News and features

Mon, 10 Jan 2011

Technology 'key to growing a business'

Taking advantage of technology is one of the keys to growing a business in the current economic climate, one expert has suggested.

Julie Meyer, entrepreneur adviser, said firms that are "a bit more savvy about digital strategies" are those that are more likely to perform well at present.

"The ones that seem to do better are the ones that leverage some technology," she remarked, adding that this, combined with a bit of extra finance, can help enterprises survive the first two years of operation.

This, she observed, is when a lot of new businesses go bust due to their fragile financial state.

On the whole, Ms Meyer said, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are leading the way in terms of the economic recovery, as firms in this sector that are expanding at a rapid rate currently account for over half (54 per cent) of all new jobs being created.

This means many people who have been made redundant from larger firms as a result of the recession are looking to switch to the SME market.

"New company creation and high-growth SMEs are really how we are going to pull ourselves out of the economic slump and into economy growth," Ms Meyer concluded.

She was commenting after research published by Barclays earlier this week showed SMEs intend to create two million jobs over the next year, with businesses in Southampton expecting to record annual growth of 49 per cent.

However, the study also showed more than half of SMEs have not drawn up a formal business plan.

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