Small business owners are no longer judging their own opportunities for growth by the demise of their fellow competitors, a study has found. An annual poll of 500 SME owners found many are now relying on diversifying revenue streams through new sales channels as something to capitalise on.
Increased consumer awareness about the benefits of using small businesses, and realising cost savings, such as reducing fixed costs like rent, are also among the top 13 opportunities identified for 2023. In comparison to 2022’s list of opportunities, as voted by SME owners, introducing new technology to improve business efficiency is down, while expanding into new locations and opening branches have gone up.
Net Zero carbon emissions are also seen as an opportunity for business, which did not register among SME owners in 2022. It comes as AXA UK launched its Start Up Angel competition, which is offering two prizes of £25,000 in funding, four £10,000 prizes for digital marketing campaigns, and mentorship with some of Britain’s best entrepreneurs.
Deepak Soni, director of SME business insurance at AXA UK, said: “Challenges provide opportunities, but it’s not always easy to capitalise on them. The last few years have been amongst the toughest for small businesses due to the Covid pandemic, so we’re doing our best to support and encourage those who have just set out on their journey.
“The AXA Startup Angel competition, which closes on Sunday, will provide an invaluable boost to a selection of small British startups.” The 2023 report found SME owners are less worried about weak demand for their products domestically than they were 12 months ago.
Encouragingly, more than half (58 per cent) said they have reached their main business goal since starting out. For 22 per cent, the core driver was to simply be their own boss, while 14 per cent wanted to improve their work/life balance. As 2023 continues, the key opportunity British SME owners see appearing is clients returning as the economy stabilises (21 per cent).
A fifth are looking forward to introducing new products and services, and 19 per cent expect to see an uptick in domestic clients. But while closure of competitors was a big opportunity for 20 per cent in 2022, this year that number drops to just 12 per cent, according to the study carried out via OnePoll.
Deepak Soni added: “Small business owners seem less concerned about benefitting from the demise of competitors – focusing instead on launching new products and services, and reaping the benefits of clients returning to the market. We look forward to seeing how things may change in 2024’s report, hopefully putting Covid and other recent challenges further in the rear-view mirror.”
2023’s TOP 13 SME OPPORTUNTIES:
- Clients returning as the economy stabilises
- Introducing new products or services
- Acquiring new domestic clients
- Increasing revenues through new sales channels
- Keeping new working patterns (e.g. remote/hybrid working)
- Expansion into new locations/opening new branches
- Closure of competitors
- Realising cost savings (e.g. by reducing fixed costs such as rents)
- Increased consumer awareness of the benefits of using small businesses
- Implementing a new technology that will improve business efficiencies
- Selling more into international markets
- Impact of Brexit (e.g. less competition from EU)
- Preparing for Net Zero (carbon targets)
2022's TOP 12 SME OPPORTUNITIES:
- Return of clients as the economy reopens
- Introducing new products or services
- Expanding business and acquiring new domestic clients
- Closure of competitors
- Increased home working/retained new ways of working
- Increasing revenues through new sales channels e.g. online
- Expansion into new areas/new branches
- New technology that will improve business efficiencies
- Realising cost savings e.g. by reducing fixed costs such as rents
- Increased consumer awareness of climate change, sustainability, and ethical practices
- Selling more into international markets
- Brexit e.g. less competition from EU
