Mentor host Mark Bouris says people are insulted being labelled ‘small’ business owner

It’s a job title that thousands of people across NSW relish but financial guru Mark Bouris thinks the small business owner tag should be considered an insult. He has called for a rethink on how we label the people who employ 60 per cent of Australia’s population.

• Bouris: Small businesses need a champion
• Bouris: Business owners need to be sale ready

It’s a job title that thousands of people across NSW relish but financial guru Mark Bouris thinks the small business owner tag should be considered an insult.

The Mentor host, who is about to embark on a national tour to get behind Aussie businesses, has called for a major rethink on how we label the people who employ 60 per cent of Australia’s population.

Bouris told The Daily Telegraph that not enough was being done to nurture­, educate, grow and protect small businesses despite their role as the backbone of the nation’s economy.

Mark Bouris believes small business owners are insulted at being labelled “small”. Picture: David Swift

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“For me, they’re business people as opposed to small business people, I don’t know why anything is called ‘small’ when they account for 15 per cent of Australia’s GPD.

“They provide purpose — 60 per cent of people in this country can do something every day.

“Calling these people ‘small’ is an insult — they’re business people, and they’re having a crack,” he said.

But after hosting The Mentor on TV and producing 150 podcasts interviewing business owners and entrepreneurs, the Wizard Home Loans founder realised many still lacked the crucial skills they really needed to succeed.

Small businesses employ 60 per cent of Australia’s population. Picture: AAP Image/Julian Andrews

Bouris decided to host a series­ of masterclasses in Sydney­, Melbourne and Brisbane next month when he will talk to people in a “no bulls**t type of seminar”.

“I’ll be telling people what they need to know, not what they want to hear,” he said.

“There seems to be a number of common themes — in terms of the top-line it’s about how they get more customers­ in the door and that comes down to marketing (such as using) social media.

“Some run social media through their personal accounts with photos of their kids and dogs at the same time as trying to promote their florist­ shop — I want to give them some do’s and don’ts.”

He will be running a series of masterclasses in cities across the country. Picture: Richard Gosling

Whatever stage of the entrepreneurial journey a business owner is at, Bouris said he hoped he would help transform their fortunes with his straight-talking.

He will also invite some of his contacts to join in.

“I want to talk about getting a business ready for sale from the day you start, not one year before you want to, but from the day you start,” he said.

Bouris will speak at the Star in Sydney on February 27.

For more information, visit https://mentor-masterclass.com.au