Not so long ago, starting a business usually meant securing premises, buying stock and taking out a loan. Today, it might mean launching a brand from your bedroom, building a following on social media or turning a skill into a profitable side hustle.
Opportunities have changed dramatically. But access to finance hasn’t always kept pace.
For women building businesses, getting the money they need to grow isn’t always straightforward. Traditional lenders typically consider factors such as trading history, assets and income. But newer businesses, built around digital content, online communities or multiple income streams, may not fit neatly into conventional assessment models.
It’s a problem Tracey Warren, CEO and Founding Partner of F5 Collective, believes deserves more attention.
“When we understand how women create value, we can make better decisions about how to back them,” she says. “That starts with listening to their experience and understanding what they need to build, buy and grow businesses.”
And it’s not just about securing a loan. Access to investment, opportunities to buy established businesses and the financial support needed to expand can all depend on how a business’s value and potential are assessed.
“Women’s businesses and the ways they generate income continue to evolve. Our understanding needs to keep pace,” Warren says.
Turning information into opportunity
Women are building businesses, monetising their expertise and creating commercial opportunities in ways that don’t always fit traditional approaches to finance. If we don’t properly understand how these businesses operate, how can we develop the right support for them?
It’s this question that’s at the heart of The Women’s Economy Survey, a national initiative created by F5 Collective to better understand how Australian women generate income, build businesses and influence commercial success.
The survey looks beyond traditional business ownership to include three groups: Women Who Build, who own or run businesses; Women Who Create, who produce online content; and Women Who Back, whose purchasing decisions and recommendations influence which businesses grow.
The aim is to use these insights to help develop financial products, commercial support and pathways to business ownership that better reflect women’s needs.
For Warren, whose work has taken her to international forums including the Startup20 Summit in India and the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York, the stakes extend beyond individual businesses: it’s about changing the system.
“Women are not an afterthought in the economy. We are the economy. But until we properly understand how women create value, we can’t back them the way they deserve.”
The Women’s Economy Survey features five core questions and takes approximately three minutes to complete. After completing it, eligible participants can separately apply for one of five $5,000 grants, awarded on merit, not by chance. Terms and eligibility apply.
The survey closes on 16 November 2026.
Complete The Women’s Economy Survey and find out more about the grants.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
