How would you describe the Suffolk small business community?

The Greenways Partnership

“Success is a journey, not a destination.”

Small Business Survey 2004

The purpose of this question was to provide a simple barometer of self-image within the small business community. We allowed a free form answer which respondents could define in their own way. We collated the replies, and then graded each in terms of whether it was a positive view or a negative view, from which we inferred a positive or negative self-image of the Suffolk small business community.

At the outset, we had no idea as to the likely proportions who held positive or negative images. Given the buoyancy of the small business sector, and given the abundance of alternative employment opportunities, we felt that there would be more with a positive view than a negative view. However, we would not have hazarded a guess at how the split would fall. In the event, we measured 21.8% of the sample as having negative views and 78.2% as having a positive self image.

We were drawn to the negative answers, as they provide a useful point against which we could triangulate many of the answers to previous questions. The range of answers referred to a number of features touched on elsewhere, such as Suffolk being a small and insular community, that the larger businesses tend to ignore the small business community, that the small business community can appear closed to those new to it, and so on. The main thread of the views can be interpreted to show that Suffolk continues to suffer from the lack of an industrial heritage, and that there is a danger that this will stifle innovation and entrepreneurship into the knowledge economy. We see this as a key critical uncertainty in the years leading to 2020.

Looking at the positive answers, which made up, by far, the bulk of the responses, the common theme is that the Suffolk small business community is vibrant, healthy, and thriving. The people are friendly, supportive, and helpful, and it is a pleasure to do business in Suffolk. I have to say that, whilst we can see the point of the negative view, we do sympathise more with the positive view - this is the Suffolk that we know.

On balance, we share the more optimistic view of the Suffolk small business community. This survey has given us a single snapshot of that community at one point in time. We would like to use this as a sample question on a longitudinal basis to see how the self-image changes over time. However, that was beyond the scope of the present survey.

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