Recent data from the Office of National Statistics suggests that at the start of 2019 there were over 5.8 million SMEs in the UK, of which 5.6 million of the UK’s SMEs were registered as micro businesses – an indicator that the appeal in developing a business from scratch is far from being in the decline.
This evidence is supported by our own statistics, at GetSet for Growth, a spin-out of YTKO. Its social mission was to support 20,000 British businesses by 2020, raise £50 million in finance, and the creation of more than 10,000 new jobs for the UK economy. Supporting the evidence that SME growth is far from declining, we delivered early on two of these milestones, having helped 22,000 businesses and raised £67 million finance, and celebrated our 10,000th new job in 2018.
With small and medium-sized enterprises at the heart of the UK economy, the government is committed to supporting small businesses to grow, and so is GetSet for Growth through GrowSmart.
GrowSmart is an online learning platform designed to provide SMEs with the knowledge, skills and know how to scale-up their businesses. GrowSmart helps SMEs generate growth in terms of increased sales, but also to focus on how to maintain and improve their productivity.
There is no other platform that create a holistic growth strategy ‘as you learn’. GrowSmart delivers modules and content in bite-sized portions to maximise flexibility of learning. The platform combines a series of interactive learning modules, with a comprehensive and continually growing resource library full of quality, in-depth articles and guides, all focused on helping SMEs acquire the knowledge and skills needed to grow their businesses. The platform provides the equivalent of a 10 day training course.
A UK government study of over 10,000 SMEs reports that almost half (49 per cent) of SME employers felt competition in the market, regulations and red tape were the major obstacles to the success of their business.
Together with the learning programme, users have access to a large library of articles covering a wide variety of topics from improving their business productivity and profitability, how to increase sales, beat competition and get into new markets, how to access finance, to developing better leadership and management skills. There is help in cutting through the red tape in the procurement process, as well as understanding new HR and data protection regulations too. With guides and videos to help businesses identify practical measures and techniques to address their business challenges. The platform also offers a Peer-to-Peer support network, where businesses can find role models in their different peers as well as in those who are a ‘step ahead’ or in a different sector.
Local government and corporate clients can license GrowSmart to help the SMEs in their region to grow, as well as helping increase their reach into underserved communities, such as rural areas, and those with disabilities or caring responsibilities. A Premium Plus to Advanced Plus licence will provide unlimited access to GrowSmart for as many SMEs as required. Powered by AI, the platform can answer questions and provide customised and detailed advice on a wide range of growth topics. This means GrowSmart can be used as the first place to send SMEs for expert growth advice, freeing up business advisers’ capacity to deliver more face-to-face support in the SME community.
To find out more about licensing GrowSmart, please email us at hello@growsmart.business
SMEs have different individual membership options for joining GrowSmart, including a 1-month free trial. Find out more about individual GrowSmart licences at www.growsmart.business
License GrowSmart today to help growing SMEs in your region. The UK’s entrepreneurial spirit is alive and kicking.
