Do you feel that all 'small' businesses get lumped into the category of SME and the terms small business and SME are thrown around by the media and government without a clear indication of their actual meaning. In fact, while the government talks about helping the UK's SMEs, it is in fact micro-enterprises (under 10 employees) that make up 95% of the UK's enterprises and a third of all UK employment. As almost all start ups are micro businesses any government assistance to new businesses clearly needs to be directed to these micro enterprises.

With SMEs accounting for 99.9% of enterprises it becomes clear that this term is fairly useless to reflect a certain type of enterprise, and when the government talks about helping SMEs it is by no means clear whether micro enterprises will benefit and in a great many cases they probably do not. Because of the power and influence of large corporations compared to micro businesses it's no surprise that achieving equality in regulations is so difficult.

The Business Buddy Scheme, set up by the Forum of Private Business (FPB), aims to provide MPs with first hand experience of the challenges small businesses face today. David Cameron has lent his support to the scheme, which came about when the FPM learnt that small businesses felt MPs needed to increase their SME focus. The Prime Minister has already spent time with businesses in his West Oxfordshire constituency and has been encouraging others to do the same.

So, MPs are to spend time, if they wish, with local businesses. However, the question remains what benefit this will bring to SMEs. Will it lead to a better understanding of their needs, which is surely the desired outcome, along with changes to regulations and more bank lending. Only time will tell if MPs becoming buddies with businesses will prove effective in creating long-term change and if lasting relationships will result.

Let us know if you would like to buddy up with your local MP and, importantly, what you would want to see out of the relationship.

As if times aren't hard enough for start up businesses, we now hear that the UK's small businesses are paying up to three times as much for goods and services than big businesses who enjoy large savings from their favoured suppliers. Research by Huddlebuy.co.uk has shown that small businesses are paying £3.6 billion more which, for start ups, equates to £1,200 per employee. With so many SMEs struggling this is clearly an unfair cost that actually threatens the idea of an enterprise led economic recovery.

Do you think you've got a winning idea when it comes to setting up a new business? The winners of this year's Barclays Take One Small Step awards have been announced and they include a chocolate bar with personalised packaging and a smart food label that tells you how long a jar has been open and when the contents should no longer be consumed.

The competition, aimed at small businesses looking to grow and entrepreneurs looking to get started, not only gives businesses the chance to share ideas and help get them started, but the nine winners each receive £50,000 for their businesses. To see the complete list of winners click here.

So, do you think you've got a unique business idea? We want to hear from you as we can help you get started.

If your answer is yes then you are not alone as a recent British Chamber of Commerce survey highlighted the various concerns raised by sole traders when it comes to employing staff. Issues raised that have been putting sole traders off hiring included dismissal processes, sickness absences, equality legislation, statutory payments and flexible working. Some were worried about National Insurance Contributions, while unaware of the National Insurance 'holiday' for startups, highlighting the need by businesses to fully investigate the assistance that is on offer from the government. For example, did you know about the exemption to micro businesses to new domestic legislation for three years from April of this year?

Clearly the issues revolve not just around the actual hiring, but also the long-term costs and management of the staff and not surprisingly many sole traders have been turning to freelancers to fill the gap. It seems yet again the burden of red tape is preventing many small businesses from taking the next step to growing their businesses. Will the Red Tape Challenge bring any benefit to this area of legislation we wonder?

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