Six months after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) officially announced that the UK is in a recession, our new report reveals how small business Britain has been holding up over the past 12 months.
The results of the research show that while one in twenty businesses have been impacted so severely by the recession that their survival may be at risk, encouragingly, one in four felt no noticeable effect and 35% had felt a negligible impact. This can be largely attributed to the sensible business decisions they have made, with three quarters of the businesses interviewed stating their survival was down to their own individual efforts.
The report also offers guidance on how to navigate your business through an economic slowdown, including practical advice from other business owners on what measures they have taken to weather the storm.
In receiving virtually no support, small business owners have used their initiative and adopted a raft of various measures over the past year to protect themselves from the downturn. The most common initiative, adopted by 45% of respondents, has been to reduce overheads and have a tighter management of outgoings. The second most popular step, which nearly a third (30%) of business owners took, was to introduce new products or services rather than other means of cost cutting. Third was renegotiating prices with suppliers, with 74% of respondents claiming success from this approach.
For additional top tips from our experts and to find out more about how you can help your business succeed in a recession download your free copy of the Small Business Recession Review and Guide.
Share with us your views and experience: how have you been coping in the downturn?
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Posted by: Ugg Classic Mini | 16 August 2010 at 02:08 AM
This is really very nice. Analysis like this are extremely helpful especially now that we are still in recession.
Posted by: Starting a Small Business | 12 December 2010 at 06:18 AM