The author while discussing governments enterprise strategy argues that ministers must focus on making sure advisers completely understand the businesses they are meant to be helping.
The facts are clear; even the government admits it - when small business owners think support, they don’t think government. The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform’s (BERR) own survey recently revealed that just 5 per cent of new small company owners seek advice from Business Link, the government’s flagship SME support service, when setting up their business compared to 16 per cent who turn to their bank. For established business owners looking for guidance on complying with legislation, the statistic was even lower with only 3 per cent turning to the organisation for help.
Tony Robinson OBE, founder of SME support standards setting body SFEDI, claims it is people who have actually achieved success running a company that entrepreneurs put their faith in.
“If I speak at an event and ask entrepreneurs if they have met with a government appointed adviser, I rarely see a hand go up,” he says. “They tend to choose the people they trust, have been there, got the t-shirt and could run a small business successfully.
“Instead of spending millions on advertising programmes so small businesses get in touch with them, the government should engage and enable the business clubs, enterprise agencies, forums and accountants who are already trusted by small businesses.”
Robinson is not alone in his criticism.
The wide perception of Business Link among small business owners is that the service does not offer the advice they need. Advisers often appear to be more interested in “box ticking” than offering valuable guidance. If this perception is to change, advisers need to gain more practical experience of the day-to-day operations of small businesses so they can more efficiently respond to their needs.
Emily Hill, founder of copywriting company Write My Site, is one entrepreneur who is less than impressed with Business Link. “I had only one session but felt the adviser did not really understand my business model,” she says. “Indeed, when I raised the issue of funding for the business he said, and I quote, ‘I can’t really see that you need any money. You’re a service business’. I don’t think it occurred to him that even “service” businesses need premises, staff, marketing, IT etc in order to grow.”
It is clear that BERR has a lot to do to restore the trust of small businesses. Yes, the number of people visiting Business Link is on the rise which is a positive step but if the advice offered is considered unhelpful then it undermines confidence in the service in the long term. The government should think more about ensuring business advisers are clued-up and have practical experience of small business needs in order for this attitude to change.
It has to be acknowledged that steps are being taken to improve the situation. In the government’s new enterprise strategy, released alongside Alistair Darling’s Budget, it outlined an idealistic future where Business Link is the first point of call for small business support and the confusing mass of criss-crossing initiatives are slashed.
Extra training for Business Link advisers is mentioned which is good news but also included in the same report are the creation of new schemes such as an enterprise academy led by successful entrepreneur Peter Jones and the creation of new Women’s Centres.
New bodies are the last thing the business support world needs. Instead of headline grabbing announcements featuring Dragons’ Den celebrities, the government should be focusing on creating good, practical and useful support bodies which takes the best of the private sector already trusted by entrepreneurs and moves away from the ‘computer says no’ approach.
The words of one business owner, who prefers to remain anonymous, shows there is still a long way to go before BERR’s vision becomes a reality.
“I found the advisers too busy to help or provide support, advice or anything marginally beneficial for us,” he explains. “Calls went unreturned, e-mails ignored, a far cry from the promises made in the initial interview. It felt as though once they had “logged” us that was all they needed to accomplish, as if they needed to meet a certain target of new start-ups to assist. In fact, they wasted my time as they invited me to pursue certain paths but failed to provide adequate direction, and we went looking for help elsewhere in the end. I actually found Business Link a burden, and wish I hadn’t bothered.”
BusinessZone.co.uk is a leading advice website for small business owners. The free to access site includes practical advice articles, a business finance guide and expert blogs. The sister website to BusinessZone.co.uk is UK Business Forums, the UK’s most active online forums for entrepreneurs.