Emma Jones: On a mission to make life easier for small businesses

Today’s guest is Emma Jones, the new Small Business Commissioner, so if you are the owner of a small business, this podcast is not to be missed!Before going into details about her new role, Emma talks about starting her own business in her mid 20s, during the .com boom.  After reading a book by American, Dan Pink, called Free Agent Nation, and at a time when there was a rise in people becoming self-employed, she launched Enterprise Nation. That business was designed to help people starting out in business and their growth. Emma led the business for around 20 years and left earlier this year. Now Enterprise Nation attracts a huge number of small businesses to the platform each year.When the role of Small Business Commissioner came up, Emma jumped at the chance.She shares her three pronged approach to how she and her team plan to get money moving more quickly through the economy. And we focus on one of the most serious issues: late payment.Much of the plan is around digital adoption, and how evidence has shown that small businesses who use cloud accounting software get paid quicker. She also talks about a digital idea called Open Finance, where there is transparency about how a small business is performing. Ultimately her vision is that businesses would have their own personal business agent who would be there to give support to find grants and help with applications.We talk about the fact that often late payment is between two small businesses, rather than between a small and larger company. However, the remit of the Commissioner role is formed in legislation and it is about small businesses not being paid by larger companies.  But another initiative is Fair Payment Code which rewards businesses for paying their suppliers on time. They can share this with customers and clients to see how prompt they are making payments. Any sized business can be involved in this.Emma also answers some questions put forward by my contacts and she shares some very useful tips how to combat the different issues.It’s obvious hearing Emma talk just how passionate she is about UK small businesses – like me but in a much more high profile role! To contact Emma:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-jones-8063536/Website: smallbusinesscommissioner.gov.uk  If you would like to contact me, you can visit my site: www.Scottmedia.uk or join my free Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prtribe