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Every two years the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) produces a report from a survey of its members. The survey has become a barometer of the UK's small business sector and the last survey had almost 12% of the FSB's membership responding to the questionnaire. The FSB has over 195,000 members nationally with between 7,000 to 8,000 of them living and working in Cumbria and north Lancashire and regionally some 20,000 plus members. The survey and analysis was carried out by Stirling University and Strathclyde Business School with the final report weighing in at almost 90 pages there is some useful information for Development Agencies, Business Link and the Business Support Network as a whole to digest.
According to the report the main source of advice for small businesses was
- Their accountants (51%)
- Their Solicitors (27%)
- Their Family (17%)
- Other business owners (16%)
- Customers (15%)
- Banks (9%)
- Government funded business support agencies (4%)
Clearly the UK Government's support network is still not thought of highly enough by small businesses to seek advice from. There is still major confusion out there as to who an owner manager can go to for advice or assistance. There are too many organisations ploughing the same furrow even though there has been a drive at removing duplication.
Sadly, for all the millions spent on management and advisors in the UK, the vast majority of small firms still do not see their way clear to asking for advice and help from these agencies.
In any given area there can be 20 or more agencies all purporting to help businesses but advisors are largely seen as being of poor quality and in the opinion of a number of owner managers that we have spoken to, projects appear to be more focussed on what the agencies needs for the funding and its own preservation rather than what small businesses need and how.
The FSB does a good job for its members and for small businesses in general, we are members and would advise any small business to join.
You can read the FSB's report at www.fsb.org.uk,
Finally, it is worth noting that although only 4% looked to Government Funded bodies for business advice or assistance, the majority of those that did, reported satisfaction with the service provided.
