What are the secrets to business success?
So what have the 44 % of SMEs that increased their revenue in the last 12 months been getting right?
As part of its Business Heroes campaign, Cisco commissioned Loudhouse to conduct some research 
amongst small and medium enterprises (SMEs) reviewing the highs and lows of 2010 and highlighting business expectations for 2011. The research evaluates the current business climate, exploring the role of opportunities such as London 2012 in shaping expectations. Furthermore, the research also identifies what makes a business hero, finding that attitude is everything and that business success really does come in all shapes and sizes.
As the research has shown, Business Heroes are those SMEs who:
• Invest in people
– 73 % intend to recruit more staff in 2011; 74 % intend to invest more in training and development
• Embrace technology
– 55 % intend to invest in IT/Network infrastructure in 2011; 35 % intend to invest in video conferencing/multimedia communications and 25 % intend to invest in cloud computing/open source software
• Recognise the importance of flexibility
– 72 % plan to invest in technology to support mobile/flexible working
• Connect digitally
– 56% monitor what their customers are saying about them via social media; 49 per cent are using social media to support sales and marketing activity
