Many small business owners are ignoring their own training needs and failing to review their requirements from one year to the next, according to research from Business Link.

The study found that 48% agreed they did not spend as much time and money on their own skills development as they would one of their staff, with one in four admitting they did not review their skills needs year-on-year.

"In the current economic climate, financial investment of any sort may seem too risky but this is exactly the time when effective leaders are needed to steer companies through the hard times we are experiencing," said Business Link's Janet Robbins. "The importance of having skilled staff cannot be underestimated but bosses also need to have the right training to lead their team to success."

Most managers (76%) accepted they needed to develop their IT skills, with 25% pointing to IT as a particular weakness. Other skills identified as in need of attention included managing finances and cashflow, strategy and business planning, winning new business and developing customer relationships.

"The ability to win new business and develop customer relationships are seen as key skills for future business development by almost two thirds (63%) of managers, which is not surprising when you consider that every company needs to win new clients to grow and expand or even survive during tough times," added Robbins.

"Inevitably, some clients will be lost, whether through natural wastage or companies struggling in the credit crunch, so it is critical to be on the look out for new business and new types of clients."

The research also found that managers of small businesses that have increased their turnover in the past 12 months were much more likely to have taken time out for strategic planning at least once a month.

One in 10 owner/managers said they never took time out to think strategically and a third said they failed to do this at least once a year.