It’s not just people that have personalities. Businesses do too, and, according to Cranfield School of Management, it can mean the difference between success and failure. To help small business owners avoid the “ugly but nice personality” tag, Cranfield and insurance group Axa have launched a new online tool to advise firms.

Business owners are asked a series of simple questions to weigh their firm under five “characteristics”, including whether they are more entrepreneurial or managerial, inclined to plan or adapt, or play the role of hunter or farmer.

According to Colin Barrow, a director at Cranfield, it was crucial for small business owners who have moved beyond the start-up stage to recognise that their firm’s characteristics must change. “The personality of the business and how people are managed is the fundamental factor that limits growth.” Barrow said the questions and advice were “a starting point”. “This isn’t telling you the total structuring for change, but it gives you the bones of the facts,” he said.

Barrow recommended that staff also complete the questionnaire to give managers feedback on perception. “The big differences in where you are versus where people think you are is quite valuable,” he said.

Paul McNamara, group strategy director at Axa, said the tool would give business owners a true picture of how their business stood compared with the often skewed image presented by professional advisers.

Several firms have already tried out the tool and found it helpful. Alasdair Browne, chief executive of Abbot, a printing firm in Kings Langley, Herts, saw his job as a change facilitator and the response reflected that. But he did not think the rest of the company was “there yet”.

?The Daily Telegraph