I recently heard two very clear voices of reason. One was a senior executive of a multinational operating in Ireland and the other was a well known economist. They talked about many issues but some key comments are worth noting:

1. The powerhouse of economic growth in virtually every economy is Small Business
2. The key factor that helps these businesses is access to credit rather that government stimulus packages
3. Governments world wide listen to consumers and big business with small business not getting a look in.  In Ireland we could probably add the social partners to this list.

Specifically focussing on Ireland, they highlighted the following:

1. We grew our economy on the back of exports.  On an Island of 4.5M people it is simply not possible to have a self sustaining economy.  Our ability to trade with the rest of the world will determine our economic health.
2. Our cost base is out of kilter with our competitors.  If we want to return to a strong economy we must attack these costs, none more so than the costs of power, communications and government controlled items such as rates.
3. When looking at international models they drew on Germany’s position 10 years ago.  They found themselves in an uncompetitive position but through a process of constructive social partnership they brought about a return to an export lead competitive powerhouse on the world stage.

The simple matter is that we in SMEs are just too busy dealing with the day to day of developing our own business to have time to devote to national issues.  To make this a little easier we will run a series of online polls and comments to get your feedback. 

On the front page is a little survey to complete.  We hope to then feed this into the powers that be and help the cause of SMEs