Business Link in London hopes the findings will be a wake-up call to businesses that have passed their one-year anniversary, helping them recognise and effectively tackle the growing pains they often face.
Companies can find support in Business Link in Londons Business Booster initiative, which is designed to help businesses across the capital grow.
Tim Campbell, the successful winner of The Apprentice, who has since gone on to set up his own charity, The Bright Ideas Trust, comments, If you’re running your own business, you will know that everything doesn’t always run smoothly. You will experience growing pains, but to face the challenges,
you need to think about who can help you plan for the future. No one is an expert in everything. The ‘Business Booster’initiative provides access to a range of resources to help business develop into the companies they passionately want to be.
Other key findings announced highlight:
Trouble spots – Key areas of concern for growing businesses were finance and cash-flow, staff issues and raising business levels through marketing
Churn up – The rate of churn for businesses in London was higher than it was for the rest of the UK
Advice seeker – Only 44% of businesses with less than 49 staff had sourced formal business advice, with Asian and Black businesses less likely to access external help, with only 29% and 27% doing so respectively
Guiding hand – Only 55% believed they needed outside help to develop and grow their business, but 47% thought they needed help across a whole range of business areas, not just one of two.
Dining Out – Restaurants were three times more likely to go bust than other businesses, with financial firms most likely to still be going after three years.
Andy Berrow, Senior Business Advisor at Business Link comments, ‘We found that recruitment, marketing and finance were the key problem areas for developing small business. We want to make sure that out of the rising number of businesses starting up in London each year as many as possible are making it to their 6th birthday. In reality only 20% will make it this far. Business owners can’t just put their head in the sand when it comes to growing pains. They have to overcome them and the best way to do that is with external advice and support.
