A view from the UK

It is fair to say that Brexit and COVID-19 have bashed small businesses over the past 18 months. But for many, the experience has made them more resilient and fit for the future.

When the first lockdown was mandated in the UK, I read of people on furlough who took time to learn new languages and pursue long-forgotten skills. Not so for millions of business owners who were thrown into turmoil, first wondering how they and their teams would financially survive and then, having made it through the first tense months, figuring out how to stay connected to customers.

It’s a remarkable fact that the UK witnessed a start-up boom during this time. Companies House recorded the highest number of new company formations in June 2020. This was, in part, necessity entrepreneurship as those who could not find work were forced to create their own employment. But mostly, it was opportunity entrepreneurship where people with time on their hands spotted gaps in the market or took a side-hustle (a business run alongside the day-job) and turned it into a full-time venture. The task now is to ensure that these lockdown start-ups get access to the right support and have every opportunity to keep trading.

For existing businesses navigating massive change, the ones that have survived reacted fast and pivoted to serve the changing needs of customers – which mainly required going online. At Enterprise Nation, we saw high demand from small businesses for education and training on how to build websites, master social media, accept online payments, onboard to delivery apps and marketplaces, and achieve all this while being cyber-secure. When the economy and High Streets re-opened, demands changed again to where online sellers wanted to test physical retail and meet customers in person. When buffeted, founders showed strength by simply figuring out how to trade through.
Challenges remain in the logistics of getting products into and out of the UK – and the cost of doing so. Added to this are rising energy and supply chain costs, while a changing landscape of health and safety restrictions causes confusion. Yet, businesses are in the position of having faced this before.

As we start the New Year, small business owners feel more in control of their finances (as they had to take a closer look at the books when there was the risk of no funds coming in). They are digitally more capable of responding to shocks as work has been done to polish websites and plugin e-commerce capability. And possibly most significant of all, resilience levels are at an all-time high. Founders feel that if they can navigate lockdowns and Brexit, they can take on anything. This bodes well for the year ahead.

Emma Jones is the Founder of Enterprise Nation, a business support platform and provider that operates in the UK and Ireland.