Post-business start-up companies with fewer than 50 employees are perfectly placed for fast growth and high levels of employee satisfaction, according to research into what makes organisations successful and satisfied.
The Vodafone UK Working Nation business advice report identified seven key areas that are most likely to lead to both financial success and individual satisfaction and found that small but growing firms, that had existed for four to five years and had 10-50 staff, were the best fit with this template.
The key business advice small firms must follow to make the most of their potential are as follows:
- Leaders, not followers: more than three-quarters of growing businesses see themselves as leaders, compared with 68% of businesses overall
- Risk-taking, not cautious: while a quarter of all employees say their business takes risks, this figure rises to nearly one-third among profitable businesses
- Innovative: among growing businesses, 68% of employees perceive their organisation to be innovative, compared with an average of 60%
- Diversifying: while only just over 51% of UK businesses see themselves as diversifying, this rises to 60% among growing businesses
- Have a clear single identity: two-thirds of businesses that are experiencing growth say they have a clear single identity
- Early adopters: 53% of growing businesses are the first to try and use new technologies
- Long-term strategists: 70% of businesses that recorded a profit in the past 12 months class themselves as consistently planning and developing long-term strategies
“The business advice report provides a valuable insight into the vital characteristics that successful businesses share,” said Gerard Burke, director of the business growth and development programme at Cranfield School of Management. “My own work with owner managers from hundreds of successful growing businesses has shown me that important conclusions can be drawn from businesses that succeed and those that fail.”
The business advice survey also revealed Edinburgh as the UK’s business success hotspot, with respondents in the Scottish capital 25% more likely to work for a growing company that the national average. The city also has the highest levels of staff retention in the UK.
The city that sees itself as the most innovative was found to be Liverpool, while Bristol was named as the top centre for research and development.