Launch of Global, #MicroBizMattersDay - unleashing the power of plenty.
Enterprise Rockers is a free to join in movement and Community Interest Company, co-founded and co-funded by Tina Boden and Tony Robinson OBE. Today it launches the first, global, annual #MicroBizMattersDay. This will take place on Enterprise Rockers’ 3rd anniversary, Jan 9th 2015. The co-founders call it 'unleashing the power of plenty'.
This power of plenty is the influence exerted when thousands of self employed and business owners take concerted action to support and promote each other. #MicroBizMattersDay, a social media led campaign, will call on all people who work for themselves, their suppliers and customers to take concrete actions for 9 minutes on the day to make business life better for others. The actions fall under the hash tagged categories of #Customers, #Cashflow and #Chat.
The Enterprise Rockers co-founders say it has taken 3 years to build their free to join in, independent network of networks to enable the launch of global #MicroBizMattersDay. Robinson, who received his OBE for services to small firms in 2001, says of the 9 minutes of actions: “These tiny drops in the ocean will create a tsunami of micro business improvement through the Power of Plenty – the power unleashed when many of us take actions to help each other in a concerted way.”
Enterprise Rockers CIC, organisers of #MicroBizMattersDay was established in 2012 after a year of recruiting global entrepreneurs to give their time to the cause ‘of helping each other to make business life better’. The “Rockers” as they are known describe themselves as having more the popular appeal of Rock and Roll than the exclusive hauteur of Classical music. They admit to being disruptive, have no political affiliation or corporate sponsorship, are not politically correct and have no interest in lobbying. They are only interested in helping each other through actions not words.
Enterprise Rockers’ CIC status makes it a voluntary coalition of business owners and its influence has spread so that now there are 25,000 active connections which communicate Rockers’ campaigns to their networks.
Boden, who has run her own businesses for 20 years and is a micro business specialist, says: “The Enterprise Rockers movement has achieved a great deal to help the self employed to survive and thrive, but much more can be achieved by many hundreds of thousands of people giving nine minutes of positive, helpful actions on one day each year.”
In most countries around the world over 90% of all enterprises are micro (0-9 employees). In the UK this is 95%.* In many countries self employment is increasing year on year and the majority of new jobs are provided by the self employed. In the UK there are half a million start ups each year and over 4.5 million micro enterprises which compares with around 7000 large businesses (above 250 employees) which receive the majority of government funds.
Research by RSA** shows that there are over half a million more micro enterprises in the UK since 2008 and that their employees will outnumber those in public sector work by 2018. This growth in micro business provides the “Power of Plenty” that #MicroBizMattersDay plans to unleash on Jan 9th 2015.
Government support, however, does not reflect the emerging political and economic significance of micro enterprise. ‘Happy but finding it harder to make ends meet’, Boden says, is a fair description of life for most people running their own business today.
For example in the UK, the RSA research shows that real earnings for micro enterprise owners has dropped by 20% since 2006/7, and today they earn 40% less than their counterparts in waged work. 70% don’t have a pension and 20% find it difficult to get a mortgage due to their self-employed status.
Research by Populus*** shows that 2 in 3 micro business owners feel that Government does not encourage or support them. Despite this picture of decline in conditions, motivation among micro business owners remains high with 73% becoming self employed by choice.
Benedict Dellot, Senior Researcher at RSA says: “Microbusinesses are the new political force to be reckoned with, but the government has yet to win their favour. Business support remains confusing and superficial. This, despite small business owners being the country’s biggest job creators"
#MicroBizMattersDay is the worldwide call to fill the gaps in policy and support by ‘Rockers doing it for themselves’. All business owners are asked to choose actions to take in 9 minutes in one of the 3 hash tagged categories of #Customers, #Cashflow or #Chat. Whilst everyone can choose their own actions to help fellow business owners get more customers and improve cashflow, there are many examples of possible and useful actions added to constantly on the MicroBizMattersDay.rocks website.
Boden and Robinson say: “#MicroBizMattersDay of actions rocks and will enable more self employed and business owners to survive and thrive around the world.
ENDS