Small but mighty: the changing face of small business in NSW
October is NSW Small Business Month, and some timely new research is challenging the idea that business success needs to come with a big office, a big team or even a particularly big business.
As reported by Tim Ladhams in Inside Small Business, microbusinesses are becoming an increasingly important part of the NSW small business landscape.
The figures tell an interesting story.
Almost two-thirds, 63 per cent, of NSW small businesses now have fewer than four employees, up from around 57 per cent five years ago. Between 2024 and 2025, the number of microbusinesses grew by 4.3 per cent, almost twice the rate of overall business growth.
For many Women’s Network Australia members, that probably sounds very familiar.
A successful business today might be one woman working from a home office, a small consultancy with a handful of people, an online retailer, or an experienced professional who has decided that her second, or third, career will be one she creates herself.
And increasingly, being small doesn’t mean thinking small.
The research found 57 per cent of NSW small businesses are serving customers beyond their local area, including 21 per cent operating nationally and 3 per cent internationally. Technology is allowing expertise, reputation and relationships to travel considerably further than the business owner’s postcode.
That’s particularly relevant during NSW Small Business Month, which is running throughout October with hundreds of free and low-cost events designed to help small businesses build connections, develop skills and find new opportunities.
AI has well and truly arrived
Another figure caught our attention.
Almost half of NSW small businesses, 47 per cent, are now using AI tools, including around 40 per cent of businesses in trades, retail and hospitality. Among knowledge-based businesses, usage rises to 68 per cent.
Small businesses are using AI for everything from marketing and administration to customer insights, research and operational decisions.
There is a lesson in that for all of us. Small businesses don’t necessarily have the resources of their larger competitors, but their size can give them the freedom to experiment, adapt and make decisions quickly.
And then there are the second-act founders
Perhaps one of the most interesting findings is about age.
More than one in five NSW small business owners is aged 60 or over, while only 7.7 per cent are under 30. The research points to the rise of the “second-act founder”, people drawing on decades of experience, knowledge and networks to create businesses later in their careers.
At WNA, we think that’s something worth celebrating.
Entrepreneurship doesn’t have an expiry date. Neither does ambition.
Sometimes the experience accumulated over 20, 30 or 40 years is exactly what gives someone the confidence to finally say: I could do this myself.
It also speaks directly to WNA’s Lifelong Learning pillar. The skills we develop throughout our careers don’t disappear when we change direction. They accumulate. Add new technology, new connections and the willingness to keep learning, and they can become the foundation for something entirely new.
A month to celebrate small business
Small businesses employ close to 1.7 million people in NSW, around 40 per cent of the state’s workforce, so Small Business Month is also an opportunity to recognise the enormous economic and community contribution sitting behind the word “small”.
For WNA members, perhaps October is also a good opportunity to ask a few questions.
What could technology take off your plate? Could your local business find customers interstate or overseas? Is there expertise sitting inside your head that could become your next product, service or revenue stream? And who in your network could help you take the next step?
Because one message from this research comes through very clearly.
A business doesn’t need to be big to have big possibilities.
This article was inspired by and draws on reporting by Tim Ladhams for Inside Small Business, based on the NSW Small Business Commission’s new NSW Small Business: A Story of Diversity and Dynamism insights paper.
Read the original article:
Inside Small Business: Microbusinesses to the fore in the growth of the NSW small-business sector
Explore NSW Small Business Month:
NSW Small Business Month 2026
