Women, small business and regional location

Abstract

Although there has been an increasing interest tn women-owned small business, little attention has been paid to women's experiences of small business ownership in regional locations in Australia. Using a case study of a regional town in NSW, this study sought to explore the experiences of women small business owners. The results of this exploratory study suggest that the experience of being a woman small business owner in a regional location is multifaceted. For the women surveyed, there are both advantages and disadvantages of their location and individuals respond in a variety of ways to their context. Results also indicate that while these women are linking into professional and industry associations, their access to local business opportunities could be significantly lImited by their absence from local formal business networks.