Start-Up Britain: After the furore
I went to Wolverhampton Science Park today (21/09/11) which was hosting the StartUp Britain ‘bus tour’ on its visit to the Black Country.
Those readers with an interest in business support will recall that the StartUp Britain initiative caused something of a furore when it was launched in March this year. Many of the critics presumably had axes to grind as proponents of paid business support. Inevitably the PR/campaign tone of StartUp Britain would be anathema to many such individuals. Perhaps both the hardest hitting and in my view justifiable criticism was aired here: http://postdesk.com/blog/why-startup-britain-is-nothing-more-than-a-government-backed-link-farm
It is interesting to note that in the six months since it’s inception the critics of StartUp Britain have become far less vocal. A glance at the website shows a certain amount of cleaning since the start http://www.startupbritain.org/ now has a little less emphasis on the corporate sponsors, though personally the simplistic 4 ‘top tips’ approach to starting a business grates somewhat.
So how was the bus tour event and are we any nearer to understanding what StartUp Britain actually is and whether there is substance to it.
The good news was that both the event sponsors and the ‘experts’ to be found on the bus were primarily local and small. There is no way you can level the criticism that StartUP Britain is merely about corporates pushing business services to start-ups, well not at the Black Country event at least. I was also heartened to hear the ‘StartUp Black Country’ lead Gary Lennon say that business start-up is not for everyone.
On the downside, the actual bus itself was full of display material for Barclays, Intuit, Paypal etc and frankly felt like a travelling advert rather than a resource to help a business to start and prosper. Emma Jones, CEO of StartUp Britain also stated that we should be encouraging everyone to start in business, which I think is entirely the wrong message to be giving to people.
So in essence we had 30 minutes of a quite informative spiel on the Black Country, its business performance and brief words from local sponsors and experts followed by the opportunity to talk to both local experts and the core corporate sponsors on and around the vicinity of the vehicle itself. You have to say that the attendance of c.100 people was pretty impressive and certainly far in excess of what your average Enterprise Agency and/or Business Link would attract to a ‘business awareness seminar’ or some such ilk.
I think my view on StartUp Britain is quite ambivalent.
I don’t like the way the start-up message is being delivered via the initiative. Encouraging everyone to start in business is dangerous and misguided. Despite the welcome inclusion of local experts at the tour events it still feels like ‘big businesses doing things to small businesses’ when you look at the website.
I am also still unsure as to what StartUp Britain actually is. Today, I gleaned that it is a campaign with a likely shelf life of 3 years. It also has a Chief Executive (can campaigns have staff?) despite not offering any business advice per se and a burgeoning network of local champions whose actual interest in/remuneration from StartUp Britain is less than clear. Bluntly I am not sure whether StartUp Britain is an actual entity or merely a promotional vehicle.
Yet in the final analysis I am not sure that my perception about lack of clarity actually matters that much. The fairly big caveat aside that I really don’t like the message of ‘anyone can be self-employed’ it has to be stated that if today is anything to go by the initiative is being successful at drawing in would-be starters and young businesses to talk to each other and provide peer-to-peer assistance.
A nagging thought occurs. I wish the government of the day and in particular the ‘celebrity’ entrepreneurs had put so much effort into banging the self-employment drum at a time when professional business support was widely available. What a powerful offer you would have with a national promotional campaign allied to free, impartial business advice. To coin a phrase that particular ‘bus has departed’.
Two cheers for StartUp Britain.
Rob
Thanks for your thoughtful summary of the morning but what a shame you didn’t come and speak to me before writing it!
As you didn’t allow me the opportunity to respond to the points you raise in person, can I respond here?
The bus itself is filled with materials from our sponsors as without their support, we would not be able to travel up and down the country in a very visual vehicle that is encouraging hundreds more people to start a business
Please challenge me at any time to have the discussion with you about encouraging people to start a business as I stand by my statement that everyone should be encouraged to become their own boss and take control of their own livelihood. Again, a shame you didn’t come to chat with me so we could discuss this and you could have presented your own view.
Can campaigns have staff? I certainly hope so or we wouldn’t have achieved much over the past 6 months! I believe I was clear in saying the campaign has three core activities; the website, supported events and StartUp Local – we achieve and manage this with a tiny team.
Delighted we get 2 chears from you … maybe over the next couple of months that will increase to 3!
In the meantime we will continue to work incredibly hard to encourage as many people as possible to start their own business, supported by large businesses, their peers and mentors.
This country needs entrepreneurial spirit and I’d be delighted to hear from you if you feel we can deliver this in a better/different way.
Thanks for coming.
Best wishes
Emma
Emma Jones
September 21, 2011
Emma,
Thanks very much for taking the time and trouble to read this and reply. In turn I am sorry I didn’t get chance to air my views with you in person yesterday as I had to dash off a bit sharpish.
I think we will have to agree to disagree on the point about encouraging everyone to start up. My standpoint as a self employed person is you almost have to want and in some senses almost ‘need’ to work on your own more than you want anything else in life. Many people are temperamentally unsuited and I believe, ill served by self employment,
Other than that I think StartUp Britain has done a good job in turning round the negative press. As I said in my entry it is really good to see local business sponsors and experts ‘come aboard’ as it were.
I know it is easy to stand on the sidelines and lob grenades in. Your enthusiasm and that of the team never threatens to wane and I wish you the very best of luck. I just think that the launch made a rod for your own back.
Regards
Rob
robweaverregen
September 22, 2011