The Business Bulletin
SME Survey Summary No survey in this edition, just a reflection on what has been covered in previous issues and a summary of the outcomes. (Clicking on the question will take you to the edition that features the full survey results).
What impact does the current climate have on the turnover and profit for small businesses?
What marketing channel works best for you?
The survey asked questions about historic and future
were networking (58.2%), social media (14.3%) and website
turnover. Comparing the data from the results of the 2 surveys, surprisingly less businesses were expected to
The top 3 channels for those that took part in the survey (11%); with all other options being less than 2.2%. Clearly networking seems to give the most “bang for your buck”!
shrink over the next 12 months than did in the previous year. 1 in 5 shrank historically, but only 1 in 8 are expecting to going forward. And a similar percentage to the most recent survey (73.1% versus 76.6%), around 3 out of 4 businesses either growing their profit or staying the
What factors are hampering your sales? The biggest contributor is the current climate and
same. A positive sign!
the pandemic affecting the sales of 39.3% of the 61
What has the biggest impact on your cashflow?
business has in some way been impacted by the
Lack of sales was by far the main issue. It is unclear
on their sales performance. This seems to point to the
whether this is due to the pandemic being faced at the
resilience of small business owners to adapt and respond
time of undertaking the survey or whether this would
to whatever is thrown at them!
respondents. This makes sense as pretty much every lockdowns that the UK has been facing. Having said that, reassuringly 34.4% had not experienced an impact
apply under “normal” business conditions. Followed by debt, overheads and staff.
Did you take advantage of any of the Government schemes to support small businesses during COVID-19?
What are your predictions for sales over the next 12 months? The vast majority of those surveyed (85.2%) predicting sales growth going forward. Only 5% were expecting no growth or a decline in sales. 9.8% were uncertain
The Bounce Back Loan (BBL) was popular with 65.7% of
which is understandable as they may not undertake
those eligible taking advantage of this low-cost option for
sales forecasting and their industry sector maybe
funding. With 80% of those who took advantage using it
unpredictable; particularly if impacted directly by
to bolster cashflow.
the pandemic.
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