{"id":1366,"date":"2010-03-08T11:48:56","date_gmt":"2010-03-08T11:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localenterprise.wordpress.com\/?p=1014"},"modified":"2010-03-08T11:48:56","modified_gmt":"2010-03-08T11:48:56","slug":"an-enterprise-escalator-no-thanks-give-me-a-sherpa-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2010\/03\/08\/an-enterprise-escalator-no-thanks-give-me-a-sherpa-instead\/","title":{"rendered":"An Enterprise Escalator? No Thanks!  Give Me a Sherpa Instead"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Kevin Horne is the CEO of Norfolk and Waveney Enterprise Services (NWES) &#8216;one of the leading business support organisations&#8217; in the UK. \u00a0NWES is a members of the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies and Kevin has written a piece drawing attention to the <a href=\"http:\/\/enterpriseandbusiness.blogspot.com\/2010\/03\/nfea-manifesto-blueprint-for-future.html\">NFEA&#8217;s Enterprise Manifesto<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin goes on to describe the &#8216;Enterprise Escalator&#8217; which provides a &#8216;comprehensive customer journey&#8217;, comprising:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Outreach and awareness raising.<\/li>\n<li>Pre-start advice.<\/li>\n<li>Start-up training.<\/li>\n<li>One to one support.<\/li>\n<li>Access to finance.<\/li>\n<li>Mentoring.<\/li>\n<li>Networking.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On the surface, good sensible stuff. \u00a0But it perpetuates a myth. \u00a0The &#8216;escalator&#8217; implies that, if start up is right for me,\u00a0I just have to get on and I will effortlessly ascend to the next level. \u00a0It is a\u00a0false\u00a0promise. \u00a0It is the enterprise fairytale. \u00a0Real world is less &#8216;escalator&#8217; and more &#8216;snakes and ladders&#8217;. \u00a0Less gentle trip to the shopping centre and more laying\u00a0siege\u00a0to the mountain. \u00a0It is life making work.<\/p>\n<p>And what if it is not right for me? \u00a0Kevin rightly suggest that we need to signpost to other services &#8211; but will any of those really help? \u00a0I have seen too many people with aspiration and potential be sent back to the job centre\u00a0because\u00a0the job of helping them find their\u00a0enterprising\u00a0feet will just take too long. \u00a0It won&#8217;t fit with the\u00a0neatly\u00a0packaged funded services that look to provide a start up fast track.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps we should offer an enterprise sherpa service. \u00a0Someone who has managed the ascent before &#8211; but who has also, on\u00a0occasion, failed. \u00a0Someone who recognises that this is a risky endeavour and needs to be\u00a0carefully\u00a0managed if it is not to\u00a0cause\u00a0damage. \u00a0Someone who\u00a0can\u00a0recognise when the time is right to push for the summit and when the time is right to do more training and preparation at low levels.<\/p>\n<p>If we are to engage people in communities then we have to\u00a0engage\u00a0them &#8216;where they are at&#8217;. \u00a0Some will already have made it to base camp and are hungrily eyeing the peak. \u00a0It might not quite be an escalator but we can\u00a0certainly\u00a0pass\u00a0them the oxygen, clip them onto the fixed ropes and wish them luck.<\/p>\n<p>But many remain in the valleys and seldom look to the cloud covered tops.<\/p>\n<p>We have to personalise our services and we have to recognise that many are not yet close to being \u00a0ready to start a business &#8211; now is not the time to launch an\u00a0assault\u00a0for the\u00a0summit\u00a0&#8211; but instead to weigh up the pros and cons of even considering a short trek.<\/p>\n<p>Different people are at different places.<\/p>\n<p>Some\u00a0will\u00a0be highly motivated but with few skills. \u00a0Others will have skills (that they often don&#8217;t recognise) but little or no motivation. \u00a0Some will have\u00a0neither\u00a0motivation nor skill. A precious few will have both.<\/p>\n<p>The real &#8216;enterprise&#8217; challenge is to engage those who have already decided that the &#8216;labour market&#8217; is not for them and to encourage them to reconsider what they can do\u00a0with\u00a0their lives. \u00a0It is about reconnecting them to their aspirations, helping them to find belief and confidence and finding ways in\u00a0which\u00a0they can unstick their lives and make progress. \u00a0It is about helping them to see that their is an enterprise journey that might be right for them. \u00a0Can we cost effectively extend our sherpa service to engage and inspire them? \u00a0What are the costs of not doing so? \u00a0This should be the realm of the enterprise coach.<\/p>\n<p>It is often a protracted job that requires a long term, strong, supportive, challenging, trusting and non-judgemental relationship. \u00a0It is not about the &#8216;Enterprise Fairytale&#8217; and fast start ups. \u00a0It is about the hard work of developing people and helping them to find ways to dare to move forward again.<\/p>\n<p>I\u00a0wonder\u00a0if Enterprise Agencies have the skill and commitment to required to develop an enterprise based service that will really start where many people are at?<\/p>\n<div class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Posts\"><ul class=\"entry-meta\"><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<li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"Working In Community Development Today&#8230;\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/05\/23\/working-in-community-development-today\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Working In Community Development Today&#8230;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kevin Horne is the CEO of Norfolk and Waveney Enterprise Services (NWES) &#8216;one of the leading business support organisations&#8217; in the UK. \u00a0NWES is a members of the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies and Kevin has written a piece drawing attention to the NFEA&#8217;s Enterprise Manifesto. Kevin goes on to describe the &#8216;Enterprise Escalator&#8217; which [&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":[38,39,53,67,69,110,141,143,151,164,196,200,209,210],"class_list":["post-1366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-enterprise","category-entrepreneurship","tag-community-development","tag-community-engagement","tag-diversity","tag-enterprise-coaching","tag-enterprise-journeys","tag-inspiration","tag-operations","tag-outreach","tag-policy","tag-professional-development","tag-start-up","tag-strategy","tag-training","tag-transformation","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1366","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=1366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1366\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}