Two numbers, never one
Everybody wants to sell into a growing market. Almost nobody checks whether the one they picked is actually growing.
Every figure is cited on screen. Company examples are fictional specimens.
Music: Inspired by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0
Transcript
- 0:00
Everybody wants to sell into a growing market. Almost nobody checks whether the one they picked is actually growing.
- 0:10
The check is free. The Office for National Statistics counts how many businesses open in every trade, and how many close. Most people only ever read the first of those two numbers.
- 0:26
Here is why that matters. In 2024, transport and storage opened more new businesses than almost any other trade. Fifteen point six per cent. On that number alone, it looks like the best market in the country.
- 0:44
Now put the closing rate next to it. Sixteen point five per cent. More firms left that trade than joined it. It was not growing. It was churning.
- 0:57
There is a second kind of growth, and it is often the one you want. Not more firms. Bigger ones. In information and communication, nine point two per cent of firms with staff grew fast enough to count as high growth. Across all trades, it was four point nine.
- 1:19
Two numbers, never one. Then the names of the firms behind them.
About this film
Two numbers, never one runs 1:26, read by Imogen and appears on Leadistry's Blog page. The full narration is above in 6 sections, so you can read it instead of watching if that is quicker. Every figure shown on screen comes from the Companies House public record or a named published source, and the companies used as examples are fictional specimens rather than real customers.