Why don’t we have more entrepreneurs? That was a question that came up kept coming up at the Innovate 09 event this week. It’s not an original question; indeed it’s one that comes up regularly at events like this, in the media and during debates with business leaders.
At Innovate Lord Sugar – famous for telling people they are fired – told the audience that entrepreneur was a title that others gave to you and not one that you should use to describe yourself. But he did add that since he took on his new government role he had met quite a few good up-and-coming business people.
A session on Digital Britain did bring two successful entrepreneurs to the stage. Anthony Lilley, chief executive of Magic Lantern Productions and Sara Murray, founder and MD of Buddie and a member of the advisory board of Seedcamp , a micros seed fund. Both faced the question: “why don’t we have more entrepreneurs?”
Anthony suggested that what we need is an environment in which kids where as likely to grow up wanting to be Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google, as a rock star like Justin Timberlake. Sara suggested that as a country we are still not as proud of entrepreneurs as some other nations.
She also raised the question of how available funding is for small start-ups, suggesting that when businesses need funding in their very early stages it was often difficult to find. She said this was a gap that Seedcamp helped fill but also suggested that the UK needed a network of angles that would support people with good ideas.
This was theme that Lord Mandelson, took up when he gave the keynote address. He echoed what Sara had said about early stage funding, telling the audience the UK’s financial markets had under delivered in supporting start-ups and that risk aversion must not stifle the growth of innovation in the UK. He added that the government is helping create a fund that he hopes will help tackle this problem.
He was quick to add that investment professionals and not politicians or civil servants would manage this.
So are we on the brink of a new wave of entrepreneurs? Perhaps the problem is that we get too hung up on the idea that you have to be Richard Branson or James Dyson, or Larry and Sergey, to count as an entrepreneur. The UK has many successful businesses, albeit on a small scale than Virgin or Google, which are profitable, innovative and create jobs. This is particularly true in the creative industries.
So lets not be afraid to use the word entrepreneur about the people running these businesses. They might not become as high profile as Justin Timberlake but it might make us realise just how entrepreneurial the UK is.
One Comment
The aftermath of the banking crisis and the credit crunch has left many entrepreneurs very disillusioned and lacking in confidence. But the eager ones are getting on with progressing their ideas. For knowledge-based industries, the time to invest is now as there are some indications that the recession is petering out. We have been working on knoledge-based projects which will hopefully create employment throught rhe creative use of digital inclusion. It is well known that it was the investment in culture and innovation that led the USA out of the 1930 depression. We need to focus on recovery through selective investment now. There are too many people waiting to see who will win the general election before these key initiatives can receive attention. We simply do not have the time.