We are steadily and inexorably approaching a General Election sometime in 2024 and all parties are talking loudly about raising productivity and growing the economy as crucial elements of their offers. So it was with great interest that I opened an email from the labour party which outlined their ideas for supporting small businesses: “The Beating Heart of our Economy: Labour’s Plan for Small Business”
The 9-point plan has some very sensible policies such as legislating to tackle late payments and scrapping business rates which I know will be music to the ears of many small businesses.
Sadly, the plan does not include the sort of developmental support which I know, and which research confirms, is really valuable for our small business owners.
Straw polls of the business owners who join the Help to Grow Management course which I support the London South Bank University to deliver consistently reveal that around 70% of them have had none or very little business management training. And even fewer have even considered getting support from a business coach.
How do we expect our small business sector to thrive when so many of its leaders have had so little training? All the owners I’ve worked with have achieved so much through gut instinct and learning on the job. But when I talk to them privately, they describe huge levels of uncertainty and stress about how to run their business what they should do next.
The combination of good participative training and one to one business coaching helps owners to resolve these issues and plan a way forward. When owners and managers are equipped with the practical tools for planning and running their business, they create better, faster growing businesses. Just as importantly their stress levels are reduced at the same time.
Elemental things such as business planning, cash-flow forecasting, staff succession planning even exit strategies help to focus the mind on what is really important and to clear a path through the confusing fog of issues that crowd in on a business leader.
I hope that as we get nearer to the election all parties will come forward with policies for providing training and coaching support to the amazing people who run the businesses that we all rely on and who are the life blood of this country.