A LARGE percentage of firms surveyed by Midlands accountancy firm Smith & Williamson believe that the Government is not doing enough to help businesses export their goods and services.
And SMEs are also concerned about the impact auto-enrolment pensions will have on their business.
But more positively, 40% of those surveyed would consider raising employees' wages by more than the rate of inflation.
The latest Smith & Williamson Enterprise Index reveals that confidence in the economy has fallen back since the last quarterly results were collected in August of this year.
Some 40% of respondents felt more could be done to help them trade internationally.
The final survey for the year has indicated that confidence among the UK's wealth creators has fallen back since the summer and the current Smith & Williamson Enterprise Index level is 97.4, down 5.9.
Last quarter, more than 90% of the entrepreneurs who responded to the Index indicated that they were planning for growth or acquisition in the next 12 months. This figure dropped to 75% in this quarter’s survey.
And last quarter 86% of respondents indicated that they were planning on increasing their headcount but this quarter that figure fell to 66%.
Guy Rigby, head of entrepreneurial services at Birmingham and Worcester-based Smith & Williamson, said: "It's been a volatile year. Following a confident start, fears of a double dip recession caused the Index to drop significantly in the middle of the year.
"This seems to have been followed by a relief rally based on better statistics and an unusually warm summer. It’s not really surprising that sentiment has tailed off."
Nearly half of respondents felt that pensions auto-enrolment will have a negative impact on the SME community, with concerns about the increased administrative burden and costs.