Today’s talk is about workforce planning for micro businesses and why you absolutely need to do it.
Scroll down to the end to view the webinar, If you prefer reading, here is a summary…
“The first question that I normally get is, “What is a micro business? Is it like a small business?” Well, yes, it’s a type of small business. When you look at how businesses are categorized in Australia, you see that a small business is any business employing fewer than 19 staff. But within that category, there are other types of businesses that make up the general population of all businesses called Micro-Business. This includes self-employment opportunities such as entrepreneurs, sole traders, and contractors working in professional services.
It’s important to note that these figures exclude people in the gig economy because the Australian government figures from the ABS only count businesses registered for GST. So, they are not just side gigs. Interestingly, 61.2% of all businesses in Australia do not employ any staff. However, this figure can be misleading because these businesses often employ a bookkeeper, a virtual assistant, or someone to handle their marketing and SEO. Technically, they might be classified as non-employing businesses, but they fit into the category of micro-businesses, which are defined as any business in Australia employing between one and four staff.
When you reach businesses employing 5 to 19 staff, they are defined as small businesses. Currently, small business employers make up 8.9% of businesses in Australia. Before COVID and the increase in automation, that figure was around 12%. Microbusinesses made up around 24%, and self-employment was about 59 to 60%. Because of automation, many jobs in smaller businesses have been contracted out, transitioning them from small businesses to micro businesses.
As micro businesses grow, they have different needs. This seminar focuses on workforce planning for micro businesses, showing you the models and how you can implement them. Many employers make the mistake of trying to do everything themselves. Training often targets small, medium, and large businesses, particularly in the qualification framework. There is a micro business skill set, but it only includes two units at the Cert III or Cert IV level of new business and entrepreneurship.
When starting up businesses, people often think of the startup game in universities focusing on young people under 30. However, the average age of a business owner is now 50. Fifty years ago, around 15% of businesses were owned by people under 30, while about 30% were owned by those over 50. Now, only 6% of businesses are owned by people under 30, a figure that is slowly increasing towards 8%. Many under-30 business owners do not register for GST, so they do not appear in these statistics until they start earning a full-time income.
Moving on, we will discuss workforce planning using the Eisenhower Matrix, also known as the Urgent and Important Matrix. Microbusinesses generally have four types of people in their organization. The business owner handles urgent and important tasks. As the business grows and you delegate tasks, you can hire someone to handle urgent tasks, often using automation and digital technology. This is where the synergy between under-30s and over-50s works well, as the younger generation is comfortable with technology and AI, while the older generation provides strategic insights.
As your business grows, you will need people to handle more critical tasks such as strategic thinking, creativity, adaptation, and innovation. These are the important tasks that help your business grow. Trainees, casual workers, or partners often handle urgent tasks, earning an income while discovering what they love to do. As they gain experience, they may take on more important tasks, becoming proficient and potentially business leaders. Having someone handle both urgent and important tasks allows the business owner to focus on working on the business rather than in it.
For a business to thrive, it needs employees with various skills. Personal skills include learning, initiative, ethics, empathy, and cultural awareness. Thinking skills encompass critical thinking, creativity, adaptation, and innovation. Action skills involve using digital technology, communication, collaboration, problem-solving, and customer focus.
The next two sections are just an overview of what we go through in detail in the full video above. We could spend a whole course on these 2 parts, but for now, lets just start with the end in mind and come back to it after your have developed your workforce plan.
The last part of the video relates to how you can use the talent you bring into your business to specific job roles to scale up, using your workforce plan as a launchpad. It will help you craft vision and mission statements that will attract the right type of talent you are looking for to help you along on your business journey.
- Understanding buyer behaviour is crucial for sales and marketing strategies. The five steps of buyer behaviour include need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and post-purchase experience. A solid understanding of these steps helps in crafting effective marketing strategies.
- To achieve sustainability, businesses must consider the triple bottom line: people, planet, and purpose. A sustainable business looks after the environment, and its people, and fulfils its purpose. Workforce planning models help determine the type of people needed for different aspects of the business, such as product development, market placement, and promotion of the business’s purpose.
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at jobs@inception.net.au.
For more free training, visit our website inception.net.au/blogs where you can find detailed blogs explaining the topics discussed here.
I’m Brett from Inception Network, and I look forward to talking to you soon.