With
the General Election looming many
are talking about what policies will make the difference for small business
owners this year and whether the winning party will be able to build on the
foundations of the growth of the last 18 months. We take a look at what small
businesses need to do to continue to succeed and what the other trends might be
for small businesses over the next 12 months.
FSB’s 2015
General Election manifesto
A
recent post by the FSB’s John Allan, national Chairman spoke of the rise of the
small business in 2014 – whose numbers broke 5 million for the first time. 2014
also saw an exponential rise in the number of small businesses innovating, growing
and taking on their first employee – helping to tackle the unemployment rates.
Coupled with this small firms saw there productivity grow and Mr Allan commented
that small businesses were finally beginning to get the recognition that they
deserved.
In
order for firms to continue this upward trend the FSB argues that changes need
to be made, and as such it has produced a manifesto that outlines what they
believe needs to be the focus post-election. Mr Allan continues that the party
that wins the election will need to look at ways to support and nurture all
business not just big or small – it will need to help sustain growth ensuring
responsible business practices, whether that be via using apprenticeship
schemes, enhancing supply chain activities or ensuring a better flow of
payments between businesses. He warned that whilst the future looked good the uncertainty
in the Eurozone could still have an effect on the year ahead and that the FSB’s General Election
manifesto contents
that include reforms to access to finance, unfair business rates and the still
growing skills gap would offer a more sustainable route for small business.
Alternative
funding routes
Others
have spotted the issue of access to finance and the route by which small
businesses can source additional funding as a key trend for 2015 too. With the
development of crowd funding sites such as Kickstarter, Crowdcube, Buzzbnk and
Seedrs the route to funding has diversified – no longer is the bank the only
option. These platforms also enable a globalisation of funding and experts are
also pointing towards an increasing appetite for risk once more – good news for
the innovative entrepreneur.
Growth of the
tech scene
James
Caan, the well known angel investor, entrepreneur and equity head points
towards our growing tech industry as sector to
watch in the coming year. Silicon Valley is, of course, the giant of the sector
but East London has been building a reputation as the go to area in the UK for
tech services - providing a great platform for US companies to cross over to
the UK, as well as for startups to work within a community. Caan suggests that
the next 12 months will see the UK learn even more from their US counterparts
and that signals the possibility of greater growth. However the tech industry
isn’t solely in the capital and along with areas such as Manchester and Bristol
parts of Kent has also been hailed a tech hot spot with
Canterbury, Folkestone and Ramsgate highlighted as tech centres for the county.
A mixture of great links to both London and the continent and lower business
costs means that Kent could be well positioned to further take advantage of the
growing tech industry in 2015.
Social media
continues to diversify
Linked
to the growth in the tech sector many are also urging small businesses to continue
to take full advantage of social media. Caan points to the development of
advertising on Facebook and Twitter and that images are becoming an increasingly
important way to attract clients – meaning that 2015 could well be the year for
Instagram. Small businesses have historically used social media extensively and
Caan urges small firms to continue this trend. The opportunities that a strong
social media plan can have on your business are huge and will only continue to
grow in 2015.
2015
is going to be an interesting year across all business, but especially for
small businesses – as ever the key is for small business and entrepreneurs to grab opportunities and run with
them. The General Election and the winning party have the chance to make some
real differences to the way that small businesses work in the UK, and with
small businesses and entrepreneurs making up an growing percentage of the UK
economy the parties would do well to listen to the sector, their votes could be
the deciding factors.
