BEP TELEPHONE SURVEY OF SMALL BUSINESS
Introduction
We are conducting a survey on behalf of the Department of Industry Tourism &
Resources to assess the awareness and benefits of an online service known as
the Business Entry Point at www.business.gov.au .
The Business Entry Point was set up by the Federal Government several years
ago to provide a single, online entry point for small business to deal with all
levels of government. In particular, it was designed to provide information about
starting, running and growing a business, and to streamline interactions between
small business and government.
1. Can we firstly confirm that you are the owner, manager or senior
administrative person of this business?
Yes
No
If “Yes”, go to Q3
If “No”, go to Q2
2. Is an owner, manager, or senior administrative person in your business
available to spend some time on this interview now?
Yes
No
If “Yes”, ask to transfer call to the right respondent and re-commence interview.
If “No”, ask if another time could be re-scheduled for call-back, and re-schedule
interview accordingly or terminate.
We hope you are able to spend a few minutes with us to answer some important
questions about your awareness of the Business Entry Point and other issues
about your dealings with government.
Please be aware that we are bound by Australian Government privacy legislation
and that your personal or business details will not be disclosed to our client –
only aggregate statistics will be recorded.
It may take 10 minutes or so to complete this interview – are you able to commit
to this now?
3. How many fulltime equivalent staff (FTEs) does your business have,
including the owners?
No of employees ……….
If 20 or more, terminate interview.
If less than 20, continue
Questionnaire
4. Does your business have access to the Internet?
Yes
No
5. What kind of Internet access to you have?
Dial up as required
Online continuously during working hours
6. Are you aware of the Business Entry Point? As I mentioned, the Business
Entry Point is an Australian Government website providing a wide range of
information of relevance to small business about running their business
and dealing with all levels of government.
Yes
No
If “Yes”, proceed to next question.
If “No”, go to Question 23
7. Have you or your business used the Business Entry Point?
Yes
No/Don’t think so
Not sure
If “Yes”, proceed to next question
If “No/Don’t think so” or “Not sure”, go to Question 22
8. For what purpose(s) have you or your business used the Business Entry
Point? (select one or more)
Looking for information about:
 starting a business
 home-based business
 licences/permits/codes for a new business
 employment
 running or growing a small business
 importing or exporting
 e-business
 franchising
 closing down a business
 government grants/assistance for business
 government tenders
 another government agency/department
Applying for a Tax File Number (TFN) or Australian Business Number (ABN)
Changing my company’s details in the Australian Business Register
Checking one or more ABNs or searching the Australian Business Register
Registering to use Transaction Manager
Using Transaction Manager
Other (specify)
9. How often have you or your business used each of these BEP services?
(select one in each row)
Frequency
Type of Information or Service
General information about
starting a business
Information about home-based
business
Licence/permit/codes
information
Information about employment
Information about running or
growing a business
Information about importing or
exporting
Information about e-business
Information about franchising
Information about closing down
a business
Information about government
grants/assistance
Information about government
tenders
Another government
agency/department
Applying for a Tax File No or
ABN
Changing my company’s details
in the ABR
Checking one or more ABNs or
searching the ABR
Registering to use Transaction
Manager
Using Transaction Manager
Other (specify)
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Few
times/yr
Rarely
Never
10. For these enquiries/searches/applications, how would you rate your
business’ experience?
We (I) find what we are (I am) looking for.. (select one)
1. Always
2. Mostly
3. Sometimes
4. Rarely
5. Never
11. If you always or mostly find what you are looking for, how satisfied are
you with the quality of the information?
We are (I am) satisfied with the quality of the information and ease of access..
(select one)
1. Always
2. Mostly
3. Sometimes
4. Rarely
5. Never
12. And ease of access?
We are (I am) satisfied with the ease of access to information.. (select one)
1. Always
2. Mostly
3. Sometimes
4. Rarely
5. Never
13. If “Sometimes”, “Rarely” or “Never”, where does the quality of information
or ease of access fall short of your expectations?
Free response
Quality of the information
……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Ease of access to the information
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
14. Who in your business typically uses the BEP site to find information or
conduct other searches/applications? (select one or more)
Owner/Partner
General Manager (if not an owner/partner)
Accountant/Bookkeeper/Admin Person
Other (specify)
15. What first brought your organisation’s attention to the BEP site? (select
one or more)
Link from another website
Online enquiry or Internet search
Friend or business colleague
Advertisement in media
Industry, trade or professional association
Local council, business enterprise centre or other regional development agency
Commonwealth, State or Territory government agency
Other (specify)
Don’t know/Can’t recall
16. Before you or your business used the BEP site for
searches/enquiries/applications of this kind, how did you mainly find out
about these things? (select one or more)
Enquiries to State or Territory small business office
Enquiries to local council or industry development agency
Enquiries to industry, trade or professional association
Advice from Accountant or other business adviser
Telephone enquiries to multiple organisations, government depts, etc
Letters to multiple organisations, government depts, etc
Help from friends and business colleagues
Other (specify)
17. How much staff time do you think the BEP services may have saved your
business in the last 12 months in total, compared with how you would
have conducted these enquiries previously?
More than 20 hours
10-20 hours
Up to 10 hours
Not much at all
Can’t really say
18. What other benefits do you think the BEP site and its services have
provided to your business? (select one or more)
Up to date and accurate information
Information which has helped to start/run/grow our business more profitably
Information about government grants/assistance which we have taken up
Improved compliance with government regulations
“One stop shop” access to government resources
Ability to conduct transactions with government online
Saving time, ie faster access to the information we want
Other (specify)
Which of these benefits do you regard as the most important for your
business?
19. Do you have any suggestions as to how the BEP could be improved to
save more time for your business or make it easier for you to deal with
government?
Free response
20. Are you or your organisation likely to use the BEP site and its services
again? (select only one)
Yes, definitely
Probably, depending on my/our needs
Unlikely
Definitely not
If “Unlikely” or “Definitely not”, why not?
Free response
21. Would you recommend the BEP site to others? (select only one)
Yes, definitely
Probably
No
If “No”, why not?
Free response
Go to Question 25
22. If you or your business are aware of the BEP, but have not used the
website, why not?
Free response
23. Which of the following do you mostly rely upon for information that might
be of value to your business? (select up to 3)
Daily newspapers
Business/trade magazines
Television
Radio
Industry/trade associations
Accountants or other business advisors
Internet research
Telephone calls to government departments
Small Business advisory centre
Business Enterprise Centre or other regional development agency
Other (specify)
24. Of the following services available through the BEP website, which do you
think would be of value and would be used by your business? (select one
or more)
Looking for information about:
 starting a business
 home-based business
 licences/permits/codes for a new business
 employment
 running or growing a small business
 importing or exporting
 e-business
 franchising
 closing down a business
 government grants/assistance for business
 government tenders
 another government agency/department
Applying online for a Tax File Number (TFN) or Australian Business Number
(ABN)
Changing my company’s details in the Australian Business Register
Checking online one or more ABNs or searching the Australian Business Register
to get other company information, check GST status, etc
Using Transaction Manager to enable our business to track the status of licences,
permits, etc and simply filling in forms
Which of these would be your “Top 3” most valuable services?
25. Apart from the BEP, which Internet sites would you or others in your
business normally think of searching for information about government
compliance (licences, etc), other government information or information in
general about starting or operating a small business? (select up to 3 in
each row)
Internet Site
Goverment
Compliance
Information
Other
Government
Information
Information
about Starting
or Running Our
Business
Our industry association
Our bank
Our accounting firm
Our solicitors
Our State/Territory Business
Information Centre
Our Local Council
Local Business Enterprise
Centre or Regional
Development body
Specific Government agency
websites
Australian Tax Office
ASIC
Other (specify)
26. Which other online services does your business regularly use in the
running of your business? (select one or more)
Online banking
Online recruitment (for advertising of vacancies)
Online news
Online stock reports
Our industry association website
Our local State or Territory government business website
Other government websites (eg ATO, Workcover, Tenders & Contracts)
Our Local Council website
Our major suppliers’ websites (for product info, ordering, payments, etc)
Airline & accommodation websites (for special deals, bookings, schedules, etc)
Transport websites (for transport bookings, track & trace, etc)
Other (specify)
Which of these would be your Top 3 on a regular basis?
27. Thinking in general about recent developments in online services and so
on, what has been the experience of your business in dealing with the
Government and finding information from Government these days? (select
only one)
Much easier than a few years ago
No change
More difficult than it was
Difficult to tell
About your business…
28. How many years has your business been in operation?
….. years
29. To which industry sector does your business belong?
Select from standard ANZIC list
30. Is your business based or operated from home?
Yes
No
31. Where is your business based?
Capital City/Metro Area
Regional Centre
Remote or Rural Area
Time taken to complete survey
…. minutes
THANK YOU