SMB service slipping due to stress

O2 ‘All In’ package aims to give small business owners their lunch break back

 Small and medium business owners’ relationships are suffering as they drown in red tape, according to our recent research. They suggested a cleaner (37%), a personal assistant (22%) and a financial adviser (15%) would help them get some precious time back.

 Our study shows how more than a quarter (29%) of small business workers feel stressed and under pressure, with nearly a third (31%) having little time for themselves and missing out on exercise, hobbies and general downtime. Because of feeling being bogged down with so many different tasks more than one in five (21%) admit that customer service, as well as their personal relationships, are suffering.

With small and medium sized businesses worth an estimated £1.5 billion[i] every year to the UK economy, employing 13.8[ii]  million people, our campaign aims to highlight the real challenges of running a small company in the UK today.

Other key findings include:

• Over one third (39%) of small business owners rarely take a lunch break, if at all
• Nearly half (49%) of small business owners forgo a work life balance and spend time outside of working hours to get things done
• Business admin is eating up too much time, with 41% of small business owners spending one to three hours on it in the average working day
• In addition, the key areas that small businesses particularly struggle to get to grips with include marketing (21%), tax returns (17%) and employment law (15%)

Claire Darley, Head of Small and Medium Business Sales at O2 said: “British business owners are busier than ever, and in spite of another Government promise to blitz red tape many are seeing their personal lives disappear.

Our aim is to make their lives easier by providing packages such as the All In bundle, which combines mobile, landline and broadband in one simple monthly contract. This means we’re consolidating small business owners’ communications with one supplier, so they don’t need to waste time using multiple providers for support and service or pay each bill separately. As a result, business owners will have more time so they can focus on running their business well, and managing their busy lives.”

All In is the latest in our Joined Up Communications portfolio –  a toolkit of mobile, voice, data and networking technologies that our expert teams use to tailor solutions to suit a customer’s business needs. For companies that want to take advantage of the All In offer immediately, we can help to side-step the usual stress of dealing with multiple providers by giving them nine months to switch their broadband and landline services over, as and when old contracts come to an end. This means no double billing, lower costs and no fuss.

For more information about the ‘All In’ package and full terms, please visit www.o2.co.uk/allin.

[i] Federation of Small Businesses, November 2011: http://www.fsb.org.uk/stats