About the respondents
The UK Business Barometer surveys the people running small and medium size businesses. In the November survey 151 respondents were drawn with the following population characteristics:
| Sector |
| Production & Manufacturing |
Distribution |
Services |
Total |
| 25.2% |
7.9% |
66.9% |
100.0% |
| Turnover (£) |
| < 1 M |
1M-3M |
>3M |
Total |
| 71.5% |
17.2% |
11.3% |
100.0% |
| Number of Full-time Employees |
| 1-10 |
11-20 |
21-50 |
51-100 |
100+ |
Grand Total |
| 60.3% |
25.2% |
7.3% |
3.3% |
4.0% |
100.0% |
Survey Findings
The period October - December is the time of year when domestic robberies have recently been at their highest, and warnings are regularly given about homes being targeted for Christmas gifts and other new acquisitions. For businesses, this seasonality is not so obvious. Although 25% of respondents to the UKBB survey think that winter is the most vulnerable time of the year for break-ins etc., 57% believe that there is no season in which firms are more vulnerable.
We asked the same question in our parallel survey of Business Advisers, the UKBAB. 34% of respondents to that survey decided that winter was the most vulnerable time for physical business crimes, but 51% don't think there is a seasonal pattern.
Compared to this time last year there are signs that large firms may be becoming slower to pay. 37% of responding firms report more delay in payments, also 2% report significantly more delay. 57% find there has been no change. All of these are after elimination of 'not applicable' responses (12%).
The Advisers responding to the UKBAB were in broad agreement, with 31% finding evidence of more delay, plus 3% reporting significantly more delay, although 63% have not observed any change from a year ago. Again, these figures are after adjusting for 18% of respondents who chose 'not applicable' as their response.
Late payment by debtors is one of the factors contributing to weaker cash flows. When asked if cash flow is more or less favourable than a year ago, 27% of the respondents to the UKBB said that it was more favourable, while 34% said that it was less favourable. Respondents to the UKBAB were asked about their clients' cash flow positions. Only 9% thought it more favourable, while 44% understand it to be less favourable.
84% of the businesses responding to the Survey now have a website, but only % have payment facilities at present while a further 6% are soon going to set this up.
There is growing evidence of the value of being able to sell on-line with some companies reporting over 20% of sales in this way. Both the UKBB and the UKBAB surveys asked what the main barrier is to establishing an online trading facility. Both sets of respondents see products that are unsuitable for web sales as the overwhelming factor, with 63% in both cases, but of the remaining choices, set up costs were seen as a significant deterrent.
It is commonly believed that too little market research is carried out by smaller businesses. The reasons supposed for this include expense, difficulty, no need if the business is working well, too time consuming. Asked whether they carry out formal market research regularly, only just over one fifth, 23% of respondents said that they did.
Listed below are extracts from feedback received in Survey
BB90 November 2005.
Comments are listed under sector headings.
Views expressed are those of individual panellists and may not represent those
of the University.
Business Services
We have product that we could sell on the internet but getting a website set-up to do it with a merchant services set-up is the hardest bit.
cash flow is scarily bad
Re the web marketing question.
I think the real problem is driving people to your website.
Production & Manufacturing
We know we ought to do more market research, but have not got round to it.
The question about adding a shopping facility to a website is missing a possible answer "none, due to skills/time shortage to implement". Whilst personally, I actually would be hard pressed to choose between the above answer and the one I chose which was "products not suitable for web selling".
My brother and fellow director has asked me before about selling a "select category" of products on our website. But time (and skills) are holding me back.
I am guessing here, but I think other small businesses would be in the same boat.
