Why resilience is key to growth and success – our new SME report

Inspired by the businesses we’ve served since 2010, we wanted to look deeper into the idea of resilience. How do resilient businesses operate compared to their less resilient peers? How successful are they? 

To find out, we surveyed 1,200 SMEs and examined different aspects of financial, operational and personal resilience. What we learnt is that building resilience will not just help you survive, but will help you thrive. 

Read the key insights from our report below, or you can download the full report for tips on how you can improve resilience in your business. 

Key findings

High resilience leads to growth

Resilient businesses were 3 times more likely to have grown in 2022 and are 6 times more likely to expect growth this year.

Resilience is about more than finances

We found that operational resilience is just as important as financial and that prioritising staff well-being is strongly linked with success.

“What do resilient businesses do differently? They focus on their people”

Taking time out is vital for health and success

Among the habits of business leaders, taking time out and having screen free time showed the biggest difference between those with good and bad mental health. Taking at least a week of holiday also makes you 3 times more likely to have good mental health.

Business owners have a resilient mindset

74% of small business owners would recommend running a business, and, whatever happens in the world, 75% say they are determined to always find a way to survive as a business.

If you want to know more about business resilience and how you can achieve it, you can download and read the full report.

Related resources

Learn more about building business resilience 

How business finance can make you more resilient

5 tips to improve staff wellbeing 

How to improve your work-life balance

Case study – Adapting to changing consumer behaviour

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