An Empirical Study of the Small Business Support Network—The Entrepreneurs' Perspective

Abstract

This study examines impediments to small business development as they relate to the enterprise support network. In order to identify sources of dissatisfaction, 10 small business owners were brought together for a focus group discussion. Subsequently, another 90 small businesses were surveyed by telephone, in an effort to explore the perceptions of the focus group further. A high level of satisfaction was expressed with the counsel of professional advisors, but low regard for the fit between government programs and the needs of small business. Those companies which could not name any government programs that had been beneficial were likely to be smaller organizations. Also, firms not using the services of outside professionals tended to have fewer employees, as did the firms which did not prepare business plans. Further, companies with staffs of two to four showed substantially lower levels of satisfaction with their bank relationship than did any other companies, both in level of support received and their financing arrangements. Résumé La présente étude porte sur les obstacles reliés au réseau d'aide à l'entreprise qui empêchent l'expansion des petites entreprises. Pour établir les causes d'insatisfaction, l'équipe a réuni un groupe de discussion formé de 10 propriétaires de petites entreprises. Puis, pour approfondir les perceptions de ce groupe, elle a sondé par téléphone 90 autres entreprises de même taille. Il en ressort une haute satisfaction du recours aux services des conseils professionnels, mais un décalage entre les programmes gouvernementaux et les besoins de la petite entreprise. Les très petites sociétés sont généralement incapables de désigner un seul programme gouvernemental qui leur aurait été bénéfique. Par ailleurs, celles qui ne consultent pas à l'externe tendent à avoir un personnel très réduit, tout comme celles qui n'élaborent pas de plans d'entreprise. Enfin, les sociétés employant de deux à quatre personnes se sont déclarées moins satisfaites que les autres de leurs relations avec leurs banquiers, en ce qui concerne l'aide et les modalités de financement.

Seeking Advice in a Dynamic and Complex Business Environment: Impact on the Success of Small Firms

“…Various factors may be responsible for this reluctance on the part of the small business owner to seek advice. Some researchers suggest that independent-minded owners treasure their autonomy and are fearful that accepting advice may lead to feelings of dependence on the advisor (Zinger et al, 1996). Moreover, asking for and receiving information may imply that the business owner does not know enough about the area in which they seek information and, oftentimes, owners are reluctant to make such an admission (Curran and Blackburn, 2000).…”

“…Thus, perhaps it is the environment in which the firm exists that drives small business owners to seek advice from niche sources such as lawyers. Earlier research tended to seek explanations in the characteristics of the owner (Pineda et al, 1998;Zinger et al, 1996), but it might be instructive to look at the characteristics of the environment instead of continuing to focus on personal attributes of the owner. It is to the impact of the environment on the frequency of advice seeking that we now turn.…”

Factors Affecting the Use of Public Support Services by Sme Owners: Evidence From a Periphery Region of Canada

“…There are many reasons for this. They may believe the advice is not practical or tailored to their situation; that advisors charge too much for the results they achieve; or that support agencies do not understand small business (Dalley and Hamilton, 2000;Zinger et al, 1996;Curran et al, 1993). According to Lightfoot (1998), negative perceptions may have their roots in small business owners' psychology, namely traits such as a strong commitment to personal autonomy and independence.…”

“…On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = little or no importance and 5 = great importance), the mean value for access to services provided by small business centers was 2.19, while it was 2.06 for governmental services providing start-up expertise (Wyckham, Wedley and Culver, 2001). According to another Canadian study of 90 small business owner-managers, half of them felt the available government programs did not meet their needs (Zinger et al,1996). This opinion is shared by owner-managers in Quebec (n = 196), where one-third felt the assistance given by support agencies was inadequate and did not meet their needs (Borges, Simard and Filion, 2005).…”

The Adequacy of Pre‐purchase Due Diligence in Independent Small Business and Franchising

“…Gibb (1997) goes as far as to propose that a small to medium enterprise's (SME) ability to survive is a function of its ability to learn from certain stakeholders (e.g., accountants, lawyers, bankers). However, this can be difficult because, according to Zinger et al (1996), entrepreneurs usually consider themselves to be fiercely independent and a need to ask for advice might damage that perception. On the other hand, some argue that advisers (particularly accountants) play a vital role in the emotional wellbeing of investors because of their role as a professional service provider (Carter et al 2013).…”