Robert Ashton believes you have to think more creatively to reach the right people.

I chaired my local LEP’s biannual conference the other day. The theme was ‘growth’ and the venue, an eco-building under a towering wind turbine. The room was packed with people. Add a great line up of both national and local speakers and you had all the ingredients for a successful event.

But some were not so sure. You see if you took out those from public sector organisations, support networks and professional service providers, there’d be less than 10 per cent of the audience left in the room. Of the 60,000 or so businesses in the LEP area with fewer than 10 employees; only a handful were there. And I don’t think there was a single charity or social enterprise represented. Yes, there were an awful lot of grey suits!

And that’s a shame, as in my view, tomorrow’s economy is all about small, flexible enterprises. Those in the room knew this, but felt decidedly lonely and just a little ignored, despite my attempts to help them feel otherwise.

Those in the room understood the opportunity. You grow a business by being involved, by being visible and by taking an interest in the bigger picture. But for every business owner I meet who sees and is prepared to seize the opportunity, there are 100 more who remain unconvinced. To generalise, they are those who worry about managing their costs, rather than growing their sales.

Plenty of reasons to be cheerful

As one of the speakers eloquently explained, huge swathes of the UK economy are doing just fine. Their success is being masked by the lack of investment in construction - a point some politicians make when advocating increasing public borrowing to create infrastructure and much needed new homes. Debt, however undesirable, has never been so cheap and as another speaker said, interest rates are likely to remain low for many years to come.

When summing up the day, I pointed out that there was an ‘audacious’ and inclusive plan for the future; there was local investment in infrastructure; there was now a new, locally-funded source of investment for innovators with aspiration and when you peer over the parapet, plenty of reasons to be cheerful. The audience looked excited, but I think because their minds were already on the free lunch.

So what’s the answer? The great thing about small business owners is that they can adapt. Most live within the community where their businesses are based. This means they are already familiar with the positive commercial benefits of social impact. They help out, support and in general do the ‘right thing.’  But it’s not in their nature to spend half a day in a conference hall listening.

I can’t help but think the traditional conference format has had its day. You can always fill a room with camp followers, but it needs something more imaginative to motivate the troops!