Approximately 38 per cent of Australian small business proprietors drew a personal income below $40,000 — or nothing at all — during the 2025 financial year, with elevated operating costs and compressed profit margins cited as contributing factors.
According to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's most recent Small Business Conditions Survey, nearly four in ten business proprietors drew a personal income below $40,000, with some receiving no remuneration at all. The nationwide survey, which covered more than 1,000 small enterprises employing up to 24 full-time equivalent staff, additionally revealed that 62.9 per cent of respondents pointed to rising costs as one of their foremost concerns, with 48.9 per cent highlighting the difficulty of sustaining profitability.
ACCI chief executive Andrew McKellar told a broadcast outlet that the data reflected the strain on business margins, with owners frequently retaining little once other operating costs had been covered. McKellar noted that rent, rates, supplier payments and wages all took priority before any owner remuneration, meaning that in many instances proprietors took home less than some of their own employees, while also working unpaid hours on accounts, compliance and administrative tasks beyond normal trading hours. McKellar added that compressed profitability had left owners with minimal financial return at the end of each period.
Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Lynda McAlary-Smith said reduced owner drawings at the early stages of a venture do not automatically point to financial difficulty, particularly where proprietors are running a new enterprise alongside existing employment, whether full-time or part-time, noting that many people launch a small business while still holding down another job.
A separate survey by the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA), drawing on responses from 841 small business owners, found that three in five had gone without paying themselves at least on occasion over the prior year. COSBOA chief executive Skye Cappuccio noted that roughly one in four were regularly drawing on personal savings to sustain their operations.
According to the ACCI survey, the challenges confronting small business operators extend well beyond personal income. Nearly half of those surveyed — 49.3 per cent — placed their stress levels at seven or above on a 10-point scale, and approximately half of respondents described financial pressures and cash flow concerns as a source of considerable or acute stress.
Approximately a third of those surveyed had thought about shutting down their operations in the past year, with roughly a quarter actively weighing that option for the year ahead. McKellar noted that ACCI's closure survey had returned persistently elevated responses, with the most recent figure reaching a three-year peak, adding that trading conditions had become more difficult than at any point in recent years.
Cappuccio noted that small businesses have faced consecutive years of rising operational costs and narrowing profit margins, adding that many owners are under pressure from multiple directions and are focused primarily on staying afloat rather than positioning themselves to grow and adapt, with the economic strain also carrying a tangible personal and human cost for those involved.
Roughly four out of five entrepreneurs surveyed indicated they would opt for running their own enterprise over any alternative form of employment.
