Los bajitos de la clase

In every school, there is a scene that we all remember – the year-end photograph. At the back, the tallest students, while at the front, the shorter ones. There was nothing wrong with sitting in the front row; it was simply a matter of size. The concern would only arise decades later when we discovered that those same children had not grown taller.

Then, we would not be discussing natural variation, but rather a growth problem. A similar situation occurs with our companies because Spain has been among the smaller companies in the European business class for decades. Not because we lack talent, entrepreneurial spirit, or initiative, but rather the opposite. Our SMEs are extraordinarily resilient, innovative, and competitive.

The issue is that too many remain small for too long. While our European counterparts continue to grow, gaining dimension and business muscle, we continue to occupy that front row reserved for those who never manage to take that stride. It is not an aesthetic issue. In business, as in life, size does matter, but there comes a point when it becomes important because a larger company has more resources to invest in innovation, digitalization, internationalization, training, or sustainability.

It has greater capacity to withstand crises, access financing, and attract talent. There is a word we often repeat, but we still reflect little upon: productivity. For too long, we have treated productivity as an automatic consequence of effort. As if working longer hours or demanding more sacrifices would suffice. However, productivity does not arise from intensity, but from the ability to do things better, and that ability is intimately linked to company size.

Small companies can be excellent, but they start with a clear disadvantage compared to larger organizations because they find it harder to invest, incorporate technology, specialize teams, open new markets, or absorb unforeseen impacts. However, business growth does not depend solely on the effort of the entrepreneur. It also depends on the environment.

If a teacher were to constantly evaluate smaller students with criteria designed for older ones, it would be difficult for them to progress, and this is precisely what happens when regulations are designed without considering the reality of SMEs. Administrative requirements, regulatory obligations, or tax burdens conceived from the logic of large companies end up becoming a backpack that is too heavy for those who are still trying to grow.

Therefore, we need to definitively incorporate a 'Think Small First' mindset into Spanish legislation. Thinking first about the smallest, the SMEs, does not mean establishing privileges; it means understanding that not everyone starts from the same place. Regulations should facilitate growth, not turn it into a race of obstacles.

In that direction, the progressive reduction of the Corporate Tax for small and medium-sized enterprises moves forward, a demand made historic by Pimec. It is not just about alleviating the fiscal burden; it is about allowing thousands of companies to reinvest resources, gain competitiveness, and get closer to that elusive jump in dimensions that so often eludes them.

Because when an SME has more capacity to grow, the entire economy grows with it. However, even when we manage to remove some obstacles, others appear that hinder this business growth. One of them is labor absenteeism, which has become one of those companions that, without making too much noise, ends up conditioning the performance of the entire class.

We are not questioning a fundamental right like temporary disability or doubting situations of illness that deserve all the protection; we are talking about a system that needs to improve its functioning to prevent absences from being prolonged unnecessarily due to administrative delays, assistance delays, or lack of coordination among the different agents involved.

For it is not just about questioning a right as essential as temporary disability or doubting medical situations that deserve all protection; it's about a system that needs to improve its functioning to prevent absences from being prolonged unnecessarily due to administrative delays, assistance delays, or lack of coordination among the different agents involved.

For if we truly want our companies to stop always occupying the front row of the European photograph, we need to act on all the factors that condition their growth. We need a regulatory framework tailored to SMEs, tax policies that incentivize investment, an administration that simplifies instead of complicates, and a strategy that approaches absenteeism with rigor, responsibility, and collaboration among administrations, companies, and social agents.

For it is not just the passage of time that makes our businesses grow; they grow when they receive adequate care, when they have opportunities.