Challenges and Opportunities for Growth and Sustainability
'The Business of Recovery' report has been published by HSBC. This was researched and written by Delta Economics and uses the data from our COGS survey. This report assesses the economic conditions in the UK from the financial perspective. The full HSBC report is available via our link on this page. Other reports are soon to be published analysing the COGS data and qualitative research for the Regions, Women and Social Enterprise.
The Challenges and Opportunities for Growth and Sustainability (COGS) study is our flagship research project and has now been running for two years. Its goal is to understand what drives entrepreneurial survival, sustainability and growth over time. It looks at motivations, aspirations, challenges and opportunities but also measures turnover growth, jobs created and job growth and expectations of growth.
Because the study re-interviews entrepreneurs each year, it can track what entrepreneurs do to survive whatever the economic environment. It is building up a unique longitudinal dataset as it was started just before the current recession and can be used to interrogate themes in unique ways given the contexts of recession, partial recovery and the current economic climate. It is also being internationalised, giving a unique insight and potential market intelligence for comparisons with the UK.
The COGS survey
The annual COGS survey was of 1,800 founders of entrepreneurial high growth businesses in 2008 and 2,120 in 2009. It is conducted by telephone in September and early October each year.
COGS cases
We interview high growth companies each year and select as many of the same companies so that we can track how they are progressing: the key growth issues and the opportunities they have, their survival strategies and their thoughts on their sector and the economy. They represent a range of sectors and of company size. They are all high growth and all have potential for rapid expansion.
COGS in-depth interviews
COGS interviews entrepreneurial practitioners each year to ensure that the research is meeting the needs of the sector, but also to track trends in the entrepreneurial environment. These practitioners and experts are in the public and private sector.
COGS Women
We produce an annual report looking at the Challenges and Opportunities faced by women. We assess the issues such as access to finance and the different support network challenges.
COGS Regions
Some of the UK Regional Development Agencies boost the annual survey in order to understand the challenges and opportunities that entrepreneurs in their regions face.
COGS Social Enterprise
COGS identifies the growth-oriented businesses that classify and social enterprises. That is, they have social, environmental or employment goals as their primary motivation and/or re-invest their surplus in the business to ensure it can continue to meet its social, enviornmental objectives and/or has a goverance structure that is consistent with a social enterprise (a Charity or Not-for-Profit). The first COGS social enterprise report will launch at the World Entrepreneur Society Annual Summit on the 11th and 12th March 2010.