{"id":1143,"date":"2010-06-03T07:21:25","date_gmt":"2010-06-03T07:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localenterprise.wordpress.com\/?p=1143"},"modified":"2010-06-03T07:21:25","modified_gmt":"2010-06-03T07:21:25","slug":"the-enterprise-fairytale-inbiz-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2010\/06\/03\/the-enterprise-fairytale-inbiz-style\/","title":{"rendered":"The Enterprise Fairytale &#8211; InBiz Style"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>If you\u2019d like to manage your work around your life, self-employment may be the answer for you.<strong> All it takes is a bright idea and the determination to succeed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>InBiz &#8211; advert in RAW Magazine and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pathwaystowork.info\/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=6&amp;Itemid=20\">TMP Website<\/a> (emphases are mine)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This is another one for the Advertising Standards Authority in my opinion. \u00a0The implication that all you need is a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">bright idea<\/span> and some\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">determination <\/span>and &#8220;hey presto!&#8221;. \u00a0Anyone can surely muster these resources? \u00a0The implications of such a message are both absurd, hurtful and unhelpful.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>No hint of risk or downsides to self employment<\/li>\n<li>No hint of the challenges involved in succeeding at self\u00a0employment in an increasingly\u00a0competitive\u00a0environment.<\/li>\n<li>No mention of the\u00a0tensions\u00a0and strains that a decision to go\u00a0self\u00a0employed might put on relationships with families and friends &#8211; or how it could end up in increased debt.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A naive and incredible appeal to the hopeless, the gullible and\u00a0the\u00a0many who are referred by the Job Centre at pain of losing their benefits entitlement if they don&#8217;t give it a go. \u00a0After all it only needs a bright idea and the determination to succeed (subtext &#8220;What IS wrong with you people?).<\/p>\n<p>Of course I understand why we do it.<\/p>\n<p>It works in the short term to get people through the door and onto our programmes so that we can trigger payments from funders. \u00a0Until of course the truth about this brand becomes\u00a0widely\u00a0understood. \u00a0It might work for a minority but for most it will be yet another false dawn &#8211; simply adding to feelings of <a href=\"http:\/\/localenterprise.wordpress.com\/2009\/02\/02\/learned-helplessness\/\">learned helplessness<\/a>. \u00a0But then we just repackage and rebrand the offer and it is BIG Business as usual. \u00a0If these services are so very good, and all it requires is a bright idea and some determination then how come the worklessness problem is so persistent?<\/p>\n<p>We must start to be much more honest with people. \u00a0A bright idea helps. \u00a0Determination is good too. \u00a0But it might also take months or years\u00a0of\u00a0skill development. \u00a0Hours and hours of hard graft pushing for business and dealing with customers. \u00a0A credit history that allows you to borrow and invest at the right time. \u00a0A degree of\u00a0financial\u00a0literacy to ensure that you are not ripped of by lenders. Family and friends who are supportive and understanding. \u00a0A\u00a0resourcefulness\u00a0and resilience to get through some really tough times. And in my experience a lot of luck too.<\/p>\n<p>Self employment is a double edged sword. \u00a0For some it transforms their lives for the better. \u00a0Much better. \u00a0For some it becomes just another attempt\u00a0to get off benefits. \u00a0For some it results in serious indebtedness, misery and worse.<\/p>\n<p>Until we start to build an honest dialogue with people that we purport to help about the nature of our products and services and provide long term, skilled, person centred support that\u00a0mobilises\u00a0the resources of the community to help people to make progress\u00a0then I am afraid we are\u00a0likely\u00a0to make little impact on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.themoneystop.co.uk\/032010\/number-of-jsa-claimants-soars.html\">JSA figures<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\"><em>(With\u00a0thanks\u00a0to Charlotte for pointing out this line.)<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Posts\"><ul class=\"entry-meta\"><li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"Olympic Gold &#8211; It all starts with a dream&#8230;.\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/08\/10\/olympic-gold-it-all-starts-with-a-dream\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Olympic Gold &#8211; It all starts with a dream&#8230;.<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"An imaginary open letter: To those who would &#8216;engage&#8217; us&#8230;\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/08\/09\/an-imaginary-open-letter-to-those-who-would-engage-us\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">An imaginary open letter: To those who would &#8216;engage&#8217; us&#8230;<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"Some thoughts on Best City outcomes\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/07\/05\/some-thoughts-on-best-city-outcomes\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Some thoughts on Best City outcomes<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"Some Barriers to Engagement\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/06\/13\/some-barriers-to-engagement\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Some Barriers to Engagement<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"Getting to Grips with Social Finance &#8211; FREE TRAINING\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/06\/12\/getting-to-grips-with-social-finance-free-training\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Getting to Grips with Social Finance &#8211; FREE TRAINING<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019d like to manage your work around your life, self-employment may be the answer for you. All it takes is a bright idea and the determination to succeed. InBiz &#8211; advert in RAW Magazine and TMP Website (emphases are mine) This is another one for the Advertising Standards Authority in my opinion. \u00a0The implication [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[21,38,39,49,65,67,164,223],"class_list":["post-1143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-enterprise","category-entrepreneurship","tag-barriers-to-enterprise","tag-community-development","tag-community-engagement","tag-development","tag-enterprise","tag-enterprise-coaching","tag-professional-development","tag-viable-business-ideas","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1143\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}