What does Brexit mean for small business?

After Britain’s shock vote to leave the European Union, many businesses have been in a state of flux following the announcement. The economic markets have only just begun to stabilize again and the UK are currently locked in talks with Europe about how the break up will take place, and what this means for the country’s business dealings.

Those who are most worried are those who will be hit hardest, small businesses who do not have the scale or strength to survive uncertainty. Many small business rely on Europe for both sales and manufacturing and depending on which way things go, these are the businesses who could run into trouble. If you are a small business owner and worried what Brexit will do for your operations, let’s take a look to see who it looks like it will pan out.

The Pros

There is a notion that everything will be bad for small businesses after Brexit but this simply isn’t the case, let’s take a look at some of the pros which you will see in a post Brexit Britain.

Additional Opportunities in Markets With Renewed Vigor

As a result of Brexit, the UK needs to make fresh trade deals and agreements with many countries and businesses and many experts believe that this will actually liberate the business world in the United Kingdom. New deals could give way to more interaction with markets in the like of India and China which could see small businesses winning more than before.

The State of The European Union

Nobody should be fooled into thinking that the EU was a land of rainbows and sunshine, in truth the EU was riddled with debt and GDP was extremely poor throughout. Getting out of Europe means that we are in some ways leaving a sinking ship and this can greatly benefit small businesses.

Cons

Naturally, things will not be all rosy once we have left Europe and there are of course some negatives to going it alone, let’s take a look at the cons.

Cross Border Commerce

Naturally there will be greater difficulty in cross-border commerce once Brexit sinks in and gradually this will become more and more troublesome.  From administrative issues to Forklift logistics, the whole idea of selling things across the border will be far more challenging as Brexit takes hold and will also become more expensive as tariff charges are reviewed.

Uncertainty

Ultimately the biggest issue for small businesses is the uncertainty that has surrounded Brexit since the vote was cast. Workers do not know whether or not to come and work here, European businesses aren’t sure what levies to put on businesses here and banks and economical institutions can have no real strategy for how to help businesses during this time given the uncertain status.

In truth, Brexit may not be the bad thing that everyone thinks it will be but whilst we are all waiting to find out, small businesses who have dealings with Europe, will find things difficult and more expensive.

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