{"id":1389,"date":"2011-03-29T11:27:05","date_gmt":"2011-03-29T11:27:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localenterprise.wordpress.com\/?p=1324"},"modified":"2011-03-29T11:27:05","modified_gmt":"2011-03-29T11:27:05","slug":"start-up-britain-credit-where-credit-is-due","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2011\/03\/29\/start-up-britain-credit-where-credit-is-due\/","title":{"rendered":"Start Up Britain – credit where credit is due…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well Startupbritain.org<\/a> certainly\u00a0splits\u00a0opinion, at least amongst the twitterati and the blogger community.<\/p>\n

Start Up Britain: Some love it, some hate it and some are just indifferent. \u00a0In 25 years of working on\u00a0business\u00a0support and enterprise in the UK and overseas I have never seen anything like it given such a ringing endorsement by Government.<\/p>\n

Credit where credit is due.<\/p>\n

They have shipped and made things happen. \u00a0And what a launch! \u00a0The Prime Minister, The Chancellor of The Exchequer and The\u00a0Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and President of the Board of Trade all turning out along with assorted Dragons and celebrity entrepreneurs to offer their support and endorsement.<\/p>\n

All of them\u00a0want\u00a0to see a more enterprising Britain.<\/p>\n

More businesses starting up.<\/p>\n

More businesses surviving and more businesses growing.<\/p>\n

Now we might have an interesting conversation about the balance between economic growth driven by an enterprise led recovery, national well-being, and an environmentally sustainable future, but that would need us to take a holistic perspective on enterprise policy in the UK. \u00a0And I suspect, for the moment at least, this is all about wealth creation, employment, tax take and ‘a private sector led recovery’ rather than the wider role that enterprise can play in creating communities<\/a> that people\u00a0want\u00a0to live in.<\/p>\n

Startup Britain have shipped, and they have had feedback. \u00a0The makeover has begun. \u00a0Some of the typos have already been picked up and corrected. \u00a0I am sure the broken links (HP offer for example)\u00a0will\u00a0be mended and the links to malware (Growing\/Staying Inspired\/a bit of motivation\/Warren Buffet) sites removed. (Although more than 24 hours since I first blogged and tweeted there has been no acknowledgement of the problem and no resolution)<\/p>\n

I also suspect that a bit of a site makeover might be in order to make it a little less political and move the discount vouchers and special offers to a more discrete position.<\/p>\n

But I\u00a0think\u00a0the challenges go a little deeper and wonder whether they will be addressed.<\/p>\n

Surely Anything is Better than Nothing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I do not subscribe to the school that says ‘anything\u00a0is better than nothing’ – especially when that ‘anything’ is launched by half the cabinet and a host of celebrity entrepreneurs. \u00a0I work at the coal face of enterprise support in the UK, where\u00a0regularly\u00a0people lose their houses, marriages and occasionally\u00a0their\u00a0lives\u00a0because\u00a0the\u00a0business\u00a0that they were encouraged to start has left them in more debt.<\/p>\n

And many more struggle on day after day living hand to mouth\u00a0because\u00a0they were encouraged to start a business that was at best marginal. \u00a0I have talked with many an adviser who have told me about the pressure they come under to make loans to would be entrepreneurs against\u00a0their\u00a0better judgement, because they have start up and loan making targets to hit.<\/p>\n

Enterprise really is a double edged sword. And if we choose to promote it in our communities then we must do so with care, competence and compassion. Entrepreneurship is not all about computing in the cloud, venture finance and making the first million. \u00a0We love to promote the upsides of enterprise – but it also has a dark side.<\/p>\n

A little more curation please…<\/strong><\/p>\n

If Start Up Britain wants to be a serious player in the long term they really do need to develop a professional approach\u00a0towards site curation. \u00a0At the moment there are too\u00a0many\u00a0links to the same few sites, many of which are businesses affiliated to \u00a0Startup\u00a0Britain’s\u00a0founders and more vocal celebrity supporters with books and other products to shift. \u00a0When offering advice and support, impartiality matters.<\/p>\n

I would strongly recommend that they appoint a credible curator\/editor and possibly an editorial board that can ensure impartiality and quality of what gets listed on Startup Britain’s web directory and then a good folksonomy<\/a> system that will ensure that the most useful content gets clearly flagged by the people that use it. \u00a0 I used to argue that Business Link should have a folksonomy\u00a0approach\u00a0to rating both its own advisers and the\u00a0third\u00a0party service providers that they brokered out to – but this was seen as just too risky!<\/p>\n

Sort Out an SEO Strategy…<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the time of writing if you Google ‘startup britain’ the main www.startupbritain.org site does not appear at least not on the first half a dozen pages, after\u00a0which\u00a0I gave up. \u00a0Instead www.startupbritain.co.uk<\/a> and\u00a0www.start-up-britain<\/strong>.co.uk<\/a> take pole position. \u00a0Now that is enterprise. \u00a0Perhaps time to use some of those free adwords that you are entitled to…<\/p>\n

Oh, and it would be lovely to actually link to a\u00a0specific\u00a0piece on the site. \u00a0But we can’t. \u00a0Think of all those lovely referrals that you are missing out one.<\/p>\n

Re-think Peer to Peer and DIY Support<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Start Up Britain ‘peer support strategy’ needs a bit of a rethink. \u00a0It is great that the Supper Club and Prelude<\/a> (both founded by Start Up Britain co-founder Duncan Cheatle)\u00a0are offering free mentoring. (Free as long as you agree to provide 2 hours of free mentoring for every hour that you\u00a0receive: it will be interesting to see the pathway through which mentee becomes mentor).<\/p>\n

However we know that mentoring is not right for all, and a quick look at Prelude and The Supper Club suggests a certain emphasis on high growth strategies. \u00a0If I\u00a0want\u00a0to become a self employed window cleaner will I still\u00a0get\u00a0the mentoring? \u00a0Will I be invited to mentor others?<\/p>\n

What about\u00a0encouraging\u00a0other forms of peer to peer support and an ethos of DIY?<\/p>\n

What about helping entrepreneurs to become much more effective at managing\u00a0their\u00a0own learning rather than spoon feeding them courses and mentors?<\/p>\n

What about helping entrepreneurs to figure out the type of support that they need and how they can best access it?<\/p>\n

A truly British Campaign?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Start Up Britain needs to think a little more about developing a genuinely British presence. \u00a0Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland? \u00a0I am not sure yet that it really covers England. \u00a0It needs to quickly move on from being Start Up London and the South East – remember that stuff about re-balancing the economy?<\/p>\n

For example I spent a bit of time trying out Enternships.com (another Founding Partner of Start Up Britain) to see what enternships might be available in my home city of Leeds. \u00a0Answer = 0. \u00a0Bradford = 0. \u00a0Yorkshire = 0. \u00a0A search for enternships in Manchester did turn up 4, albeit 1 of them was actually in London. \u00a02 were for telesales positions and one was to do social media for a recruitment agency.<\/p>\n

A Little More Transparency Too…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Start Up Britain is variously referred to as ‘a not for profit company<\/a>‘, ‘an independent collective of UK entrepreneurs and big business’ and a new campaign run by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs. \u00a0 It is described on the BIS website<\/a> as ‘representing the private sector response’. \u00a0 This leaves me confused.<\/p>\n

So there we go.<\/p>\n

I have been positive.<\/p>\n

I only hope that we see a response.<\/p>\n