Good to Great: How to Scale With an Outsourced CFO

According to this 2015 profile of ‘Australian Women in Business’ by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the Office for Women, it is said that “just over a third (34%) of Australian women are becoming business operators - perhaps to improve their family’s social and economic wellbeing, remain attached to the labour force and better manage their work-life balance.”

That’s remarkable by most standards.

With this encouraging development and projected continued increased, here are a few things these female businesses should be aware of regarding the financing of their business:

1. Investigate Financing Options

The research mentioned above highlighted the fact that “metropolitan businesswomen were more likely to use personal savings or credit card debt for start-up funding than regional business women, who were more likely to source funding from banks and credit union loans.”

With the various number of business financing options that financial institutions offer, don’t forget to talk to your business adviser about what credit option is right for you and your business venture.

2. Align Yourself With Financers That Support Female Entrepreneurs

In the process of looking for commercial lenders to support your business undertaking, aligning yourself with institutions/individuals who have a track record for supporting female-owned businesses is a strategic tactic to employ.

The benefit here is that not only are such lenders sympathetic to the challenges that face your small business; they would also be able to give you additional tidbits and support that will be concrete and customised to your long term dreams.


3. Take Full Advantage of Other Female Business Owners

Current and aspiring female business owners should cash-in on the full benefit of associations (like the Australian Businesswomen’s Network, Australian Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry, etc.) or even meeting with other well-known female entrepreneurs, is an excellent way to leverage a diverse pool of networks and resources.

4. Cultivate A Relationship with an Adviser 

A mistake most small business owners make in general is only seek the counsel of an adviser in the infancy stage of their business - they don’t look to nurture and develop such relationships/contacts long term.

The reason this tactic worth considering is that the more your adviser becomes familiar with your business, the more they’re in a better position to offer sound and custom made financial solutions that can help grow your business.

Hopefully, these few suggestions set you on the right path towards building and expanding your business into an economic machine.