Articles for business owners
25 practical articles on productivity, growth, finance, teams and leadership in SMEs, written by António Ribeiro from public data.
The ActionCOACH Porto blog brings together 25 articles by António Ribeiro, ActionCOACH Master Franchiser in Portugal and a lecturer at FEUP for 38 years. Each article starts from public data, such as INE and PORDATA figures, and sets out practical steps for SME owners.
- We work 39.7 hours a week and produce less: the problem is not the hours (Productivity, 10 October 2026, 5 min read): Portugal has one of the longest working weeks in the European Union and one of the lowest productivity levels. This article explains why the answer lies in business systems, not in longer hours.
- AI agents in the SME: how to increase results with method (Technology, 9 October 2026, 6 min read): AI agents already do real work in an SME: triaging emails, following up leads, preparing quotes. See what they can do, the risks and how to test them with a 90 day pilot.
- 99.9% of companies are SMEs: growing from micro to small without losing control (Growth, 7 October 2026, 5 min read): Almost every company in Portugal is an SME, yet few handle the move from micro to small business well. This article sets out the systems that let a business grow without the owner losing control.
- Shadow AI: your team already uses AI. The question is whether the company gains from it (Technology, 6 October 2026, 5 min read): Employees already use ChatGPT and other AI tools, often without rules. See the risks, what the AI Act says and how to turn that hidden use into productivity.
- Only 47.7% of companies reach year three: what the survivors do differently (Entrepreneurship, 3 October 2026, 4 min read): More than half of the companies created in Portugal do not make it to their third year. This article looks at the management habits that separate the businesses that survive from those that close.
- Customers now ask AI: how to get it to recommend your company (Technology, 2 October 2026, 6 min read): Google's AI summaries, ChatGPT and Perplexity are changing how customers find companies. See what it means for your SME's leads and five steps to appear in the answers.
- Only 20% of companies pay on time: how to protect your cash flow (Finance, 30 September 2026, 4 min read): Portugal is one of the European countries where businesses pay latest. This article shows how an SME can protect its cash flow with clear rules, indicators and a collections process.
- 2025 set a record for new companies: getting through year one (Entrepreneurship, 26 September 2026, 5 min read): Portugal created 53,030 companies in 2025, a 20 year record, yet only 47.7% reach their third year. Here is what to put in place in year one to reach year three with a real business.
- AI and productivity: what the serious studies say and how an SME can capture the gains (Productivity, 26 September 2026, 6 min read): The studies show real but uneven gains from AI: it helps a lot on some tasks and hurts on others. See what the data says and a four step method to bring those gains through to your P&L.
- Family businesses and succession: half never reach the second generation (Family business, 23 September 2026, 5 min read): Around 70% of Portuguese companies are family businesses, yet only about half survive into the second generation. A practical checklist to prepare succession with systems and accountability.
- How artificial intelligence can increase your SME's profit through the 5 Ways (Sales, 22 September 2026, 6 min read): Only 9.4% of small Portuguese companies use AI. See concrete uses for each of the 5 Ways to grow profit: leads, conversion, transactions, average sale value and margin.
- Only 11.5% of companies use AI: where an SME should start (Technology, 19 September 2026, 5 min read): Only 11.5% of Portuguese companies use AI, falling to 9.4% among small firms. A 90 day method for starting with a concrete problem, a metric and a named owner.
- 35% of SMEs cannot find the right people: recruiting and retaining in a tight labour market (Team, 16 September 2026, 4 min read): 35% of Portuguese SMEs struggle badly to recruit, and unemployment is at its lowest since 2011. How to build a recruitment and retention system that works.
- A business that runs without you: the two-week holiday test (Leadership, 12 September 2026, 6 min read): Could you take two weeks off without your phone and come back to a business that is the same or better? A practical test, with a 90-day plan, to stop being the bottleneck in your own company.
- What Portugal's 7,801 high-growth companies do differently (Growth, 9 September 2026, 5 min read): In 2024, high-growth firms were 13.5% of Portuguese companies with 10 or more paid staff, yet provided 21.7% of the jobs. What sets them apart, and how an SME can apply the same practices.
- The North leads business creation: opportunities for Porto business owners (Strategy, 5 September 2026, 4 min read): In 2024, the North accounted for 31.9% of new companies in Portugal, according to INE. What this means for anyone running an SME in Porto: more potential customers, but more competition too.
- Minimum wage at 920 euros: reviewing prices and margins without losing customers (Finance, 2 September 2026, 5 min read): Portugal's minimum wage rose from 870 euros in 2025 to 920 euros in 2026. How to calculate the real impact on costs, review prices methodically and protect margin without driving away good customers.
- The 5 ways to increase profit, worked through for a Portuguese SME (Sales, 29 August 2026, 5 min read): More customers is only one of the five levers of profit. We run the numbers on a hypothetical SME and show why five 10% improvements beat one big push.
- Planning 2027 with data: what INE and Banco de Portugal are telling us (Strategy, 26 August 2026, 5 min read): GDP grew 1.9% in 2025 and unemployment averaged 6.0%, yet 2026 has brought signs of slowing. How to turn these figures into a 2027 plan with scenarios, targets and quarterly reviews.
- Productivity per hour at 66.9% of the EU average: measuring what matters in your team (Productivity, 22 August 2026, 5 min read): Portugal works longer hours than the EU average and produces less per hour. How to choose the right indicators for your team and build a simple measurement routine with accountability.
- A website is not enough: a predictable sales system for SMEs (Sales, 19 August 2026, 5 min read): 62.9% of companies have a website, yet few connect it to a measured sales process. How to build a system that turns visits into leads, leads into customers and customers into repeat sales.
- Unemployment at its lowest since 2011: culture as a competitive advantage (Team, 15 August 2026, 5 min read): With unemployment at 6.0% in 2025, good people choose where they work. Culture stops being a soft topic and becomes a system you design, measure and manage.
- Business coaching or consulting? What changes in an SME (Leadership, 12 August 2026, 4 min read): Consulting delivers an answer; coaching builds the capability to find it and act on it. I explain the differences, when each one fits and how to choose with clear criteria.
- Goods exports almost flat in 2025: diversifying markets with method (Strategy, 8 August 2026, 4 min read): Up to November 2025, goods exports grew just 0.6%. Relying on one market or a few customers is a risk you can measure and reduce with a plan, not with random trade fairs.
- Insolvencies are rising again in 2026: the warning signs to spot early (Finance, 5 August 2026, 5 min read): Up to July 2026 there were 1,216 new insolvency cases, up 5%. Hardly any business collapses overnight: the signs are in the numbers months earlier, for those who track them.