Learn more about the motivation behind the Solutions for Business Products
Economic Drivers of Government-Funded Business Support is a recently published paper by the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) which gives those involved in or affected by the Business Support Simplification Programme (BSSP) the opportunity to learn more about the motivation behind the Solutions for Business Products.
The paper summarises the economic rationale and evidence that supports the simplified portfolio outlined in the accompanying ‘Solutions for Business’ policy document.
We will provide a summary of the Enterprise and Business Creation and Reducing Inequalities chapters which impact on pre-start and business start-up services.
Enterprise and Business Creation
This chapter discusses business support products that are designed to promote start-ups.
Rationale - Information failures
Evidence outlines that Information failures such as a lack of knowledge or access to information can prevent people starting business. It is essential that the Government makes special provision to supply the necessary information and lets people know where to get it.
Situations which exaggerate this need are:
- The majority of the UK workforce being employed by large companies with many people not having a friend or family member with experience of starting up or running a business
- That business advice given through accountants and banks may not be available to all
- That new entrepreneurs may be unable to distinguish between good and bad advice due to their relative lack of knowledge.
False perceptions such as many people believing it takes a long time to start a business and understanding that most SME’s fail within one year can increase the fear of failure and discourage enterprise.
Business Support Products
To address these problems the Government is taking steps to improve support and encourage new business creation. The BSSP product portfolio includes two new products:
- Starting a business
- Starting a high growth business
By following this link www.berr.gov.uk/files/file48685.pdf you will be able to view the ‘Solutions for Business – funded by government’ which provides an overview of each of the products.
Starting a business will form part of the core services supplied by Business Link and seeks to address these information failures by supplying information which is not available from trusted sources. The product will use low cost methods such as web sites, telephone support, self-help material and one-to-many instruction.
Starting a High Growth Business will provide mentoring support to individuals or teams in potentially high growth enterprises and will concentrate on business issues which particularly affect rapidly growing businesses.
Reducing Inequalities
This chapter describes the economic conditions and evidence
that prevent certain disadvantaged groups of individuals from
participating in the UK economy equally with other groups.
Rationale - Enterprise support and advice to disadvantaged individuals
- Amongst certain disadvantaged groups such as some ethnic minority groups, women, the disabled and residents of deprived areas levels of enterprise are persistently lower than average
- Information failures prevent some groups with an interest in starting a business from doing so
- In deprived areas educational attainment and social exclusion exaggerate information failures and can add to uncertainty
- Lower levels of educational attainment could be linked from a past Government failure to provide enterprise education to some groups
Addressing these inequalities would help increase the business creation rate and create a more entrepreneurial society.
Business Support Products
Within the BSSP there are business support products targeted at disadvantaged groups and the barriers they face which seek to address the lack of business creation in under-represented groups. These products include:
- Intensive Start-Up Support
- Enterprise Coaching
Intensive Start-Up Support will provide tailored personal mentoring and advice and may include one-to-one support. The support aims to help individuals overcome the specific barriers they face. The support will be delivered using appropriate outlets depending on the needs of the individual e.g. children’s and community centres.
Enterprise Coaching targets individuals in deprived areas and under-represented groups providing them with hands-on support to develop their confidence and skills and help them access mainstream business support services. The service will be tailored to the needs of the individual and may involve counselling as well as coaching.
To access this service a client will be:
• A resident in a deprived area
• From a group which is under-represented in enterprise or
• Be economically inactive.
By following this link www.berr.gov.uk/files/file48685.pdf you will be able to view the ‘Solutions for Business – funded by government’ which provides an overview of each of the products.
To download a copy of The Economic Drivers of Government-Funded Business Support visit www.berr.gov.uk/files/file48470.pdf