IT IS A natural tendency at this time of year to pause for a while, using time away from daily routines and demanding deadlines to take stock.
In matters outside work, as well as those inside business, this reflection can go beyond merely bidding goodbye to one year and welcoming the next. Many people are ending a momentous year in which their livelihoods or their businesses have fallen victim to the recession.
Doubtless for them the end of 2009 cannot come soon enough.
The year we are about to consign to history has been one of the toughest many businesses have ever had to endure – certainly those created and established during the first decade of this Millennium.
It is a sad fact that many who started this year full of optimism and hope for the future are ending it disillusioned.
Yet, the last set of 2009 numbers from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) once again reflects the value of the SME sector to this country's economy, and its importance to the country's overall economic well-being. More than half of businesses have resisted the worst of the recession by innovating and creating new products and services, according to a new survey by the FSB.
The FSB-ICM Voice of Small Business annual survey revealed that 53% of businesses introduced new or improved products and services in the last year, and 51% intend to continue innovating next year, showing that small businesses are keen to grow and develop, despite the tough times.
Small businesses are innovators and job-creators, with more than 80% of new jobs created by small businesses in the five years to 2007.
There was more good news from the FSB survey: 27% of the 10,000 respondents said their profitability increased over the last year and 30% said their sales volume had increased over the last financial year.
Despite the difficulties they have faced over the past year, small firms are already leading the way out of recession and back into growth.
The depth and scale of the economic woes endured by some of the market’s biggest players this year may have distorted some views of UK plc.
As a very challenging year ends, the skills and values embedded in our SME sector should be clear for all to see well into 2010 and beyond.
Here’s to a happier year all round.
MATT JOHNSON is chairman of Mando Group.
