Start up Britain The Good, Bad and Ugly

Wow – there has been so much press about the launch of the government’s new website for budding entrepreneurs that we’ve read and digested but have waited a while to post whilst the dust settled. So what’s it all about and what do we think?

So there is a new website in town called start up britain and the basic aim was to be a one stop shop for people wanting to start a new business.

Why is this here ? The new government of course want the private sector to develop strongly and wants to encourage people to start their own business, employ people and get the economy moving. To do this of course folks need some good advice on what to do and how to do it. And that, we thought was the aim of the website.

The Good – Let’s be Positive

Most of the commentary we have seen has been negative. So unlike the british disease of knocking something at the beginning let’s start with something positive. For many people that want to start a business they have no idea of where to go. Other people may not even think of starting their business because they may think it’s simply not for them.

So, to have a massive campaign that’s now viral with everyone talking about it must be a good thing. The raising of the awareness of information about starting up is now certainly there and there is a one store front with many of the things budding entrepreneurs in one place. Surely that’s a good thing?

The Bad – why all the negativity ?

What’s the problem ?Most people were aggrieved at two points. 1) there was little substance and 2) some of the links were either to the wrong place or provided no value add.

No substance, surely not ?Well to be honest, the actual site looks like a collection of links to other websites. Whilst the current businesslink site has all the right and up to date information (although it is copied in its entirety on the Welsh and Scottish government sites) it’s a very difficult site to use. It’s all there, but where? It can take a while to find what you are looking for if you know what to look for – and for people not having run a business before there is no “start here” button. So there’s a big fail right there.

Links to wrong places, what do you mean ? There were two gripes. One was that you got discounts of products and services that a) you could find elsewhere on the web and 2) were useless (like the 20% discount off a paid of eye glasses).

The main gripe was that there was a link to Matt Mickiewicz’s 99designs site. Here you can post a job for a logo or website and have designers from all over the world bid for your work (on average getting 99 designs back – actual pieces of work mind you, not just a proposal). The cost is around $300 for a logo which is very competitive. (see the ugly section below to see what has happened).

Other poor links- There’s a link for business planning which is going to an affiliate site for paloalto software – why? Why not simply link to the software company itself or other business planning resources which are much better such as Teneric or BusinessLink?

The Ugly – it does get worse

There are three major flaws now.

1) There’s no clear path for starting up – if you are new to starting a business or are already down the path of starting up there are no clear pointers of what to do. The logo part is fine but really, to get started, you need to get things in the right order. I mean, what’s the point in having a logo if you haven’t got funding? We would have preferred a clear path to be written such as :

1. Develop your idea
2. Create a business plan
3. Create a marketing plan
4. Get funding
5. Sort out the legal requirements (such as registering with HMRC)
6. Staffing requirements
7. etc

Then it’s clear on what you have to do.

2) There are no real special offers- all this site appears to be is a link farm. The offers tabled are not special as they can be found anywhere on the internet. It would have been better if the companies involved had provided something better. The Google £30 free advertising is the lowest they ever offer – you can easily find a £75 coupon. And for business loans, what about special rates, or if you present a business plan from xyz company then you are given a speedy route through one of the banks ?

3) The pressure for UK companies- this is where the power of the internet has succeeded in increasing the costs of small businesses. Initially when this went live there was a link to the 99designs logo company. Here you could get an excellent design for $295 – from the uproar since the launch the link from the home page is now to the “Design Business Association” – and what’s the cost of a logo now? Certainly not $295; heck it even costs new designers £1200 to join that association – that is really ugly and something a new start-up simply does not require. This is a big negative.

Overall and moving forward

We think this is a great idea but poorly implemented. The fact that someone has gathered all these companies together in a short space of time should be commended but it looks like a lesson in “who you know” rather than getting experts together and offering something better. Even in last week’s PMQs there was a big piece about not getting internships within the government because you knew someone. So let that roll through here.

Moving forward we think there’s just a small few changes that need to happen; namely :

1. Have that path to starting up with real guidance and real support
2. Get the experts in their field to put offers together and get them on the site rather than a random list of people in the know
3. Keep the publicity going.

What do you think? Good, bad or ugly?

Posted in Business | 1 Comment »

One Response

1. Matthew Clipson Says:

   Your criticism of StartUp Britain’s removal of 99designs from the site fails to paint the big picture. Designers criticised StartUp Britain for 99designs inclusion for two reasons:

   1. It’s a United States based organisation – it seemed unusual for an organisation purportedly supporting British business to recommend a non-UK based company.

   2. A brand identity is more than a logo. Issues such as how and where the logo can be used are of great importance to any business. Frankly, if you want a cheap identity, you’d be better off going to your local college/university and asking the design students to produce an identity for you. They and their tutors would relish a real-life opportunity, and you could offer $295 as prize money.

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