4 Business Objectives and Growth
Building the capability for business growth among small businesses is important, not just because of the direct benefits of their expansion, but also on account of the stimulus which a more dynamic small business sector will provide for competition and innovation across the economy as a whole.
We have already seen (in Chapter 2) that 16 per cent of small businesses with employees expected that the numbers they employed would increase during the coming year. This chapter focuses more generally on SMEs' business growth (that is, it covers more than just employment growth) during the period 'the next two to three years'. It discusses the intention to grow the business, and so provides a clear picture of our respondents' objectives for the size of their businesses, unimpeded by considerations about whether they might reasonably expect to achieve it or not.