In case you managed to miss it, last week was Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). The main theme, other than the celebration of all things enterprise, was entrepreneurial myth-busting. This is my attempt to expose the seven myths of entrepreneurial Britain.
1. It matters whether entrepreneurs are born or made. Wrong. It doesn’t make one iota of difference to someone running a business or thinking of starting one. It may be a hardy perennial of entrepreneurs’ panel discussions, but surely now we can all agree that entrepreneurs can be a mixture of both. Some are born, some are made, some have a natural flair that circumstance brings out and some are forced into it by circumstance. It’s time to move on.
2. All businesses are internet businesses. No, they aren’t. The fish and chip shop on the corner doesn’t have to be an internet business. But Doug Richard is right that most businesses today are, whether they like it or not, have the capacity to be digital. Even a fish and chip shop can promote itself or run basic admin tasks online. Richard certainly struck a chord with many when he suggested from his park bench at Google’s London offices on Monday morning, that the internet means all businesses today are either global or local. Which is yours?
3. Being an entrepreneur is a lonely business. If last week proved anything, it’s that entrepreneurs are far from alone. The vast array of support networks on display at the various events last week showed that regardless of sector, age, gender or wealth, there’s a support network there for you. Julie Meyer, speaking at a lunch on Wednesday at Coutts, talked eloquently in her rapid-fire style, of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Shaa Wasmund’s Smarta book launch on Tuesday was a sign of just how much support there is out there.
As arch-networker Rajeeb Dey, founder of Enternships, pointed out when asked how difficult it is to get invited into these networks, it’s no good waiting for others to invite you. You have to make your own place in that ecosystem and exploit the support systems all around you.
4. A recession is the best time to start a business. Let’s get this straight. Access to finance is difficult. And consumers are spending less because they are uncertain about the future. So this is the best time to start a business? No, it’s not. But, while it may not be the easiest time to raise funds for an unproven idea, it doesn’t mean it’s not a good time to start a business. Good ideas will always prosper and starting a business on limited funds (see myth 5) will instil financial disciplines that stand any business in good stead as it grows. Businesses forged in the heat of recession are stronger and built to last. Last week showed just how many people are ignoring the economic conditions and launching great businesses, some of which will become tomorrow’s giants.
5. You need a lot of money to start a business. This fallacy has finally been nailed. The internet has changed the game forever and for everyone. Doug Richard talked of people needing only a laptop and a good idea to launch a business today. Enterprise Nation’s Emma Jones and her army of homeworking “five-to-niners” are the proof of this. Go scrounge a laptop and get going.
6. This is no time for CSR. The UnLtd event on Thursday evening was notable for many things—not least the presence of a bucking bronco rodeo pig. Most important was the evident proof of how blurred the lines between doing good and good business have become. Likewise the Monday launch of the Prince’s Trust book Make it Happen offered proof that organisations that exist with the narrow purpose of simply making returns for shareholders will struggle to survive.
Forget this recessionary blip, the structural factors that created the war for talent have not gone away. Businesses will soon be forced to work harder than ever to attract talented young employees and this generation more than any other wants to see concrete evidence that doing good is at the heart of a company’s mission. The rise of the social enterprise sector will put more pressure than ever on conventional firms to do good. If you’re launching a business today, think long and hard about your ethical ambitions.
7. The government will make this the decade of the entrepreneur. This may sound churlish after an excellent week of entrepreneurial activities, many of them supported and attended by ministers. But this phrase is already beginning to acquire the hollow ring of sloganism. It may not come back to haunt the government like Cool Britannia did New Labour, but it will probably soon be forgotten. Who in five years will be out measuring our progress?
The truth is that governments don’t make entrepreneurs or start businesses. Even the announcement of a government-run mentoring scheme was worrying. Civil servants running a mentoring scheme for entrepreneurs? Come off it. Government needs to get the economy right, encourage those in education to teach the right skills, give the right tax breaks to encourage entrepreneurs and investors to take risks and then get out of the way. This might end up being a more entrepreneurial decade, but it won’t be politicians that make it happen. It will be people like you.