I was on holiday while the international SME week took place, but checking on the various incentives held in Denmark, it was obvious that big cities such as Copenhagen appeared to be the only ones who participated, and once again (judging from the information on the net) the focus was on Start-ups.
What most of us Micros need is information and help to keep going during this financial crisis. We have been through the exciting (and in some cases worrying) process of taking the step to become independent.
Now the majority of micros here on Lolland-Falster are well-established, and could use help to develop, to make the words of the EU Commission “Think Small First” actual.
To quote from the EU Commission again
This Commission together with the Member States has worked hard to improve the conditions for small companies. If there is a way out of the economic downturn, it is the SMEs’ creativity, flexibility and capacity to find solutions. Together we have already achieved improvements. But we must go further. We need more SMEs as they are the true drivers of growth
The topic of growth for micros has been touched on quite a few times in this blog, but nothing much seems to be happening. If you know of any incentives – please share them with us.
It is time to move focus just from establishing more micros and SMEs, to include focus on how to support already established businesses to improve their chances of increased growth once the financial crisis turns.
Now is the time to do something about it. We could spend the time on establishing good quality systems in our businesses – being able to document good practice will save time and energy as well as presenting a positive image to our clients.
Helen
Catching up on my reading I came across an article in ErhvervsBladet (20.01.09) written by Jon Arskog which extols Abelone’s idea of collaborating with potential competitors in order to handle bigger projects. (It seems to have taken the rest of the business world a while to realise how important it is to collaborate in order to survive!)
The article lists several points which actually are the same as those covered by Peter Lind Nielsen (ref my previous entry 21.01.09)
Jon Arskog also lists a quick summary of how to be prepared to tender for bigger projects:
- Keep an eye on tenders; check on the Kommunes’ home sites
- Ensure that you are locally ‘visible’ so the Kommune know who you are. People remember those they know about.
- Talk with others who are experienced in tendering for Kommunal projects. What are their experiences, both good and bad?
- Find collaborating partners if the projects are too big for you to handle on your own
It all ties in with our present debate on quality systems and the importance of being able to call on a group of micros that one knows all embrace the same high standards of quality.
Helen
I discussed Knowledge Management (KM) with a colleague recently, wondering why it has not become as accepted here in Denmark as it has elsewhere - the only answer we arrived at is that Danes are very individualistic, and probably because the return on KM activities can be difficult to evaluate.
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However, KM really does benefit any organisation, big or small. I read an interesting article on
KnowledgeBoard recently, explaining why benchmarking and classification systems are so useful - KM creates the systematic processes to share good practices with those in an organisation who need them. “The most effective benchmarking projects will accelerate an organisation’s rate of change and help to overcome complacency. There’s always another company or another division that has figured out a better way of doing some of the things you do.”
Admittedly, the benchmarking part was being offered by APQC who specialise in this as a service to their members, but this thinking can easily be expanded to cover networks – freely sharing best practices is generally repaid over and over – as exchange of useful hints, as recognition of the giver’s expertise etc. We know the system works as proven by the various kon-kollega partnerships already functioning in Mikronet.
But there are still many who are unwilling to share without knowing precisely “what’s in it for me?”….
We are a very diverse network, but surely there must be some common practices that we we can benchmark and help each other with?
Fresh from our Mikronet conference where a good deal of debate has resulted from Finn Helmer’s provoking and stimulating presentation, I’m still feeling elated from once again meeting fellow ‘Mikronetters’.
It is surprising how quickly we have become known to each other and how much I (and I expect others) find new levels of energy and inspiration for new ideas, new slants on what has for most of us become more routine during the past year. Despite a packed programme there was time to discuss common problems and aspirations, arrange to meet to talk collaboration etc. It was also encouraging to meet so many new members of the network.
Martin sent a mail to the network where, amongst other things, he asked some pertinent questions. Answers to most of these will be, hopefully, be covered by research into evaluating micro-businesses’ impact on the economy, the value we create. Mikronet has received grants to fund this research, and I for one am looking forward to reading the final report.
Abelone asked Mikronetters to respond to Martin’s questions –
1 - How do we measure the value we create?
2 - Is this value more important than growth?
3 - Is too much emphasis placed on growth?
Here are my thoughts:
1. I suppose one measure is the actual income generated – that is of value, in particular here on Vest Lolland where every taxpayer is appreciated. In my case this income is small, so on the grander scale of things it probably does not weigh very heavy. But as the Scots say –‘many a mickle makes a muckle’ or in other words, if there are enough micros, the combined income represents a very significant factor in the Region’s economy.
Another value that is less easy to measure is that self employed, entrepreneurs, free-lancers seem to be less likely to take time off for illness – this sort of sweeping statement should probably be investigated more scientifically. But if it is true then we do presumably place less strain on the health system?
Speaking for me, the value that I create in my daily life is that - entirely due to my business - I meet very interesting people, work on varied and fascinating projects and that by having my curiosity stimulated and feeling involved I am, on the whole, contented.
2. Yes, I consider this to more important than growth in sheer terms of earning more or employing someone to help out. Where I do hope for growth is in the range and complexity of projects – those should show growth, otherwise the excitement of being independent will probably pale. I also hope to enter into some competitor-colleague arrangements where our combined abilities will enable us to tackle bigger, more complex projects.
3. I think so – at least in the sense of employing more people, getting bigger premises - those aspects that the state seem to be concerned about.
At last there is some action with my plans to grow my business!
I had a meeting with Palle Temsen from the local Trade and Development Center… and together we arrived at some concrete next steps.
1. Get my homepage sorted out (I’ll be studying Dann’s blog entries with even more interest!).
2. Select potential local clients
3. Send my fact sheets to these selected businesses with a good introductory letter.
4. This to be followed up by a ‘phone call to see if they are interested in the material - this time I’ll be relying on the good advice from the Mikronet meeting with Ulla Lisa Thordin as speaker. I am still a lousy seller when it comes to my own services…
We discussed my firm’s name. I have felt for quite a while that it is not a good one for Denmark - people generally can’t pronounce it and find it instantly forgettable. Palle also thought that it could act in a limiting manner e.g. that the focus is too much on pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. The name was originally registered in the UK when I worked almost exclusively with medical / device organisations, but since then the service offered have expanded to cover most business sectors. So at the moment we are pondering good names. I was surprised to find how simple it is to change a business’ name - a talk with Skat (the income tax service) confirmed that I just need to send in an application and that is it - no fuss, more importantly, no charges.
It does raise a question - do I keep both names or simply sort out a ‘point to’ when people try to contact me by the old name? It’ll be fun to sort it all out!
I think I’ll reread Abelone and Margrete’s useful book about “Micro businesses with expansion plans“. (a very rough translation of the title.)
Af