Introduction

THE SUFFOLK SMALL BUSINESS PROJECT

Introducing the project.

One of the problems faced by small independent futures practice is that it can rarely own the projects that it works upon. It is usually the case that the small independent practice acts as part of a larger project team and that the ownership rights to the piece of work lay either with the client or with the main contractor. This affects the degree to which the results can be placed in the public domain. If the client is in the private sector, then issues of commercial confidentiality prevent the full publication of the work. And if the client is in the public sector, then, in the UK, issues involving the Official Secrets Act affect the publication of the work.

This led us, in 2003, to consider undertaking a pro bono futures project, the purpose of which would be to provide a live example of our futures work so that prospective clients could see the type of project upon which we could be engaged. It would also have the effect of driving traffic to our company web site, which is another of our key corporate objectives. There was also another reason. At meetings within the profession I often discuss with colleagues our methodology in producing scenarios. One of the objectives of the current work is to provide a live demonstration of how a project might develop, along with some IPR that colleagues might be able to use in their own work.

Once we had decided that we wanted to undertake a pro bono scenario project, the next problem was to consider the topic. The focus of our work is very much on the practical aspects of futures — how the results might affect those for whom we are conducting the work. We wanted a topic that would have a fairly immediate payback in terms of the target audience. All in all, we decided that a project looking at small business futures would be able to draw upon the skill sets that we had in-house (i.e. we would not need to buy in any expertise).

The focus would be on the English county of Suffolk. We appreciate that this is a small focus geographically, but a wider focus would simply absorb an undue amount of our own resources. Originally, we thought to run the project out to 2015, but, on reflection once the research aspects of the project had begun, we felt that the year 2020 would be a more appropriate focus as it is far enough to be considered a long range view, but it is also near enough to avoid the allegation of being too speculative.

The objective of the project is to generate four scenarios for the Suffolk Small Business community out to 2020. It is intended that the scenarios would be used by small businesses in Suffolk to inform themselves about the possible environments in which they are likely to find themselves operating. A second potential user group of the scenarios is the group of advisors to small businesses in Suffolk. Finally, we would hope that the scenarios might be used by the policy makers in Suffolk as a means of informing themselves about the possible future environments for small businesses.

It is generally true that we get the future that we deserve. If we want a future that works for us rather than against us, then we need to act proactively in the present to ensure that we can enjoy our preferred outcome in the future. We can influence the future if we plan for it, and this project is one of many steps to ensuring that Suffolk has the small business community it deserves in 2020. The project can help us point to the possible futures for the Suffolk Small Business community. It is up to us to ensure that we guide ourselves into the desired futures that we would want for the community.

Stephen Aguilar-Millan

February 2004

Please go to the Project Brief page for a full outline of the Project Brief.

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