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1. Small is BeautifulThe state and status of Scottish SME’s 1100 locations | 500 cities | 85 countries Presented by: Name | Date: Date

2. Overview Is entrepreneurialism vital to the Scottish economy? How well is entrepreneurial business being fostered and supported in Scotland? How does this affect overall UK economic development?

3. Global Report Regushas polled the opinions of: 10,000business respondents 5,600 business owners Spanning 78countries To obtain a snapshot of the global SME sector

4. How do we recognise entrepreneurialism? Entrepreneurial success is an indicator for innovation and future wealth generation. Concerns and obstacles faced by SMEs are likely to have significant repercussions on the economy as a whole. In the UK, £150m has been put aside for SMEs over the nextfour years

5. UK snapshot In the UK - SMEs account for 60% of private employment and 49% of private sector turnover. In the UK 38% of entrepreneurs, compared to 34% of ‘all businesses’ intend to hire new staff in the next six months

6. Focus on Scotland Scotland is lagging behind the rest of the UK slightly with only 26% of SMEs looking to increase their head count in 2011 However this still positively compares against larger business with only 25% stating they are looking to increase headcount

7. Smaller businesses feel ignored Scottish entrepreneurs feel ignored by government and ignored by the press Nearly nine in ten entrepreneurs (86%) feel that the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises are typically overlooked by government UK average at 79%

8. Stress levels rising 34% of respondents in Scotland declare that their stress levelshave risen markedly in thepast two years. USA comes top of the table at 35% France records the lowest proportion of business people experiencing a severe increasein workplace stress (10.6%)

9. Serious Concerns The top three causes of stress for entrepreneurs in Scotland are: 1 -Rising Taxes 2 - Falling Revenues 3 - Red Tape / New Regulations

10. Setting up business becoming more difficult 59% of entrepreneurs in the UK revealed that it has become more difficult to launch a business in the past few years

11. Legal penalties for late payment 72% of entrepreneurs globally declared that legal penalties should be introduced for late payment of invoices Cash flow problems are the most likely cause of small business failures

12. Entrepreneur’s hire more staff 26% of Scottish entrepreneurs intend to hire in the next 6 months 38% - UK average Entrepreneurs in Scotland and the UK are more prepared to take the gamble for growth and hire new staff than larger companies Globally 40% intend to hire new staff

13. Positive about hiring working mothers 26% Scottish entrepreneurs are looking to hire working mothers in 2011 This the same %as those looking to hire new staff - suggesting that Scottish SME’s are not discriminating against working mums. This is particularly pronouncedwhen you consider the UK whereonly 24% of businesses arelooking to hire working mum’sagainst 38% of SME businessas a whole employing new staff. Over half (54%) of entrepreneurs declare that part time mothersare valuable to them

14. Better attitude towards flexible working 60% of Scottish Entrepreneurs are flexible about work location. This means they don’t have a place of work they attend every day - this includes mobile working, homeworking and flexible working across several locations. 74% - UK average Globally, 76%of entrepreneurial businesses offer flexible working

15. Conclusion Is entrepreneurialism vital to the Scottish economy? How well is entrepreneurial business being fostered and supported in Scotland? How does this affect overall UK economic development?