A third of growing businesses lack confidence when it comes to tackling their biggest and most pressing challenges, according to research from brand strategy consultants, Future Kings.

The study conducted by Sapio Research asked 200 UK early stage scale ups about their greatest concerns as they prepare for growth, as well as their confidence in their strategies to meet those concerns.

Growth targets among the businesses are ambitious with more than two thirds looking to increase revenue by more 50% in the next two years, with the larger companies aiming even higher in their growth plans.

However, when asked about their specific plans to achieve those objectives, gaps in confidence start to show.

Nearly nine in ten (89%) of UK scale-ups were most concerned about creating the right customer experience to reflect their brand, but only two-thirds (66%) were confident in their abilities to meet that challenge.

The second biggest concern for 88% of these businesses was ‘creating and communicating a consistent and compelling brand’, and just 65% were confident about how they were approaching that issue.

Some 86% were concerned or very concerned about creating a clear vision to rally around, while 82% were worried about their company’s culture for the year ahead. Just 63% were confident in their vision, while 65% felt confident in tackling their company culture.

While the number of start-up businesses swelled to over 634,000 in 2017, the five-year survival rate remains low, with four in ten failing to reach their fifth birthday.

The results indicate that companies may not be fully confident in their abilities to meet their greatest business concerns, whether due to a lack of experience, knowledge, or changing market conditions.

Andy Snuggs, managing partner at Future Kings, said: “For there to be such a gap emerging between these companies’ greatest concerns for navigating the future business environment and their confidence in meeting these challenges, suggests additional help and support is not only needed – it may be crucial to their survival.”