01 About the businessThis helps us understand whether different types and stages of business experience different pressures.
How is the business legally set up? * Select one Limited company (Ltd) Sole trader Partnership Limited liability partnership (LLP) Community interest company (CIC) or social enterprise The business has not been set up yet Another legal structure Not sure Prefer not to say This helps us understand which sources of business support respondents may be eligible for.
What does the owner spend most of their working time doing? * Select one Mainly doing hands-on construction or trade work Mainly organising jobs, customers and other people A fairly even mix of hands-on work and managing the business Something else
How would you describe it?
What kind of work does the business mainly do? * Select one General building or main contracting Plumbing or heating Electrical work Another specialist trade, such as roofing, plastering or joinery Construction professional or consultant Merchant, supplier or product business Something else
What kind of work is it?
How many people regularly work in the business? Select one Just me 2–4 5–9 10–19 20–49 50 or more It varies Not sure
How long has it been trading? Select one Not started yet Under 2 years 2–5 years 6–10 years More than 10 years
For team size, include yourself but not occasional subcontractors. This survey is for businesses with fewer than 50 people; take the medium-business survey if 50–249 people regularly work in the business .
Over the next two or three years, would you like the amount of money the business takes in to… Select one Decrease Stay about the same Increase Not sure yet Prefer not to say
Over the same period, would you like the number of people regularly working in the business to… Select one Decrease Stay about the same Increase Not sure yet This does not apply to us
What is the nearest town or city to the business? Optional Choose a suggestion if you can. We use this to understand local demand; it does not identify your address.
02 What is happening now?Tell us about the friction, uncertainty and decisions behind the day-to-day work.
What is the hardest part of running the business at the moment?
Think of a recent business decision that felt difficult. What was the decision, what made it difficult and what did you do?
When work gets very busy, what tends to go wrong or get pushed aside?
03 How things work todayThese questions help reveal where support could be useful, including things that are difficult to spot from inside a busy business.
After materials, labour and other business costs, how often do you know how much money a completed job made? Select one For every or nearly every job For some jobs Rarely Never I am not sure how to work it out This does not apply to our work
When someone offers you a new job, how do you decide whether it is worth taking?
What would happen if the owner could not work for four weeks? Select one The business would continue reasonably well It would continue, but with difficulty Most work would stop There is no plan for this Not applicable
Which best describes where the information needed to organise jobs and run the business is kept? Select one Mostly in one main app or system Across several apps, tools or spreadsheets Mostly in paperwork, messages and emails Mostly in the owner’s head It mainly depends on people remembering things A mixture of all of these Someone else looks after most of it Not sure
In the past 12 months, have you made time specifically to decide what you want from the business and what needs to change? Select one Yes, more than once Yes, once No Not sure
04 What would be useful?Would outside information, tools or support currently be useful to the business? Select one Yes Maybe or not sure No, not at the moment We already feel confident in the areas that matter to us
How likely would you be to use a learning website or app about running a construction business, if you could use it in your own time? Select one Very likely Fairly likely Not sure Fairly unlikely Very unlikely
Which activity would matter most? Select one Short phone-friendly lessons Videos from experienced people Construction business examples Quizzes or knowledge checks Tools, calculators and templates Step-by-step activities Save progress and return Ask an expert None of these
And which would be second most useful? Select one Short phone-friendly lessons Videos from experienced people Construction business examples Quizzes or knowledge checks Tools, calculators and templates Step-by-step activities Save progress and return Ask an expert No second choice
Imagine the support had been genuinely useful. What would be different in your business 12 months later?
Is there anything people designing business support often misunderstand about construction SMEs?
