Marcus Clavin, director at Business Link, claimed the success rate of emerging SMEs was still well below what it should be.

He pointed out that one in five SMEs close within the first six months of trading and only five per cent are successful enough to become a mid-sized business.

Clavin claimed the problem was that businesses did not spend much time thinking about the long term. "When running a business, a lot of people think the day-to-day things are the most important.

It's easy to get sucked into the detail, rather than taking a step back and looking at how to take the business forward."

Clavin argued that taking advice from someone outside the business was not seen as something that would help. "But [SMEs] need to get a better understanding of the fact that where businesses have taken external advice they were able to grow their profitability and revenues considerably.

"There is a clear business benefit to taking the time and effort," Clavin added. He admitted the costs can be considerable and many SMEs found this hard to justify when they were not buying tangible assets.

"Many SMEs are also concerned about the quality of the advice and how usable it would be."

But Clavin insisted the payback from investments in advice was enormous.

He suggested SMEs that were worried about finding quality advice could use the Business Link because it had a list of advisors which had been recommended by other SMEs. "Businesses need to be open-minded about the advice as well.

We find that many think they need to make changes to their marketing or sales to become more profitable, when actually changes to the IT system are what's needed," Clavin said.

But in general, SMEs in the IT sector appeared to be better at seeking strategic advice than their contemporaries, the report revealed. Clavin suggested this could be because the IT industry was always changing and therefore IT SMEs needed to re-evaluate their long-term goals regularly.

"IT SMEs have the right idea, but we need to see all of them using advice to see the number of SMEs surviving and growing increase," he said.

Further information and advice can be found on your local Business Link site where you will find advice and information on any of the topics featured above.

We welcome any queries regarding your IT set-up or future requirements. Simply contact us. Nothing is too much trouble because we are dedicated to our customer's success. If you need advice on any aspect of IT, talk to us on 0845 1 30 40 60 or email us.

If the question is how IT can increase efficiency, productivity and profitability, we have the answers to help you. Contact us. You'll find a relaxed, professional environment where you can discuss your business problems with accredited specialists who understand your needs.