Purple Crane has clients across most sectors, and many of our customers are SMEs (small and medium enterprises). This was a key area of potential growth for the UK economy even before the pandemic created a new template for how the British business is supposed to look.
Purple Crane has clients across most sectors, and many of our customers are SMEs (small and medium enterprises). This was a key area of potential growth for the UK economy even before the pandemic created a new template for how the British business is supposed to look.
For example, even at the beginning of 2020 there were nearly 6 million private businesses in the UK, of which 99.8% had fewer than 250 employees.
While definitions of an SME may vary, the threshold is widely accepted – certainly by the OECD – as being fewer than 250 employees and single-person enterprises now account for 76.3% of all UK businesses, with SMEs accounting for 52% of private sector turnover in 2020, and three-fifths of the employment in the UK.
And that was before. While the pandemic hasn’t generally been good news for most of the UK economy, it’s not a universal truth. The Financial Times has identified a new growth of small businesses. And it’s on the upswing.
Big Up the Little Guy
Whether people are funding new ventures with redundancy cheques, finding their inner entrepreneur, or just fed up with things as they were, more people are choosing to be their own master. And why not? This Goldman Sachs infographic suggests that 99% of small businesses, unburdened by the higher overheads of bigger companies, expect to survive the pandemic.
But success is not a given. With 20% of businesses failing in their first year, and around 60% within their first three years, it’s easier to fail than succeed. So, taking the right advice, and getting help from the right people really matters.
This industry blog offers 10 IT challenges for small businesses in their first 12 months. They include integration issues, ensuring what you have works with what you need and, arguably the most important, back-up and disaster recovery. If ransomware bandits can ambush the big boys, then no one is safe.
Less traumatic, still problematic
While the previous two challenges surround keeping the lights on, you want to plan for progress, too. So, factoring in growth by scaling up your IT as the business expands, matters too. But what does that look like for you? If you don’t have a vision, how can it become a reality?
These days, every business is an IT company that must cope with a rapid rate of industry change. Innovations such as AI, VR, Cloud, Software-as-a-Service, Hardware-as-a-Service, 5G and blockchain are all part of the small business vernacular. But which must you integrate, and what can you ignore?
Key here for any small business, or start-up, is the lack of skilled employees to help support your venture with advice, support, and if required a dedicated application that gives you the competitive edge over the competition.
Here’s an idea
Purple Crane has created a successful business helping our customers succeed in theirs. Some outsource the higher-maintenance issues to us, and harness the power of our partners’ specialisms so they can concentrate on what matters most to them. If success is on the list for you, contact us.
