Not a nation of tech companies but a nation of couriers and Uber drivers?

I work out of a business studio in Brisbane where the walls are covered in business books and whiteboards promote resident entrepreneurs. Working in this environment as well as reading the Australian press might suggest that the country is currently in IT business creation boom as people develop new businesses and products.

The ABS report on the count of Australian businesses would support that assertion with a headline figure of 66,000 net increase in the number of business in 2016-17. However, a quarter of this increase was in the Transport, Postal and Warehousing Industry which increased by 16,160 net new businesses (12% increase) and the sub-industry of Taxi and Other Transportation grew by 6,160 net new businesses (32.3% increase). IT, Media and Telecommunications, with its business studios, added 907 new businesses. Construction was the other high job additions with 12,000 net new businesses but construction has more than 370,000 business so a percentage change of 3.6%.

Figure 1. Net change in businesses (2013-14 to 2016-17)

Source: ABS

In parallel, the number of new businesses turning over less than $50,000 per annum jumped 4.4% which was the first increase in four years while the change in self-employing businesses jumped by 3.9% compared to 2.5% in 2015-16 and 0.9% in 2014-15.

So the number of low earning and self-employed businesses are increasing at the same time as an increase in the number of transportation businesses. Given that Uber drivers and other third party couriers are sub-contractors, it may be that new Australian businesses are primarily in the business of selling driving services for relatively low turnover.