Written By:
Dr Llyr ap Gareth
Head of Policy
FSB Cymru
FSB Wales’ Head of Policy Dr Llyr ap Gareth pleads the case for evidence from business, the importance of evidence based policy – and for SMEs to share their views in FSB’s new small business survey
I’m sure that any reader is constantly inundated with unrequested pop ups or email spam, and to fill in this or that survey or request for feedback for all kinds of minor services from rating your postal delivery to rating your banking services app, to feedback on all tiny facets of modern life. Like me, I’m sure you inevitably press ‘no’, delete the offending spam, or get rid of that unsolicited pop up.
It is with some trepidation then that I urge anyone running a small business to fill in the Federation for Small Businesses Wales’s Big Small Business Survey.
Hopefully I can persuade you it’s worth your time and that it’s also worth it for other SMEs in your networks. There are very real reasons why it is important to gather this evidence, and also for SME owners to find time in their very busy lives to fill it in.
From the side of decision makers and policy makers – including our role at FSB – it is important that policies that affect small business are evidence-based and responsive to the struggles they face and support the opportunities available, as well as understanding the context in which SMEs find themselves, and the many motivations and value of businesses to Wales.
More importantly, for small businesses it is an opportunity to provide insights from your own experiences and express what you need.
The Big Small Business Survey is therefore a core part of providing a conduit between what your small business needs, and building evidence for interventions that support, sustain and help businesses to thrive. With a Welsh election next May, this is the perfect time to share your views for maximum impact in shaping the economic agenda for the next Welsh Government – whatever political hue (or mix of hues) that government ends up being.
Numbers matter. The larger the number of businesses that fill in the survey, the more compelling the numbers to support our calls for policy changes to support small businesses, and the greater legitimacy those calls carry, shaped as they by real experiences on the ground.
So, whether your issues relate to high streets or regulation, skills and employment, or taxes, I’m sure there’s something in the Big Small Business Survey that relates to any small business’ experiences and needs.
So, the aim is that in helping us with the evidence you give FSB the necessary ammunition to push for changes to help you. Whenever FSB have been successful in fighting SMEs corner, whether in mitigating the effects of business rates, in ensuring Covid (or post-Covid) support is responsive to the needs of businesses, or in more complex areas of procurement and supply chains or skills, it is without fail due to the insights gained from small businesses themselves.
For any incoming government, the advantages are that an evidence-based policy is more likely to provide for successful economic policy. Small businesses are key to driving that success and to achieving government policy and aims, provide huge value to their communities and to the wellbeing of those communities through better jobs and opportunities.
So hopefully, in helping shape the agenda for the next five years, I can persuade you that this particular survey is actually worth 10 minutes of your time.
Access the survey here.
