Comment: Key fortnight ahead for start–up companies

TODAY I list five important dates over the next two weeks in Scotland for all involved in starting up a business, growing a business or providing goods and services to the small business community.

It’s easy to forget how important the SME sector is to Scotland’s economy. There are some 304,000 small businesses in total. Together they account for 54 per cent of all employment in Scotland. If every SME grew their business to enable them to take on one more member of staff, Scotland’s unemployment rate would fall to zero.

Last year the Start-Up Britain campaign was launched to encourage and inspire business start-ups. The co-founder is the inspirational Emma Jones, a successful entrepreneur, business expert, author, and the founder of online business community Enterprise Nation. She’s the strategist, the fund-raiser and the boss – and has taken this campaign to every corner of the UK.

In the past few weeks, its campaign bus has again been going round the country, holding meetings and rallies to bring together start-up entrepreneurs and successful business people. The tour is specifically targeting young entrepreneurs, aiming to inspire and support young people interested in starting their own business.

Tomorrow, the Start-Up Britain campaign bus arrives in Scotland. The first stop will be at Glasgow Caledonian University between 9am and noon. It then moves on to Stow College, Glasgow. The city is renowned as the second city of the empire and is home to the UK’s first free accelerator programme. Entrepreneurial Spark has 90 start-ups working in its “hatchery”.

On Wednesday, the tour moves to Stirling with a session at Stirling University 
Innovation Park between 9am and noon. In the afternoon, the bus comes to Edinburgh University between 2pm and 5pm.

If you are an entrepreneur or business adviser and would like to spare a couple of hours of your time to help mentor students during any of these event then the organisers would be delighted to hear from you. Students can learn a lot from business people who have founded their own firms.

On Thursday, Scottish Business in the Community unveils its SME and “hub” launch at the Caves in Edinburgh between 3pm and 6pm. SBC has been working with SMEs and other organisations to develop services to support its community engagement and business growth.

This is a new programme designed to encourage collaborative working between SMEs, large and corporate businesses and partners in all sectors. This event will launch SBC’s SME offer and innovative “hub” business model.

Speakers will highlight the challenges and opportunities for SMEs and Scotland, and how these can be supported by SBC’s new SME and hub opportunities. Speakers include: Jane Wood, chief executive of Scottish Business in the Community; jet-setting top accountant Frank Blin, currently SBC’s Prince’s ambassador; and Lisa 
Rowan-Harney of the Caves.

Then, on 14 November, there is a one-day Start-Up Conference at the Assembly Rooms, George Street, Edinburgh. Speakers include: Lucy Frankel of Vegware; Callum Murray of Fresh Interior Solutions; Joanna Young of Enterprise Nation; Emma Jones of StartUp Britain; John Waddell of Archangels; Alan Donald of LINC; Amanda Boyle of Bloom VC and John Anderson and Tom Maguire of the Entrepreneurial Exchange.

Separately, on 15 November, MBM Commercial and Edinburgh University’s Business School Entrepreneurship Club are hosting an essential debate on how an independent Scotland will affect the ability of entrepreneurs to build world-class technology companies. It is a great opportunity to hear what business experts are saying and thinking about the independence issue – and an opportunity for you to raise issues and concerns. The debate takes place between 6pm and 7.30pm.

Finally, there is the unmissable two-day New Start Scotland event at the Scottish Exhibition Centre, Glasgow, on 15 and 16 November between 10am and 4pm. There are more than 100 exhibitors and support organisations. Top speakers include: Sir Brain Souter, founder of Stagecoach; Jim McColl; and supermodel turned entrepreneur Caprice.

These events make the next fortnight a key rallying period for all involved in starting or building a business. And, lest you felt that few people were daring to launch a business at this daunting time for the 
economy, let me report the latest figures.

Up until this weekend, no fewer than 414,281 businesses have been registered at Companies House so far this year. Made Simple Group chief executive Howard Graham, who is monitoring the statistics for his StartUp Tracker, said: “These stats are very telling about the optimism and momentum within the start-up sector – the StartUp Tracker makes this visible for all to see and plots the highs and lows”.

Just when you think there is no way out of our economic morass, a new wave of enterprise and entrepreneurialism gives hope that the business cycle will once more turn to lift our economy and our aspirations.