Paths of Enterprise: The Future of Small Business

After the dramatic flourishing of small-scale enterprise in the 1980s can the coming decade support and sustain the small business? The socio-economic restructuring of Britain allowed small businesses to thrive but the way ahead looks less than favourable. Factors such as demographic change and technological developments threaten the economic future of the small firm. The analysis provided by this collection gives an insight into the rapid expansion that has taken place in small-scale enterprise, and they pinpoint the key issues for the future. While some areas such as banking, are slowly adapting positively to the increase in small businesses, other factors, like the changing structure of the labour force are likely to erode the stability of the small-scale enterprise. This book shows that new policies need to be developed to ensure that the small firms receive the support they need to succeed in an environment where the risks are increasing. The contributions from well-known academics look at the area from economic and sociological standpoints and cover topics such as ethnic minorities, working from home, gender, franchise relationships and cultural issues. The book will be essential reading for students of small-business studies as well as for policy makers, enterprise agencies, lobby groups and anyone wanting to assess the climate ahead for small-scale enterprises.