Yet, it could be argued that in previous general elections, they have been largely ignored by the political parties despite the lobbying efforts of organisations such as Federation of Small Businesses and the Forum of Private Business.
In 2010, there was very little mention of SMEs in terms of the economic policies of any of the main parties but thanks to the nature of the economic recovery where entrepreneurial businesses have played a major role, things have changed considerably.
And with SMEs being responsible for three quarters of the jobs created during the period 2010-2014, and the total numbers increasing by 700,000 over the same period, those wishing to form the next Government can no longer ignore the voices of small businesses.
So what are the main promises being made to the owner managers of 5.7 million SMEs who currently employ over 16 million people across the UK in terms of key areas such as business rates, finance and skills?
According to the party manifestos, Labour, UKIP and Plaid Cymru have promised to cut business rates for smaller firms whilst both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have pledged a review of business rates if elected. However, with business rates now being fully devolved to the Welsh Government, it is unlikely that any of these promises will have an effect in Wales.
In terms of finance and business support, the Conservative Party have said that they will continue the process of introducing more new banks to offer greater competition, a view endorsed by the Liberal Democrats who aim to encourage new entrants to the sector as well as innovations like crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending and community banking. To address deficiencies in funding small firms, UKIP will pilot a scheme to improve access to trade credit insurance to small businesses.
In contrast, there is a more interventionist approach by the Labour Party in promising to create a British Investment Bank with the mission to help businesses grow and to create wealth and jobs. How this fits in with creation of a Welsh Development Bank - which is supported by Plaid Cymru - is uncertain given that the Welsh Government is already considering such an institution proposal. Indeed, with business support also being fully devolved, it is difficult to understand how Labour’s proposal to set up a Small Business Administration (SBA) to assist entrepreneurs would work in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In terms of skills, the main focus seems to be on apprentices with the Conservatives promising the delivery of three million new apprenticeships over the next five years whilst Labour will ensure that every firm getting a major government contract will be required to offer these training opportunities to young people.
Plaid Cymru will continue to promote Higher Level Apprenticeships and will also focus on getting more to be taken up in specific sectors such as the media and the arts. Similarly, the Liberal Democrats, in doubling the number of businesses that hire apprentices, will extend them into new sectors of the economy such as creative and digital industries. Finally, UKIP will link vocational schools and colleges with industry and introduce an option for students to take an apprenticeship qualification instead of four non-core GCSEs.
But given that skills development is devolved, it is uncertain how these promises fit in with what is currently happening outside of England.
However, one area of policy that still applies to the whole of the UK is that of corporation tax and over the course of the last Parliament, the Coalition Government has reduced the large firm corporation tax rate (for profits larger than £300,000) from 28 to 20 per cent.
The Conservatives have no plans to increase or decrease this over the next five years and although the Liberal Democrats have said the same, they also want a supplementary corporation tax for the banking sector.
In contrast, the Labour Party has indicated that it will reverse the cuts in corporation taxes and increase the rate over the next parliament. Whilst the promise is to keep this competitive relative to other countries, this will dismay many in the business community.
But what is really disappointing is that despite their warm words towards the SME sector, not one of the political parties has advocated reducing the 20 per cent small firm rate (i.e. for profits of less than £300,000) which has stayed the same since 2011.
Given that the vast majority of the 3.5 million companies that pay corporation tax, this would be a simple and direct way for politicians to support the SME sector.
Indeed, if the case for reducing the corporation tax for large firms is to make the UK competitive then surely the same applies for the millions of small firms across the country?
Certainly, reducing this rate for those wealth creators in the economy would have sent a clear signal that the next government wants to support the SME sector to invest more of their own profits into their business and to improve competitiveness and productivity in the economy.
Unfortunately the manifestos suggest that is unlikely to happen in the future. Until it does, then many in the business community would argue that not one of the parties competing in this election can truly call themselves the small business party.