What is the Women in Export program?
It started in 2002 as a couple of seminars exporting to Asia. It started to really ramp up after 2004 and 2005 when we started to add a bit more meat to it. We call it a program but it's more of a strategy. There are lot of women out there in SMEs and micro-businesses and there is a very strong concentration in the services sector. One, how do we make all these women aware of the benefits of exporting and two, how do they access information and government programs and services to take advantage of the opportunities available to them through exporting? Exporting is a major way to grow your business, particularly if you're a small to medium-sized company in Australia's limited marketplace. For many companies it's the only way to expand.
Can you give an example of a woman who has done this?
Leanne Preston from Wild Child, who was recently awarded Telstra's Business Woman of the Year, is a good example. She started off a very small business offering a niche product - an organic treatment for head lice. It was initially for sale in Australia. Then in order to grow she started to export it overseas. It had incredible success. It's now one of the world leaders in the particular product range for head lice treatment and now offers a range of other products including sunscreens and organic beauty products. It is exported throughout Europe and a major deal has been made to supply a major pharmaceutical chain in the United States. She's taken a very small business based in Western Australia, created a niche product where she could see a demand domestically and expanded her market internationally. There are many women like her.
Is there a common thread among these women?
For many of them it's been a case of taking up a new enterprise at home. What often happens is they have kids and then they start to work from home and develop these businesses which grow into international businesses. Many of the businesses we're involved in are small and micro. Obviously there are certainly women at the top end running some major companies, but on the whole they're concentrated in small and micro-businesses. Many of them work from home because they're able to combine family and business.
Are female exporters different to male exporters?
They start off slowly and cautiously. Women tend to be fairly careful in their approach and they take a lot of time to research and market and they're good at accessing government programs and services. They tend to be more methodical and careful than men. They are keen to access government advice, particularly when they're going into markets that they're not sure about or there are issues there, like the Middle East and parts of Asia that might be more difficult. On the whole they're able to access international markets on the same basis as a small business run by a man. The exception is the Middle East and women are advised to have a man as a front person for dealing with markets such as Saudi Arabia.
Sex discrimination commissioner Pru Goward has criticised the under-representation of women entrepreneurs in export ranks. Are you seeing women breaking through the glass ceiling?
Over the past couple of years there has been an increase from 11 per cent to 13 per cent in the number of small businesses run by women that are exporting. It's now more in line with small businesses run by men. When we ran our national roadshow two years ago, we had around 1000 women from across Australia register and attend the national seminar series around the country. There was terrific interest. Women respond well to seminars that target women.
What are the hot offshore markets and services right now for women?
There are opportunities right around the globe. We're exporting businesses right through Asia, the Americas and Europe. The most popular markets are Singapore, the UK, Dubai and New Zealand. They're some of the easiest markets to get into but we've also had a lot of export success in China and Japan. Women tend to steer towards markets that are English speaking and culturally more in tune, like the US, the UK, Singapore and Malaysia. We're seeing lots of success in consumer goods like food and wine, health and beauty products and arts, crafts and giftware. The other dominant area is in services including financial services, business development, personnel, HR, occupational health and safety, public speaking, management consulting, education and training and health. Women tend not to be as strong in the manufacturing sector.
Who influenced you the most professionally?
Some of the women I've encountered in my former career as a diplomat, very senior women in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade who have become ambassadors, like Joanna Hewitt, who has had a very distinguished career. Women like that are very impressive role models.
Do you have a favourite destination?
South-East Asia because that's an area that I know and understand well, such as markets like Malaysia and Thailand. Indonesia is a very important place for Australia. Markets like China and India are also very exciting.
