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Top 50 Small Business Leaders 2025 report out now!

The Top 50 Small Business Leaders report recognises resilient small-business owners who have excelled in innovation, overcame challenges, embraced sustainability and contributed to their local communities.

Discover who made the list and see who will be highlighted for their outstanding achievements.

Every applicant receives a score for each of these criteria based on the information they provide in their application. In addition, every applicant is scored by three judges.

Hannah Spilva

Virtual report launch

With special guest speaker Hannah Spilva, Chief Hair Office at Done and Founder of LVLY.

Presented by

Nominations open
12 May 2025

Nominations close
6 June 2025

Submissions open
12 Jun 2025

Submissions close
25 Jun 2025

Finalists notified
21 Jul 2025

Report published
8 Oct 2025

Our judges

Frances Pratt

Frances Pratt

Founder and Director - Metisan

Understanding what and why people buy (also known as sales) has been the focus of Frances Pratt’s life for over 28 years – and she knows what a difference understanding ‘how to sell’ can make. She created her business, Metisan, to help ‘demystify’ sales and show people who aren’t natural salespeople how to make selling part of what they do every day, so it really doesn't seem like selling at all. Along with her career in coaching and consulting, Frances has written a book titled “More Sales Less Marketing: How to take the Yuck out of selling”.

Suzanne Murphy

Suzanne Murphy

Chief Executive Officer - Exhale Moments

Suzanne Murphy is a results-focused brand strategist and leadership coach with over 25 years of experience across Australia, the U.S., and Europe. Formerly Chief Marketing Officer of a $450 million global manufacturing and retail business, she now leads Exhale Moments, a consultancy dedicated to helping purpose-led leaders drive growth through brand clarity, cultural alignment, and strategic leadership.

Suzanne is also the Managing Director of the Women’s Spirit Project, leading its national expansion to support women overcoming adversity through connection, movement, wellbeing, and leadership programs. As Principal of The Executive Roundtable Victoria, she facilitates a high-performing network of CEOs and business owners committed to shared growth and strategic excellence.

She is a trusted coach to female CEOs and senior leaders, known for combining commercial acumen with a deep passion for people and purpose.

Katie Gallagher

Katie Gallagher

Founder - Katie Gallagher PR and Media

Katie Gallagher is the Founder of Katie Gallagher PR and Media with almost a decade of experience in the media industry. Before making the move into public relations, she worked as a TV reporter and presenter. Katie is passionate about helping small businesses share their stories to increase brand exposure, credibility and sales. She is currently the PR coach for SHE-com, working with e-commerce businesses.

Nikhil Daftary

Nikhil Daftary

Founder and Managing Director - Moments

Nikhil Daftary is Managing Director of Australian founded sexual health and wellness brand Moments, a brand and trademark of Coral Healthcare. As a brand Moments has three core values: health, empowerment and play. It prioritises female pleasure, sexual wellbeing and quality sustainable products. Founded in 2017, Moments started manufacturing premium latex, vegan, and safe quality condoms, however in 2023 expanded to include the production of pleasure toys. Moments aims to fill a gap in a market that has, like many other sectors, historically overlooked women.

Bec Alison

Bec Alison

Founder - Bec Alison Marketing

Bec Alison is a Small Business Marketing Consultant dedicated to helping solopreneurs and service-based business owners reach more customers and grow their business with simple and impactful marketing strategies and systems. With firsthand experience in launching and scaling small businesses on tight budgets, she focuses on creating tailored marketing plans that deliver tangible results with a holistic, data-driven approach combines creativity with current best practices, ensuring each strategy aligns with her clients' unique goals and challenges.

Mia Lockett

Mia Lockett

Editor, Inside Small Business

Past reports