Together we can fix it

In a week of enlightening, open and insightful discussions I have found myself saying more than once, we can’t expect Government to do everything, we have to sort this out ourselves. We’ve been discussing the challenges businesses face in getting paid and the ongoing issues such as poor leadership, silo working, lack of understanding of the firms we’re working with and their needs, processes build without the input of the people who use them, the lack of up to date technology and the paucity of interest and input from Boards on the question of how well we treat suppliers. And then I read the following post from Your Business Community and it chimed.

Some of the UK’s biggest problems are poverty, inequality, environmental degradation, corruption. Underneath all that our biggest problem is society itself. Every system we live within is one we either create, tolerate, or neglect. When we disengage from politics, shrug off inequality, and treat corruption as someone else’s problem, we don’t just allow the status quo to continue, we endorse it.

Over the last few decades, disengagement has taken root. Fewer people vote. Fewer get involved in community action. Fewer challenge the decisions made in their name. And as public voices fall silent, private interests speak louder than ever. The result? The rich get richer, the powerful more entrenched, and those already struggling find it harder to keep up, let alone get ahead.

Inequality isn’t an accident. It thrives when people feel powerless, overwhelmed, or just too busy surviving to engage. That’s how democracy quietly erodes, not in dramatic coups, but in widespread indifference.

But here’s the flip side: if society is the problem, it can also be the solution. Every time someone chooses to care, to speak out, to vote, to organise, to hold power to account, they tip the balance. Change doesn’t come from the top down. It comes from us. From the messy, imperfect, often frustrating business of showing up, even when it feels like no one’s listening.

We need to stop waiting for someone else to fix it. There is no “they” who will save us. There is only us, society, and the choice to be part of the problem or part of the pushback.

And for small business owners, this message is especially urgent. We are the backbone of the economy, deeply rooted in our communities, and yet so often left out of the decisions that shape our futures. Alone, it’s hard to be heard. But together, we have real power.

For too long politicians have talked about small businesses being the lifeblood of the economy, wider society and communities but failed to listen to their needs, aspirations and understand their contributions. Small business owners are no longer content to be sidelined. We are waking up to the reality that no politicians from any party have consistently stood up for us and when the political establishment fails to deliver, new voices will inevitably rise to challenge the status quo. It’s a clear sign that we need to organise, demand better, and make our voices impossible to ignore.

Now is the time to organise, to speak with a collective voice, and to demand the support, recognition, and fairness we deserve. Because if we don’t stand up for each other, no one else will. Let’s turn frustration into action, isolation into solidarity, and small businesses into a force for real change.

Thanks to Ted founder of YBC for allowing me to use this post. I have been saying for 30 years, in small business journalism and broadcasting and as Small Business Commissioner, that small businesses need to speak with a collective voice. With 5.6million in the UK you would think there would be enough noise to get noticed but often the noise is too loud for anyone to hear and so people put their hands over their ears to block the sound. The business community can come together to solve their own and society’s problems. Society and business will benefit.