carolyn Cresswell, owner of Carman’s Fine Foods, has implemented.
‘When you own your own business the space you create is up to you. I have found that if you go the extra mile for your staff, they really go the extra mile for you,’ Ms Cresswell said.
‘Better balance, better business’ summarises the business case for going family friendly, such as reducing the costs of replacing staff and absenteeism. It also has suggestions for promoting businesses as being family friendly, as well as a list of useful contacts for further information and support.
To order free copies of ‘Better balance, better business’ call WIRE on 1300 134 130.
~with text by Jo Argent, Communications Coordinator, WIRE - Women's Information