Back in February Peter wrote about the new program, Startup America [“Ready. Set. Startup America!], that promises to support a variety of entrepreneurship programs and kick start more new businesses. Looks like
the UK is getting on board with their own version—Startup Britain.
the UK is getting on board with their own version—Startup Britain. Britain was one of the first countries to jump on the austerity bandwagon after the global recession made it clear that government spending was out of whack. Prime Minister David Cameron is now looking for an “enterprise led” recovery without government funding in the firm belief that it will be successful “...without the government mucking it all up...”. So how does it work?
One thing they’re doing is getting big business to offer discounts and services geared to startups for necessities such as IT storage, insurance, advertising, and the like. They do that through a new Startup Britain website that offers help to starting and growing companies. On the site, you can download “The Startup Guide” with tips for coming up with new business ideas and how to study markets and competitors. What’s interesting is that a lot of the big companies sponsoring the site, called “the most recognised brands in the UK,” are US companies such as HP, PayPal, Microsoft, and Google. With this effort, the country is capitalizing on a new report that studied 160,000 small businesses in Britain and found a 6.5% increase in entrepreneurs aged 25-34 in the past three years.
The whole entrepreneurship movement in the UK is definitely welcome. For years, the UK lagged behind the U.S., France, Greece, and even Iceland in their entrepreneurial intentions [see the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Reports]. A big part of the reason for the lag was their government-centered economy, which discouraged risk taking and innovation in favor of security and stability. Today young people (and older people as well) are realizing that the government doesn’t create new businesses and new jobs—the private sector does that, and very well, thank you. So a big cheer for Startup Britain! It’s a big step forward. Wherever entrepreneurship happens in the world, we’re all better off.
"Today young people (and older people as well) are realizing that the government doesn’t create new businesses and new jobs—the private sector does that, and very well, thank you." I think I might have actually breathed a sigh of relief and said aloud (thank goodness nobody is in the room with me) "Thank you!" Why do we look to the government to create jobs (clearly it is an accepted belief because rarely do I hear any protest) and the jobs the government does create are akin to temp. agency work! I luv the article! The U.S. government could jump on this bandwagon and perhaps offer incentives to businesses that can create jobs (more than petty tax break here and there); perhaps loan forgiveness. . . In anycase - great article!