While the recession has undoubtedly made everything tougher for small and medium sized businesses it was interesting to read in the recent BBC Experian led small business growth report that Birmingham is managing to stay ahead of the curve for small business growth. In face 9% of Birmingham’s small firms have created over 50,000 jobs in the last three years. This is incredible when we consider the number of layoffs from within large corporations and the staggering number of small business closures that we have seen in the same period. So, the question becomes, what makes Birmingham so great for small businesses and what can businesses do to expedite their growth?
well initially we can look at the recent Government budgets that have decreased corporate tax. These have been almost universally greeted as great news for companies (though Pie Tax is causing something of a stir). In terms of encouraging business spending and providing small and medium sized businesses with some wiggle room this is great news – though many smaller companies with lower profits won’t see any significant benefits from the new proposals. What was more revealing was actually the BBC/Experian report on small business growth and “champion” growth companies.
These champions of industry are largely responsible for the significant growth sectors we are encountering and for creating new jobs. Simon Streat the managing director for Experian UK and Ireland was recently quoted as saying that “opportunities exist for Birmingham firms across all sectors, but to achieve growth they need the right management in place and a healthy support network to draw upon.”
Now of course management is a central factor in business success but it is the support network that I find more interesting. In Birmingham businesses have considerable aptitude for banding together in ways that many other areas of the country fail to incorporate into their customer retention and marketing strategies. Take the Bullring for example which runs a local card scheme, gift voucher programs, various entertainments and maintains a very strong online web presence with competitions giveaways and social engagement. Or we could take the Birmingham Style app which is free to download and lists some 1000 plus shops and restaurants within the city. This may not be the support network that Simon Streat refers to but it seems to me that this is the support network that does the most to support retail and other businesses large and small throughout the city.
Having a support network in place is great but a promotional network geared towards customer marketing and customer retention seems like it has a much more direct impact on business success. In an increasingly digital age companies need to pay more attention to the online realm for client management and service and product sales. The importance of Facebook and Twitter is becoming more and more evident in business relations and overarching business support structures like our online shopping websites and in our promotional strategies.
Having council support and having proper business support networks in place is, of course, of central importance to making sure new businesses and existing businesses can actually operate but I don’t think that it is the overarching framework that makes the most difference to business success in the area. It is understanding and utilising the tools made available for local businesses through local business networks and through means of online and offline promotion that really makes our local businesses so successful. Our frameworks for shopping promotion are amongst the best in the country which is a testament to how successful businesses need to operate in the new business landscape.
