Interesting facts and stats on small and medium-sized enterprises, like the fact that SMEs together account for 99.9% of all UK enterprises. This was first published in Business Strategy Review Issue 1-2011. Subscribe today to receive your quarterly copy delivered to your home or work place. http://bit.ly/BSR-subscribe

1. C
P
Passion
9
Pe
Pe
Perseverance
10
Cr
Le
Leadership
11
22.8million
99.9%
£15billion
There are around 4.8 million private sector
enterprises in the UK, employing 22.8 million
people with an estimated combined annual
turnover of £3,200 billion.
stats.bis.gov.uk
A latent pool of hidden
innovators (over 50s, ethnic
minorities, the disabled)
could potentially add £15 billion to
the UK economy by 2012 if the right
conditions were created.
Cass Business School Centre for New
Technologies, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Small and medium-sized enterprises
together account for 99.9% of all UK
enterprises, 59.8% of private sector
employment and 49% of private
sector turnover.
stats.bis.gov.uk
SMEs regard four factors
as equally important
barriers to innovation:
problems in access to
finance, scarcity of
skilled labour, a lack
of market demand
and the high cost of
human resources.
ec.europa.eu
39%
Only 39% of entrepreneurial
businesses have a
‘very good idea’ of their
competitors’ business.
Deloitte Entrepreneurship UK 2009 Report
problems
in access
to finance
lack of
market
demand
scarcity
of skilled
labour
high cost
of human
resources
FACTSINC.
SMALL
BUSINESS,
BIGNUMBERS
18 BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW ISSUE 1 – 2011
business REPORT

2. $2trillionResearchers at MIT found that companies
held by living MIT alumni employed more than
3 million people and did $2 trillion in business
worldwide, equivalent to the 11th-largest
economy in the world.
entrepreneur.com
Of the 4.7 million UK enterprises,
only 15% are led by women
“Inspiring Women: Corporate best practice in Europe”,
London Business School.
Samoa went from one of the toughest
places in the world to start a business
to one of the best — 131st out of 183
to number 20.
online.wsj.com
Women account for around one
in four of all enterprises in the
Slovak Republic.
euractiv.com
Research indicates that female
entrepreneurs are more innovative than
their male counterparts: they are more
likely to be providing a product new
to the market, more likely to be using
technology in their products or services
and more likely to be offering a product
or service developed in the last year.
theukrc.org
Samoa
UK enterprises
Percentage
led by women
19www.london.edu/bsr BUSINESS STRATEGY REVIEW
SMALL BUSINESS,BIG NUMBERS