Business demographics
| Almost three-quarters (73 per cent) of businesses that responded to the May 2011 PwC Private Business Barometer were based in New South Wales or Victoria, while 12 per cent were based in Western Australia. |  | The largest single industry sector represented was manufacturing (21 per cent of businesses). Distribution and wholesale trade (15 per cent), retail trade (14 per cent) and property and construction (12 per cent) were also strongly represented. More than half of respondents were business owners. Of those, about one-quarter (27 per cent) were the sole owner of the business, while the remaining 73 per cent were one of multiple owners. |
Almost three-quarters of businesses surveyed (70 per cent) were founded before 1996, while only 18 per cent had been founded after 2000.
Sixty one per cent of respondents had up to 50 full-time employees, while only 13 per cent had more than 100 full-time employees. More than half (53 per cent) had up to 50 part-time employees while 43 per cent had up to 50 casual workers.
| Private businesses in the survey turned over an average of A$27 million per year, while about one-quarter (26 per cent) turned over between A$10 million and A$15 million per year. | |