The Greenways Partnership

“Success is a journey, not a destination.”

Small Business Survey 2004

What is great about doing business in Suffolk?

The purpose of this question was to examine what it was that the sample feels are the positives about doing business in Suffolk. What we were particularly hoping to draw out was the attraction to locating a business in Suffolk.

 

At the outset, we expected the replies to put the business case for doing business in Suffolk. There is much to recommend Suffolk - access to the London market, a convenient placement to the Benelux hub of Europe, a well educated and well motivated work-force, and the space in which to develop a business free of land based constraints. In the event, we were surprised with the answers that we received because, despite looking for a focus on the positive, a good proportion of respondents gave negative answers.

 

The answers received fell into four categories which we can tabulate as follows:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These results surprised us for two reasons. First, the case for doing business in Suffolk was presented in environmental terms (it is a great place to live and the people are really nice) instead of in business terms (the business benefits of Suffolk are … as listed above). Second, one in ten businesses in the sample, even when coaxed, could find no positives to doing business in Suffolk. Furthermore, about 15% of the survey felt unable to answer the question because they did not operate in Suffolk.

 

We looked further at these answers. Some of the substantive replied behind the statistics are instructive. Asked why they could find no positives with which to answer the question, one respondent (a Purple business) replied that “there simply aren’t any”. Alternatively, another respondent (an Orange business) stated that “it is just too much hard work to make any money here”. Finally, yet another respondent (a Beige business) told us that “it is very hard work to make a living, people want the lowest possible price for everything”. Underlying these answers seems to be a layer of disillusionment with the local small business community.

 

This disillusionment is further reflected by those who do not work locally. For example, one respondent (a Red business), when asked why they worked away from Suffolk, replied that “there are a lack of leads into large companies in Suffolk”. Again, another respondent (an Orange business) stated that all of their work is in London, and that they wouldn’t consider looking for business locally because the rates are too low.

 

The positive responses, which do represent three quarters of the sample, were also interesting. For example, when asked why Suffolk was a great place in which to do business, one respondent (a Red business) told us that “Suffolk was a great place to live and that” he had “lived here all of my life”. Yet another respondent (an Orange business) told us that the “slow pace of life” appealed to him. This mood was echoed by those who thought that the benefits of doing business in Suffolk were the people. When asked to expand on this, one respondent (a Red business) told us that it was possible “to get to know your clients and have personal contact with them”. Alternatively, another respondent (a Green business) informed us that Suffolk has “friendly people and lots of support, and it’s not as competitive as London”.

 

This is all very interesting, but not one of our respondents, when asked what was great about doing business in Suffolk, put the business case for locating in Suffolk. Furthermore, our supplementary questions failed to reveal the business case. The supplementary conversation was all about the lifestyle that one might expect in Suffolk rather than a more business orientated discussion.

 

We find these results both interesting and concerning. They are interesting as they seem to reinforce other research that suggests that small business location is heavily influenced by the lifestyle preferences of the founder (a good golf course seems to be more important than an educated workforce). This would imply that policy directed at channelling inward investment for small business by making the business case for location in Suffolk is misdirected. It would be better to highlight the amenities in Suffolk.

 

The results are concerning because they suggest that about one quarter of the Suffolk small business community is disillusioned with, or openly hostile to, doing business in Suffolk. In reaching out to these respondents, we were able to feel their frustration, anger, and hostility. Needless to say, these are issues that resurfaced later in the sequence of questions.

 

 

© The Greenways Partnership Limited 2004

For all enquiries, please contact us by E-mail at enquiries@greenways-partnership.com.

Spiral Profiling™, Networking Tips™ and Monchers™ are a Trademarks of The Greenways Partnership Limited, a company incorporated in England, Reg Number 2825001. Registered office; 6 Greenways Close, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 3RB, United Kingdom. UK Data Protection Registration Number Z7277556.

Busy-Ness™ is a Trademark of Design By Accident Limited, a company incorporated in England, Reg Number 2825001. Registered office; 6 Greenways Close, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 3RB, United Kingdom. The Greenways Partnership Limited promotes Busy-Ness™ under an exclusive UK Licence.

All rights reserved.