Background

The SME (small to medium enterprises) market is one of the major drivers of the economy. It is referred to in generic terms and often sweeping statements are made about SME’s without necessarily understanding the needs of the segments within SME’s

The SME tag covers a huge range of businesses. Interestingly there is no universal definition of SME. The government has its definition, banks have another. We have gone to the EU to get our definition:-

Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are defined according to their staff headcount and turnover or annual balance-sheet total.

A medium-sized enterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 250 persons and whose annual turnover does not exceed EUR 50 million or whose annual balance-sheet total does not exceed EUR 43 million.

A small enterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 50 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 10 million.

A microenterprise is defined as an enterprise which employs fewer than 10 persons and whose annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 2 million.

Interestingly in the UK  there are some 4.8 million enterprises that are defined as SME by the Statistical Office.

However,  3.6 million do not employ staff i.e. sole traders and can be excluded. Therefore. based on the above definitions, of the remaining 1.2 million businesses there are 1 million microenterprises, 167000 small enterprises and only  26000 medium sized enterprises. (Source BIS Enterprise Analytical Unit: Latest figures 2009)

The demands of these three segments are completely different and the complexity of transitioning from micro to small and small to medium brings totally different issues.

Here at Team Results we are the proven experts in helping business owners in the difficult transition from a small to a medium enterprise.

Often businesses and their owners go through periods of growth followed by a plateau followed by growth… These plateaus are where the profits, cash-flow and service delivery are in a period of balance. Having worked with countless businesses through this cycle we have identified that the substantial structural and leadership changes required to transition to a medium company are often too great and the businesses struggles, with profits, cash-flow and delivery no longer in equilibrium.

Interestingly, there loads of organizations set up to help the micro and small businesses from Government bodies such as Universities, Business Link to the Federation of Small Businesses, Banks, Accountants and Coaches of all shades etc. etc. For the businesses that have achieved medium size there are the CBI, IOD, Business Schools etc.

However, there is little help for businesses going through the small / medium transition.
 
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