Many of those questioned said local authorities and enterprise companies have done little to help them develop.

Nearly half of Scotland's workers are employed by companies with less than 50 staff - but according to the federation even more people could be working for such firms.

It is now calling on local authorities and the country's enterprise companies to enter into discussions with small firms to find out how they can give greater assistance.

'Poor service'

Almost two thirds of members claimed that local authorities had done nothing to help the development of their business - and more than a third gave a bad rating for the services provided by their council.

Many also criticised the Scottish Enterprise network but they had other worries too, including education and training.

Four out of 10 respondents thought new employees were not joining their business with the required level of literacy skills.

The findings come from a questionnaire which was sent out to the FSB's 12,334 Scottish members.

Just under 2,000 replies were returned and analysed.