Another day; another website driving the ‘enterprise led recovery’.<\/p>\n
Today sees the launch of Start Up Britain<\/a>. \u00a0Described on the\u00a0BIS website<\/a> as ‘an independent collective of UK entrepreneurs and big businesses, representing the private sector response to the Government\u2019s ambition for an enterprise-led recovery. \u00a0Over 60 leading global brands have pledged millions of pounds in support to new entrepreneurs’.<\/p>\n Now, 60 global\u00a0brands\u00a0offering discounts does not in my mind translate into millions of pounds worth of support. It smacks of introductory discounts designed to develop the start up market.<\/p>\n On its own site Start Up Britain says we are:<\/p>\n a\u00a0new campaign by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, launched on 28th March 2011. Designed to celebrate, inspire and accelerate enterprise in the UK, it has the full backing of the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and HM Government.<\/p>\n This is a response from the private sector to the Government\u2019s call for an \u2018enterprise-led\u2019 recovery. We believe that many of the important functions and services necessary to foster and champion new enterprise can be open-sourced, instead of provided by government directly. We aim to do this by creating a living market-place online for the wide range of enterprise support that is already available.<\/p>\n As a private sector organisation we aim to shoulder some of this responsibility for enterprise promotion with the government, re-modelling existing cost centres, and reducing the cost to the taxpayer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So Start Up Britain is \u00a0a campaign. \u00a0But what kind of campaign? \u00a0A campaign to change policy? Or an advertising\u00a0campaign? \u00a0Details on what is being campaigned for, and who the campaign is\u00a0targeting\u00a0are a little sketchy.<\/p>\n The line about ‘many of the important functions and services necessary to foster and champion new enterprise can be open-sourced, instead of provided by government directly’\u00a0\u00a0leaves me perplexed. \u00a0What is\u00a0meant\u00a0in this context by ‘open sourced’? \u00a0What are the ‘important\u00a0functions and services’? \u00a0I\u00a0think\u00a0they are saying leave business support up to private sector,\u00a0because\u00a0they can turn a few bob on it. \u00a0Not sure how this will pan out for the poorest in our communities but hey – this is an enterprise led recovery we are starting here. \u00a0We will have to rely on trickle down and\u00a0philanthropy\u00a0to sort out the poor. \u00a0Seems a bit like the privatisation of\u00a0healthcare\u00a0– where the profitable bits are taken on by the private sector leaving the expensive stuff – like enterprise in areas of deprivation to be managed by the state.<\/p>\n Now I love the idea of a living marketplace for enterprise support. \u00a0A place where buyers and vendors can meet,\u00a0talk\u00a0and exchange. \u00a0A place where customers can soon see who is the\u00a0real\u00a0deal and who is selling tat. \u00a0But I am not sure that a series of links to ‘some of our favourite sites’ really constitutes a living marketplace. \u00a0More of a sales and referral network really. \u00a0Many of which seem to end up in the US.<\/p>\n Follow ‘Tip 4 – Get a Logo’ and you end up on a San Francisco based platform that will crowd source you a logo designer on the cheap. \u00a0That is really going to help UK based\u00a0graphics\u00a0companies. \u00a0Thanks. \u00a0But the problem is even more acute than that – \u00a0‘Tip 4 – Get a Logo’. \u00a0I must have assessed over 200 business advisers in my time and I have NEVER heard any of them give such a crass piece of advice as ‘get a logo’.<\/p>\n And it seems to me that just about every private sector sponsor\/supporter of Start Up Britain gets a link to sell their book, their training course, their start up packs. \u00a0Vested self interest anyone?<\/p>\n If you follow the links to ‘Schools to learn about\u00a0entrepreneurship’ you find there are\u00a0just two. \u00a0One from Peter Jones the other from Doug Richards…<\/p>\n I especially liked the section that says ‘Knowing your market’. It offers links to a range of online survey platforms. \u00a0Is the implication really that an online survey is all you need to know your market? \u00a0Surely a link to some more generic advice on the importance of market research and its limitation might be more helpful?<\/p>\n The section on ‘Getting Funding’ does not even mention families and friends as a potential source!<\/p>\n If you follow the Warren Buffet link to ‘get some motivation’ then you get a malware warning.<\/p>\n And if you follow the link to Capital Enterprise at the time of writing you will find that it is broken.<\/p>\n At best what\u00a0we\u00a0have here is a bit of\u00a0flaky\u00a0directory, with no way for us to rate our experience of the providers.<\/p>\n And\u00a0Cameron, Cable and Osbourne turn out to launch this curate’s egg?<\/p>\n