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Taking charge of our future: How self-employed women champion mobile tech

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In the month of International Women’s Day, it’s encouraging to learn that Australian self-employed women are embracing mobile technology to run their business ventures. This news delights me, not only because I am a woman working in technology, but also because new research points to younger women leading the self-employment charge.1

Intuit Australia recently published the results of our What Women Want research, which shows that more than 80 per cent of self-employed women across the nation are using mobile devices to run their business.[i] This compares with 69 per cent of self-employed women who use laptops.1

To add to this, smartphone penetration in Australia reached 77 per cent,[ii] indicating that as a nation we are embracing technology to help support our day-to-day activities, from work to personal lives.

Mobile technology is not only a connector, but is saving valuable time

At Intuit Australia, we strive to innovate for our customers. We are always finding new solutions for our small business customers, based on their feedback, to deliver them the tools and services they need to support and succeed. We know, for example, from our local customer empathy work that the self-employed want to ‘get things done’ while on the move.

That’s why we developed a mobile app for self-employed professionals, QuickBooks Self-Employed, which enables customers to send invoices, snap and store receipts, track mileage and get real-time insights on their finances anywhere and at any time.

Erin Browne, founder of Melbourne-based company Tinka the Label, discovered that using the app saved her nearly a day in time each week: “I’ve saved at least an hour and a half a day, and I work seven days a week! Everything is there on my phone and I’m able to sit on the tram and categorise my bank transactions between business and personal.”

If every self-employed professional worked seven days a week like Erin, this equates to a day a week freed up to spend with family or do the things they are most passionate about. That’s an additional 52 days a year, opening up a world of possibilities.

Location, location, location

Increasingly, the self-employed are shunning working in an office. Instead, they are ‘on the go’, with their new workplaces including public transport, vehicles, client worksites, holiday destinations and coffee shops to mention a few.2

Coffee shops are especially a favourite workplace for the younger self-employed,2 who prefer to be surrounded by other entrepreneurs.4 Just because people are self-employed doesn’t mean they want to do it all alone. Feedback from research tells us that this unique group of people want to connect with individuals in the same position and have access to easier-to-use technology and mobile apps to support their ventures.

Australia is rapidly becoming a nation where individuals have the autonomy to turn hobbies into successful businesses.[iii] Harnessing the right tools can empower this change. I am excited to see what the future holds for entrepreneurial women and how we can continue to help them build a strong financial foundation for success.

Nicolette Maury, Vice President and Country Manager, Intuit Australia

Nicolette Maury
Nicolette Maury

[i] PureProfile What Women Want survey of 300 self-employed women, commissioned by Intuit Australia, February 2017

[ii] Poushter, Jacob. “Smartphone Ownership And Internet Usage Continues To Climb In Emerging Economies”. Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project. N.p., 2017. Web. 13 Mar. 2017

[iii] Chung, F. (2015, October 27). Australia’s freelance economy grows to 4.1 million workers, study finds. News.com.au. Retrieved from http://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/australias-freelance-economy-grows-to-41-million-workers-study-finds/news-story/629dedfaea13340797c68822f4f2a469

4 Negative Emotions Of An Entrepreneurial Career: Self-Employment And Regulatory Coping Behaviors. Bloomington: Journal of Business Venturing, 2017. Web. 10 Mar. 2017.