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Overstretched Entrepreneurs Say they Can’t Find Time for Innovation
Published Nov 29, 2015
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The world’s small & medium business owners are struggling to innovate due to competing business priorities and a lack of appropriately skilled employees according to a new global survey by Sage.
Nearly a third (32%) of small business owners around the world have neglected the development of new business ideas, a problem which is hitting Spanish businesses particularly hard (38%). The problem stems from a lack of time, despite small business owners working over 40 hours a week (as revealed in Sage global research released last week). 42% attribute their long hours to the unavailability of appropriately skilled employees. South African entrepreneurs are finding this particularly tough, with 57% saying that improved skills amongst the workforce would help release that necessary time.
The development of new ideas was ranked as the most common area of neglect, with customer contact, staff development and bill payment also on the priority list. In a small number of countries, including the UK and Germany, entrepreneurs have said they would rather spend time on innovation than on general office administration.
The survey by Sage, the market leader for integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems, highlights some of the major challenges facing the world’s small business owners as they strive to power the global economy.
But innovation isn’t the only thing to suffer as a result of time-poor entrepreneurs. Over a third (38%) of those surveyed say that time pressures result in losing customers and clients. In addition, small business owners are sacrificing valuable down-time with 33% having taken fewer than five days of holiday in the last year. This figure rises to 57% in South Africa.
However, small business owners are open to solutions to help them devote more time to innovation. As well as improving skills amongst employees, better administrative processes and technology were highlighted (by 51% of respondents) as useful in releasing more time. Brazilians rank this much higher, with 69% saying this would help.
Stephen Kelly, CEO of Sage comments: ‘Small businesses around the world are the true heroes of the global economy and we need to support them in helping them find the time to develop and grow. When so many businesses create a dream business from a great idea, its heart breaking to see business owners forced to let that innovation fall by the wayside. We know how hard they work, and we want to help entrepreneurs carve out some time to keep their innovative spark alive.’
“The Sage Global Research results and the Small Business Saturday campaign come at a really good time as we have just concluded a week dedicated to innovation in the UAE. The Sage results when compared to the reports released during the UAE Innovation week, are applicable to the region as well. I have no doubt the upcoming Sage sessions will be useful to everyone in the UAE and Middle East,” commented Mr. Reggie Fernandes, Regional Director of Sage ME.
The research has been launched as part of a broader campaign by Sage to recognise and celebrate the contribution small business owners make to the global economy. To help address some of the challenges found in the research, Sage is offering free digital advice sessions every day of the week commencing November 30. The advice sessions will cover a range of topics and will be hosted by Sage executives and celebrated business owners and commentators. For more information, please visit http://www.sage.com/company/news-and-events/stephens-blog/the-innovation-problem-whats-holding-small-businesses-back
As part of this campaign, Sage is also calling for small business owners to let it know why they do what they do, via a short video submission. For further details, please visit http://www.sage.com/company/news-and-events/stephens-blog/the-innovation-problem-whats-holding-small-businesses-back
Posted by
VMD - [Virtual Marketing Department]
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