Why Britain’s Smallest Businesses Deserve a Seat at the Table
When I started Domestic Angels 24 years ago, I had a blank sheet of paper, no business plan and absolutely no experience of employing people.
I had plenty of enthusiasm, though, and a willingness to figure things out as I went along. Some of those lessons were rather more painful than others!
I chatted with Liz Barclay, former UK Small Business Commissioner, for Business111 about what it’s really like to start a business, employ people and keep going when you’re learning everything from scratch. We got onto something I feel very strongly about: the importance of Britain’s smallest businesses.
Learning to employ people the hard way
I’ll happily admit that the first five years of Domestic Angels were pretty brutal. I was learning how to recruit people, run wages and deal with all the responsibilities that come with being an employer. I even went along to HMRC to learn how to do payroll. Back then, it involved a pencil, paper and a rubber. Yes, really! 😂
When you’re starting out, you’re so keen to give somebody a job and so dependent on getting the right people in place that you don’t always make the best decisions. When something goes wrong, there’s no experienced HR department down the corridor to help you sort it out. You have to learn.
Why make it so difficult for small employers?
Liz and I discussed how fragmented information can be for people running micro and small businesses. Employment comes with serious responsibilities, and getting things wrong can be expensive. Why shouldn’t a small employer be able to find straightforward, legally reliable guidance in one place, free of charge?
Plain-English policies, disciplinary and grievance procedures, sick pay and maternity pay calculators. Practical things that would make an enormous difference when you’re employing people for the first time. I believe government should take responsibility for making that information accessible. Small employers want to do things properly. We should make it easier for them.
Small businesses create something bigger than themselves
There’s another side to this conversation that matters enormously to me. A small local business employing five people might not attract much attention. Keep those five people employed for 25 years, though, and that’s 125 years of employment provided within a community. This deserves recognition.
It’s not just about the number of jobs. At Domestic Angels, we see how important local, flexible employment can be for people who have other responsibilities in their lives. Someone caring for an elderly parent. A mum who needs to work between school drop-off and collection. A parent of a child with additional needs. They may only be able to work 12 or 16 hours a week, but those hours matter. A local business can often provide work close to home, with hours that fit around those responsibilities. That has real value for the individual, their family and the wider community.
We need a seat at the table
I’ve spent 24 years building Domestic Angels, and I still feel very much part of the micro and small business community. These businesses aren’t insignificant simply because they don’t employ hundreds of people or chase enormous growth. They’re providing jobs, serving local customers and helping people remain part of the workforce. Yet the people running them aren’t always represented when decisions are made about the rules they’ll have to follow. As I said to Liz:
“We need to be heard, we need to be recognised, we need to be represented.”
I don’t just mean through organisations speaking on our behalf. I mean people who have actually employed staff, managed the difficult conversations, worried about the costs and kept their businesses going. That lived experience deserves a place in the conversation.
Have a listen to our conversation
Liz and I covered quite a lot in just over nine minutes, from my rather chaotic beginnings with Domestic Angels to why I believe Britain’s smallest employers matter so much.
If you’re running a small business, thinking about starting one, or simply interested in the people behind local employment, I’d love you to have a listen.
🎥 Watch my conversation with Liz Barclay on Business111
Sam Acton
Founder, Domestic Angels
