Why do a business survey?

    The City of Adelaide regularly engages with its residents and visitors through the annual Resident Survey and City User Profile Survey. Businesses, particularly small to medium businesses, are the backbone of the city economy. Therefore, it is important to regularly engage with city businesses to hear their views. This survey is one of ways that the City of Adelaide keeps in touch with city businesses. The work of the Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA) established as a subsidiary of the City of Adelaide and commencing operation in January 2021, is central to our engagement with city business.  AEDA has shaped much of the content of this survey and will apply the information from it to its work.

    What sorts of questions are in the survey?

    The survey asks some questions about your business like what industry it is in and how many employees you have.  It also asks about intentions for the future, what Council could best do to support your business goals and how, if at all, you would like to make your business more environmentally sustainable.  There is space for you to tell us anything else you would like to share about doing business in the City of Adelaide.

    How is this survey different to the one in 2020?

    In October 2020, the City of Adelaide ran its first Business Insights Survey. That survey asked about perspectives on Council performance, business confidence and environmental sustainability.

    This year’s survey continues the focus on business confidence and business intentions, including intentions about staff working from home.  We have expanded the environmental sustainability questions to also ask about ‘active transport’ as that is a current focus of activity for sustainability. We have also dropped the questions on the performance and importance of services delivered by Council as the questions last year were difficult for respondents to engage with.  We are taking time to consider how best to approach them in the future. 

    How will the responses to this survey be used?

    The results from the Business Insights Survey will help:

    • to improve and refine local economic development approaches for Council and its subsidiary the Adelaide Economic Development Association (AEDA)
    • to identify and prioritise service improvements
    • to inform activities to improve the experience of doing business in the city and
    • Council to advocate to State and Federal Governments to better support local businesses.

    I’m not sure this survey is for me. Who should participate?

    As this survey is about city businesses, you need to be an owner or operator of a business located in Adelaide (postcode 5000) or North Adelaide (postcode 5006). If you do not own or operate a city business but hold a position within a city business which allows you to answer the survey questions, you may also participate in the survey.

    Your business does not need to have a physical shopfront to participate. If your principal place of business is in Adelaide or North Adelaide, then you can fill in the survey. For example, you operate your online business from your home, which is in Adelaide or North Adelaide.

    You must be 18 years of age or over to participate.

    Will I be identified as a participant?

    No. Responses will not be attributed to an individual or business. All responses will be viewed as an aggregate across the sample of respondents. Your comments will not be linked directly your business. 

    Data collected will only be used for City of Adelaide purposes and will not be sold or shared with any third party. Specifically:

    • If you opt into the prize draw at the conclusion of the survey, your data will only be used to make contact if you are a winner.
    • If you opt in to receive City Business E-News, your data will only be used to send you emails about community-related news.