Avery WePrint Small Business Growth Survey 2016

OF GROWING A

highslows&

SMALL BUSINESSJUNE 2016

THE

Avery WePrint helps small businesses to create branded stationery and promotional material which helps their business to grow.

Avery was keen to fully understand the highs and lows of growing a business and the real challenges small business owners face when making the decision to grow.

BACKGROUND TO THE

SURVEYbusiness growth

Telephone interviews took place with small business owners who have taken steps to grow their business to establish the key challenges that were faced during ‘ the moment of growth’.Research was undertaken with Business Owners with 1– 49 employees and Sole Traders who have taken steps to grow their business in the last 2 years.

350 respondents completed the survey via OnePoll.

BACKGROUND TO THE

SURVEYbusiness growth

Avery explored the different ways owners had grown their business.

HOW CAN YOU

grow your business?

Launching a new product was the most popular response with 44.6% making this step.

0 12.5 25 37.5 50

%

OTHER

LAUNCHING A NEW PRODUCT

OPENING ADDITIONAL BRANCH/SITE

RE-BRANDING YOUR BUSINESS

TAKING ON MORE STAFF

EMPLOYING STAFF FOR THE FIRST TIME

RENTING OR BUYING NEW PREMISES

BECOMING A LIMITED COMPANY

WHAT IS THE MOST POPULAR

growth step?

Six out of ten business owners felt a feeling of excitement.

Four out of ten felt pride or nerves.

make you feel?HOW DOES GROWING A BUSINESS

0

17.5

35

52.5

70

EXCITEMENT HAPPINESSNERVES CONFIDENCEFEAR PRIDEWORRY STRESS NONE OF THESE FEELINGS


%

I felt nerves, excitement, trepidation and also confidence as we really believed in what we were doing.

Phil Wright, Primal Gym


I honestly don’t think there has been an emotion that I’ve not felt while trying to build the business. I recall thinking I’m going to have to get another job while we wait for things to happen. At that point I think there was panic, pain, frustration, hope, fear, disappointment and gratitude. I questioned whether I’d done the right thing. Now, it’s a different story, although there are still certain anxieties, the fear of failure doesn’t factor today.

Sam Prentice, iWaste


WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO

grow your business?Between 1 and 2 years of starting a business is the most popular time to grow.

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO

grow your business?MORE THAN 10 YEARS

LESS THAN ONE YEAR

6 TO 10 YEARS

5 YEARS

3 TO 4 YEARS

1 TO 2 YEARS

Fear is a significant factor. The most common fear business owners cited was ‘failure’. Losing money followed this, with almost a quarter of businesses stating this was their greatest concern.

WHEN GROWING A BUSINESS?

biggest fearsWHAT ARE THE


biggest fearsWHAT ARE THE

0 7.5 15 22.5 30

REPUTATION BEING AFFECTED

TOO SOON/NOT THE RIGHT TIME

LACK OF TIME

BEING RESPONSIBLE FOR OTHER PEOPLE’S FINANCES

FAMILY/HOME LIFE BEING AFFECTED

FAILURE

LOSING MONEY

NONE OF THESE

OTHER FEAR

%

We were a little bit worried about whether our business growth idea would work, mainly from a reputational point of view. Everything we’ve done so far has been great and really well received, we didn’t want to jeopardise that with something that may not work.

Jamie Smith, Balulas Delicatessen

WHAT ARE THE


biggest fears

It’s not surprising then that the financial strains were found to be the hardest part of growing a business…

WHAT IS THE

OF GROWING A BUSINESS?hardest part

Almost a third of small businesses reported financial strain was the hardest part of growing a business.

WHAT IS THE

OF GROWING A BUSINESS?hardest part

NONE OF THESEOTHER

MARKETING

STAFFING ISSUES

UNDERSTANDING LEGALITIES

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE WITHIN EXISTING TEAM

LACK OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE

FEELING THE PRESSURE OF CHANGE

ADDITIONAL WORKLOAD

FINANCIAL STRAINS

There’s any number of things I could have done better, but these were all part of the learning curve. Businesses are risky things and they stand and fall on decision making: I’ve 100% needed the experiences of tough times and the mistakes. (Although admittedly it doesn’t feel like that when you’re in the middle of it!)

Ciaron Dunne, Genie Ventures

HOW CAN YOU

FROM YOUR BUSINESS MISTAKES?learn

Business owners shared where they looked for advice when growing their business.

WHERE’S THE best placeadvice?TO LOOK FOR BUSINESS GROWTH

The Internet and Friends and Family were the most popular places to look for advice.

TYPE OF ADVICE WHO USED THIS (%)

The Internet 58.6Friends and family 47.4A mentor 25.4Social Media 22.9Local business network 17.1A consultant 15.1Employed additional staff with the expertise needed 14.6Magazine articles 9.4Other 6.9Citizen’s Advice 5.1

WHERE’S THE best placeadvice?TO LOOK FOR BUSINESS GROWTH

Saving up until growth could be afforded was the most popular response, followed by using personal savings and then a bank loan.

WHAT’S THE MOST COMMON WAY TO FUND

business growth?Small business owners were asked to share how their small business had been funded…

WHAT’S THE MOST COMMON WAY TO FUND

business growth?

0 15 30 45 60

PERSONAL SAVINGS

OTHER WAY

APPLIED FOR A BUSINESS GRANT

GOVERNMENT GRANT/INITIATIVE

LOAN FROM A COMPANY OTHER THAN A BANK

BANK LOAN

EXTERNAL INVESTORS

SAVED UP UNTIL COULD AFFORD TO GROW

%

Our productivity has definitely gone up since growing the business and moving out into an office space. We’re a team of four now and working in the same space means we can all learn from one another. It’s much better for team work.

Lucy Francis, Lucy Francis PA Services

HAS GROWING YOUR BUSINESS MADE YOU

more successful?

56% of small business owners agreed that their customers had been happy about the decision to grow.

Almost six out of 10 small business owners said that growing the business had attracted new customers.

IS GROWING YOUR BUSINESS THE

right decision?

Almost a quarter (24.3%) agreed they could provide better customer service since the growth. Almost 9 out of 10 business owners said the growth moment was stressful with over a quarter of business owners (26.3%) saying it was VERY stressful.


right decision?


right decision?

43.1% agreed with the statements “It was worth the

stress of growing my business

to be where I am today” and “It

has had a positive impact on my

home/personal life.”

82.9% of

respondents said they

had no regrets at all

about growing their

business.

The customer service they offer came out top with 28.3% of respondents, followed by work/life balance and financial success.

Business owners were asked what made them most proud about running their business.

proudWHAT MAKES YOU MOST

ABOUT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS?

proudWHAT MAKES YOU MOST

ABOUT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS?

NOTHING

YOUR PRODUCTS

YOUR BRAND

FINANCIAL SUCCESS

AWARDS WON

INDUSTRY REPUTATION

CUSTOMER SERVICE

WORK/LIFE BALANCE

PREMISES

FINANCIAL SUCCESS

YOUR STAFF

Effective marketing as a business grows is critical, over a quarter of the UK’s small businesses said they plan to increase their sales and marketing activity in the next two years.

Networking, new websites and increased social media activity were cited among the most popular tools of marketing a growing business.

growing a business?WHAT MARKETING SHOULD YOU UNDERTAKE WHEN

0 12.5 25 37.5

OTHER

PR CAMPAIGN

SOURCED MARKETING/PR AGENCY

NETWORKING

EMPLOY DEDICATED MARKETING STAFF

EVENT

UTILISED SOCIAL MEDIA

DIRECT MAIL

NEW BRAND

NEW WEBSITE

EMPLOYED SALES STAFF

PROMOTION OR SPECIAL OFFER

TRAINING COURSE


%

Our wonderful senior designer told me that she wanted to take the time to create a brand which reflects the Genie culture, which would motivate and inspire staff and visitors, and which would make everyone proud. It was a dramatic change and I love it. I do strongly believe the brand is important for staff as well as the market: we all want to work for a business we feel proud of.

Ciaron Dunne, Genie Ventures


growing a business?Business owners were asked what advice they were most likely to give to those considering growing a business.

Over half of respondents said “Go for it, you may regret

it if you don’t.”

Almost a third of owners said

“Get advice from specialists.”

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF CONSIDERING

35% said “Wait until you have

enough savings before you do it.”

growing a business?WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF CONSIDERING

20% recommended “Increasing your

sales and marketing activity to help

cover the costs of growing”

21% said “Don’t forget about branding, it’s

important to have the right image”

Almost one fifth

recommended “Outsourcing

areas you aren’t as confident in.”

Business owners were asked what advice they were most likely to give to those considering growing a business.

right timeIf you’re wondering if you’re ready to grow your business, you might find that only you have the right answer…

It seems it is very much a personal, emotional decision as opposed to a rational one with factors such as having a product ready or finding the right premises coming lower down the list.

WHEN IS THE

TO GROW A BUSINESS?

right timeWHEN IS THE

0

15

45

60

30

I FELT THE TIME WAS RIGHT

WE HAD FINANCES

AVAILABLE TO HELP GROW

A PREMISES BECAME

AVAILABLE IN RIGHT

LOCATION

WE HAD A PRODUCT READY TO LAUNCH

WE FOUND THE RIGHT STAFF TO MAKE IT HAPPEN

BUSINESS WAS STRUGGLING

WITHOUT GROWTH

OPPORTUNITY

IT WAS THE RIGHT TIME

FOR ME PERSONALLY

OTHER

%

TO GROW A BUSINESS?

I’m so happy now that I’ve made the decision to grow the business and we are in our own office. It feels more professional and we’re more productive. I love saying we have an office and it adds gravitas to our organisation.

Lucy Francis PA Services

right decisionIS GROWING A BUSINESS THE

FOR YOU?

sacrificesThere’s no doubt that the work involved in growing a business does lead to some sacrifices having to be made. Avery explored what the biggest ones were and these are shown below.

WHAT

DO BUSINESS OWNERS HAVE TO MAKE?

39% agreed that working longer hours was one of the biggest sacrifices.

20.9% agreed less family time was a large sacrifice.

sacrificesWHAT

DO BUSINESS OWNERS HAVE TO MAKE?

SACRIFICE % WHO SAID THIS

Working longer hours 30.9Less family time 20.9Less ‘me’ time 18.9No sacrifice 12.6Taken a pay cut 7.7Impact on personal relationships 5.1Other 1.7Changing location 1.1Moving from a premises you love 0.9Had to lose staff 0.3

growingstarting

IS

OR

A BUSINESS HARDER?

50.6% felt the decision to start a

business was harder than growing a

business.

22.0% felt it was about the same for both starting and

growing a business.

27.4% felt the decision to

grow was harder than starting a

business.

It has been fantastic to hear the optimism from Britain’s small businesses in this study. It really seems as though hard work and trusting your instincts can pay off when it comes to growth. Our study found that there’s no feeling quite like growing your business, so we’d like to encourage anyone at this stage to celebrate how far they’ve come. If you’re a passionate small business, it’s worth communicating this in everything you do, from your business cards to branding and marketing materials, your packaging, presentation and your customer service.

Fiona Mills, Marketing Director, Avery WePrint

CelebratingSMALL BUSINESS GROWTH

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