If you’ve read my previous EB articles or subscribe to my weekly newsletter, you’ll know that I am very keen for the Office of the Small Business Commissioner (OSBC) to maximise this ability, and in fact it’s quickly becoming our superpower. So, we’ve been putting our superpower to good use to ensure the views and needs of small businesses are heard by larger firms and across government.
Online marketplaces
For example, last month, having gathered some of the largest and most influential online marketplaces and payment providers, we launched a guide for small businesses who operate on these platforms. As part of this guide, we asked these companies to sign a pledge of support to small businesses to ensure that cashflow is not restricted from small businesses unduly.
Already, we have been able to help multiple firms whose accounts had been frozen to access their funds and continue trading, in some cases achieving in a day what had been a weeks-long process. If you are experiencing a challenge with an online marketplace or payment provider, please get in touch with our fantastic casework team, who will help you if they can.
The heart of government
But having been a founder and advocate for small businesses for many years, I know that small firms often don’t feel heard by government. Even though policies might be developed with good intentions, how can businesses be assured that government will deliver what they really need?
As an office we’re working to break down those barriers that hinder small business voices being heard.
Firstly, we were able to lead a delegation of SMEs to meet the Number 10 business engagement team to discuss the barriers to going digital and the effectiveness of available support. Digital adoption for small businesses sounds like a no-brainer. The evidence suggests that it increases productivity, helps small businesses to reach new markets, grow and get paid on time. Yet many small businesses are not adopting digital technologies as quickly as they could.
The team at Number 10 understood that small businesses are critical to the health and potential growth of the UK economy, and that to provide the right support, they needed to hear from entrepreneurs directly. It was fantastic to see the centre of UK government actively listen to business owners share their experiences.
Out on safari
So often it is government that brings business into policy discussions. I wanted to take those discussions to founders and entrepreneurs in their own environments. So, if you were in the Victoria area of London at the start of November, and saw a party of eight pacing the streets, that would have been the SME safari.
Civil servants, including the head of SME policy from the Department for Business and Trade, and colleagues working on the Employment Rights Bill, youth enterprise and business engagement, participated in a pilot of visits to meet real-life founders. The intent of the trip was for those working on the frontline of policy to meet those at the frontline of enterprise; to hear first hand from business owners on current challenges and opportunities. I’m pleased to say that not only have those on this trip taken away invaluable insights, but the pilot was a great success and we hope to run more of these across the UK in the coming months.
I hope we can deliver
Thank you to all the amazing entrepreneurs and business leaders who have taken time over the last couple of months to share their views and to work with us on these partnerships. As I’ve been listening to the small businesses involved, there are three recurring asks that stand out to me. They want access to markets, less friction and a more optimistic tone to motivate them to continue doing what they do so well—which is start and grow incredible ventures. I hope we can deliver what you are after.
