Small, micro business in Britain - a grassroots movement?

Here we are at the end of 2025, in the midst of Black Friday madness and a more than sticky business landscape. Much of the small business talk I am hearing is around the need for stability from the top, consistency of support & the fragility of the every day.

However, in the eye of the continued storm of small business life, there is something else. A coming together, a new level of collaboration, a fresh view on innovation & a growing grassroots movement that is seeing small business using their (remaining) energy to create a brighter future from the bottom up.

Here are some uplifting examples that we can feel excited about:

• Colour Friday is now a 'big thing' online, to counter the race to the bottom that Black Friday precipitates each year. An imported confection from the US, Black Friday has imposed a huge pressure on already squeezed small businesses who are actively rejecting the need to cut prices when they can least afford to. This positive campaign is not only supporting small micro businesses in the run up to Christmas but is an effective educational tool to help British consumers to understand why 'shopping small' is so much more than a cute pre-festive activity for the well off, but rather a powerful vote for the communities and economies we want to see flourish in the UK.

• The language of small business online is finally becoming more accurate, with campaigns that specify the difference between micro, small and SME. After many years of feeling like a lone voice by insisting on using the word 'micro' as we described the 0-9 employee sized enterprises we represent (believe me, it has done nothing for our SEO), it's heartening to see others adopt language that properly defines what small business looks and feels like in the UK. There are now 5.7 million micros in Britain who stand much more chance of success if they are seen and understood more accurately and, many of whom, are reclaiming 'micro' as a positive description of who they are.

• This takes us to research. The hugely valuable work of the ERC (Enterprise Research Centre) is helping guide & educate 'the powers that be' about micro business Britain through in depth research, so that future policy can better serve the vast majority of small businesses in Britain. Not only will online language, from Instagram to LinkedIn be adopting the word 'micro', but this grassroots & rigorous research will underpin national business support development in the future (we hope!).

• University business schools have long had great relationships with small business, but the last 5 years has seen a new dawn in that relationship, partly borne out of the Covid pandemic, which is providing exactly the right, regional environment within which small business can survive and thrive. Through a mix of government funded programmes and grassroots network development, business schools are often offering exactly the right space, expertise and signposting for local small businesses to lean in to. In the absence of nationally centralised and coordinated small business support, business schools are able to deliver independent, collaborative and highly commercial help by creating long term relationships that see small businesses supported year after year. From technology support to student interns, business schools are now the one stop shop that businesses need in each region providing specialised, regionally appropriate and grassroot bases across the country.

• Small, micro business start up is the 'new black' to coin a phrase. Once seen as an 'alternative' career approach to conventional employment, being an entrepreneur for Gen Z (& no doubt Alphas to follow them) is becoming the norm. In recognition of the world they are 'adulting' into and the explosion of digital opportunities, young adults are approaching small business ownership as an integral part of their future, either as the obvious way to best earn and live or sitting beside conventional employed work. Understanding that linear employment may never deliver the income or wellbeing goals that they have, while being readily educated on TikTok about leveraging the power of tech from their phone, the next generation of workers have a whole new, grassroots approach to the next 40 years of working life and small business is at the heart of that.

• The power of peers is at the centre of a new level of community building in the small business sector. Once only the domain of the FSB or local Chamber, there's now a network for everyone in small micro business. Offering everything from professional advice to peer support, from wellbeing tips to coaching groups, the 'power of the peer' has never been more available or more grassroots. Like minded entrepreneurs understand that leaning into communities that support them is the key to success. Reducing isolation and limited thinking, engaged networks and communities are increasingly the place to find ideas, share wisdom, solve challenges and grow confidence. At a very grassroots level, small businesses are coming together to collectively solve the challenges they face.

If you have been lamenting the instability of small business life in the UK, perhaps looking to the grassroots of enterprise in Britain is the place to find hope, innovation and the collaboration we all need to thrive.

Simply Club is a small and growing community of micro business owners from all sectors who are trying to build lives they love more. Find out what we do to help business do better for people, places and planet through coaching, specialised resources and connection.