A Brief Note On Uk And Eu Small Business Policy

The year 2014 holds signs of economic recovery and growth for small businesses. On average there has been an increase in employment per business which

The role of entrepreneurship in the economy of a country is to inspire new business ventures that support wealth

Volkmann, C. K., Tokarski, K. O., & Grünhagen, M. (2010). Entrepreneurship in a European Perspective: Concepts for the Creation and Growth of New Ventures. Springer Science & Business Media.

The Bolton Committee (1971) sought to define small enterprise by the following criteria: they own a small market share, are managed by owners or co owners and operate independently of any large firm (as cited in Bach, 2007, p.15). Bach (2007) concluded that, in an effort to survive against the influence of larger businesses with their expanded budgets and reach, these small businesses must rely on their ability to innovate and segment the market. These enterprises are critical for employing workers across the job market and further spurning competitiveness (Bach, 2007). Gruber (2004) noted that, in addition to limited financial resources, small and new businesses are often restricted by the uncertainty of market predictability and marketing planning. Doyle’s research surmised that due to these externalities the process of building credibility and establishing competitive advantage - regarded as one of the most important determinants in early success - could most effectively be achieved through unconventional means (as cited in Gruber, 2004, p.188). This entirely different approach, in which large ad budgets don’t exist, has numerous benefits.

Studies before anticipated that SMEs and NGOs would be disproportionately negatively impacted by the reform as compared to other firms, mainly because of their size (lack of resources

The importance of small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) in the economy of any country cannot be overlooked. In fact for nearly 15 years, most researchers dealing with economic planning have highlighted the significance of these enterprises stating that they are a key player in realizing any country’s economic goals. As such, governments as well as other organizations with interest in development are laying plans and strategies to promote the establishment of Small and Micro Enterprises. This is seen as a move to ensure that there is full participation of SMEs in the country’s economy. The Small and Micro Enterprises have been known to contribute to a large extend as a source of innovation, entrepreneurial skills as well as source of employment. For example, statistics in 25countries of the European Union show that 99% of the jobs provided to its citizens come from the micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Rowe (2008) points out that the British economy relies heavily on the participation of SMEs. On the other hand, 99% of the UK’s economy is composed of small and micro enterprises.

All these SME’s were never involved in returns of this category. Remaining 15 percent had sometimes to mostly returns for reasons of ‘End of useful life’. On further filtering the data these returns were observed mostly in SME’s in food and chemical related businesses. These could be for consumer safety, maintaining good business relationships with customers or due to statutory reasons.

Government may use our study as a point of reference when setting policies concerning the SMEs sector.

Firstly, in the SMART growth area, Sweden has been performing generally well, being ranked second out of 28 countries (World Economic Forum, 2014). As seen in figure 1 below, Sweden’s best perfoming area within the SMART growth criteria is the enterprise environment. Sweden is ranked among Denmark, Ireland and the UK as one of the top 20 locations in the world to do business (Tilford & Whyte, 2010). This is reflected in Sweden’s increased level of investment in the recent years compared to Netherlands or Denmark, especially in the service sector (European Commission, 2016). Also, Sweden is spotted for its friendly environment for new business start- ups, because the access to obtaining funding from banks for small and medium enterprises (SME) is higher compared to the EU average rate of 5% (European Commission, 2016). This implies that banks in Sweden are more willing to provide funds for SME’s

In Kenya, SME’s are vital as they employ more than 87% of the labor force that contribute 18.4% of the National Gross Domestic product (GDP). (GOK, 2009).However, their existence in the Kenyan economy has not been without fair challenges that inhibit their growth, potential and offer them an average lifespan of five or less years in existence.

SME is an acronym of Small – Medium Enterprises. An enterprises size is defined, in EU Law, by its number of employees and either the turnover or balance sheet total. A small enterprise has 50 employees or fewer and a turnover of € 10 million or less or a balance sheet total of € 10 m or less. A medium organisation has 250 employees or less and a turnover of € 50 million or less with a balance sheet total of

From the report by Yoshino, Taghizadeh-Hesary, Charoensivakorn and Niraula (2015), the activities of SMEs in Thailand within the year 2007 to 2011 constitute to the increased in economy growth accounted for about 37.0% of Thai’s GDP and produces around 80.4% of employment opportunities in Thailand. However, during the same period, reports from Yoshino et al (2015) is that the SMEs in manufacturing sector experience a decrease employment rate for almost 6.2% because of the decrease in the sector’s growth rate. Furthermore, it was reported that the overall SME in Thailand experience a decrease in growth rate of 1% from 8.3% to 7.3% between the year 2010 to 2012.

SME is a small business, which is differs with big companies. The definition of SME in one country may be different between other countries. Each country has its own consideration to classify a business as SME. Gilaninia, Danesh, Amiri, Mousavian and Eskandarpour (2011) mentioned that the criteria of business that can be categorized as SME,

The purpose of this report is to introduce an overview about SMEs. A critical evaluation and analysis of two small and medium enterprises, Icosium and NotontheHighStreet.com will be presented in this report and also will include the following steps: the business concept and sources of competitive advantage, the current demand and the competitive environment, the growth and development of the business to date, the challenges of managing and running the business, an estimate of the current valuation of the business, the SMEs current growth and development strategy and future recommendation. Furthermore in work will include a conclusion and recommendation.

The European Commission states that “the criterion of the number of staff as the main criterion, however, introducing a financial criterion is nonetheless a necessary adjunct in order to grasp the real scale and performance of an enterprise and its position compared to its competitors” (European Commission: 2003, item 4). Figure 1.0 below is an illustration of SMEs definition by the European Commission.