Motivations of home based business operators, their support needs and awareness about existing support programs

Home based businesses have become an important part of the business scene and make effective\ud economic contribution to their region. Governments at all levels are beginning to recognise their\ud contribution to diversity, especially in large suburban areas lacking in any commercial activity. This\ud paper reports on a study of Home-based businesses (HBBs) located in a rapidly growing ruralmetropolitan\ud fringe suburb. The study found that 28% of the HBBs classified themselves as\ud predominantly “at home” businesses while 72% classified themselves as predominantly “from home”\ud businesses. On average, the HBBs were responsible for between 50% and 75% of the household\ud income and in 24% of cases the HBB was the only source of household income. The perception\ud among the HBBs was that there was little business support and that local government was not seen\ud as supportive of this sector of business. Two thirds of HBB operators (65%) were unable to access\ud relevant support to assist with business and were generally unaware of government support services\ud and policies that may help them improve their business