Dorset has just over 30,000 businesses. Around 90% of these are micro-businesses with less than ten employees, which is consistent with the national business size profile. The number of new business in Dorset has been growing since 2009, but at a lower rate than in the UK as a whole. Our future economic growth needs a healthy rate of new business starts. Our vision is for a strong and growing business population, with high rates of business start-ups, and good business survival rates. We will have domestic businesses which are trading outside of Dorset and outside of the UK, including tourism businesses in Dorset that are attracting customers from the rest of the UK and verseas. We will have high levels of inward investment and businesses with high levels of Research & Development (R&D) and innovation. The latter will be achieved, in part, by our businesses working closely with our two universities (including a specialist arts university). Our key sectors will be core to the growth of the business population.