By Jim Duffy
It’s easy to look with envy and longing to cities and locations across the globe wondering if Scotland’s cities will ever mirror the progress being made there. It’s also easy to look inward, gaze at our own navel and take a Dad’s Army Scottish stereotype attitude: "We’re doomed Captain Mainwaring." But in the context of new and early stage ventures being created and grown in Scotland there has never been a better time to start, grow or scale a business in Scotland.
The evidence to support this is bubbling away in a number of programmes and initiatives. These platforms, alongside high profile events such as the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards taking place tonight, work to recognise the excellent progress taking place across Scotland and the UK to ensure the importance of supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses are highlighted to the wider business community.
I am delighted to say that our Entrepreneurial Spark Hatcheries are bursting at the seams in Ayrshire, Glasgow and Edinburgh with many of our intakes and alumni raising significant investment. As ever, however, more can be done and in particular it is important to engage with key political figures and high-profile business leaders and investors on a regular basis.
The overwhelming key message which needs to be promoted is to showcase how the work of entrepreneurs is rapidly growing and that these start-up companies bring important investment into the workforce, helping to grow the economy.
As indicated, one route to help deliver this message around start-up business success and the importance of nurturing early stage and growing ventures is to get those people involved directly with these fledgling entrepreneurs. There remains the important need to engage with individuals who can make a difference politically as well as spread the word practically, and help to further support, encourage, and nurture the business leaders of today.
I’m pleased to say in terms of raising profile, during the last couple of weeks, Entrepreneurial Spark has done this in a practical fashion,welcoming both the new Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as well as Scottish Labour counterpart Kezia Dugdale, to the Brighton Hatchery. Scottish businesswoman Michelle Mone also recently visited the Glasgow Hatchery as part of a national entrepreneurship review. It is hoped that the entrepreneur, who left school at 15 and founded lingerie firm Ultimo, will find ways to encourage more people in disadvantaged areas to help set up their own business. Key priorities will be to reach out to benefit claimants, women, young people, disabled people and ex-offenders and encourage them to develop business ventures.
Alongside my co-founder Lucy-Rose Walker, I started Entrepreneurial Spark in Scotland more than three years ago with 25 start-ups and we recently had 180 early stage entrepreneurs from all sectors join our latest intake.
Entrepreneurs help themselves, help others and grow the economy all at the same time, so developing a vibrant start-up culture is the ideal way of turning around, in particular, deprived areas. However, starting and scaling a business is all about numbers and whilst having access to a load of investors is fine - the leader and the team need to cut the mustard, otherwise the investment isn’t going to materialise.
Collaboration is key and partnership working and good work is being done across many areas to support this development, for example Entrepreneurial Scotland and The Saltire Foundation are strong supporters and keen to develop a leadership pipeline, and KPMG and RBS have been strong supporters, providing funding, mentoring and access to their networks. Scottish Edge in particular sees some exciting entrepreneurs benefit from its rigorous but innovative funding competition, and significantly the Scottish government, through its enterprise agencies Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, are also driving forward the entrepreneurship agenda.
Scotland is punching way above its weight, it could be argued, and the fruits of such programmes and initiatives will become even more apparent in the next three to five years.
Anyone has the potential to be an entrepreneur and providing them with the support they need Entrepreneurial Spark and key partners are helping make this dream a reality. It’s incredible to see the entrepreneurial revolution that is happening in Scotland, right here, right now.
Jim Duffy is founder and chief executive if Entrepreneurial Spark.
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