Building up business
Closing the small business finance skills gap
Operating a small business can be a hugely rewarding experience, and small business owners play a pivotal role in the UK economy. The challenge is that many people are extremely passionate about their trade, but do not start their business with a high level of existing knowledge and skills to confidently manage their business finances.
Drawing on our expertise from Business Debtline, and our experience as a training provider, we want to build the financial resilience of small business owners across the UK, and help support more businesses to thrive.
The Building Up Business programme aims to do just that. Through our research, recommendations, and free virtual learning offer, we are sharing new insight and resources to help close the business finance skills gap.
Key findings from the research
Our findings show that there is a clear business finance skills gap:
- 2 in 5 Business Debtline clients do not feel confident navigating their business finances
- Only 1 in 10 Business Debtline clients said they had used any of the government-funded business support helplines
- Just 2 in 5 micro-traders agree there is good business support available for small business owners
Our research has revealed that there is a significant group of small business owners, running smaller businesses often on their own or with just one or two employees (micro-businesses), who feel under-served by the current business finance skills offering. Many don’t know where to turn, and struggle to find the support they need.
You can also read the full research report from the University of Bristol, who we worked with on the research.
Our recommendations
There is an urgent need to deliver business finance skills support that is relevant to the size and types of businesses people are running, that aligns with their aims and ambitions, and that is rooted in the experiences of other small business owners like them. We therefore recommend that:
- The Department for Business and Trade should use the Small Business Strategy to work with the small business sector to develop innovative approaches to delivering tailored, one-to-one finance skills support to micro-business owners.
- HMRC should continue to invest in tools to help small business owners understand and manage their tax obligations, evaluating and sharing the impact of changes to business guidance.
- Financial services firms, business energy providers and other creditors should review customer journeys and maximise opportunities to signpost to Business Debtline and the Building Up Business free virtual learning.
Building Up Business virtual learning
We’re piloting a brand new, free resource for small businesses. Using insight from our research, and our decades of experience running Business Debtline, we’ve developed a series of videos designed to help small business owners and self-employed people understand, and feel confident managing their business finances.
If you’re an organisation or firm working with small business owners, and would like to talk about how you can signpost to the Building Up Business learning, please get in touch.
