This weekend I'm continuing my summary of the Government's publication "Enterprise - Unlocking the UK's Talent", which sets out it's research into enterprise in the UK, and it's plans for encouraging and supporting enterprise in the future.

The document is divided into five key areas, and I'll do a blog post looking at each. The first looks at how to encourage a culture of enterprise in the UK.

This is something where the UK seems to lag far behind the USA:

  • We fear failure, while they boldly go (spot the gag on enterprise?)
  • British women, the over 50's and some northern regions have a particularly low sense of self-belief when it comes to enterprise
  • We don't seem to admire entrepreneurs as much as the Americans, and we seem to punish honest failure just as badly as crooked behaviour - which has the effect of increasing the fear of failure mentioned above

So the government's strategy to improve this situation is:

Over the next 10 years, to improve attitudes to enterprise across the UK so that many more people feel they can use their talents to start and grow businesses. In particular:

  • the Government will help more people to obtain accurate information on the returns from and opportunities for enterprise, based on relevant role models and not on myths that lead to misplaced risk aversion
  • through the steps we are taking, many more women will feel that they have the ability and confidence to start a business, and women owning businesses will feel more confident in their ability to grow their business
  • young people will be made aware of their potential to be enterprising and encouraged to exploit this in later life
  • the Government will address the stigma of business failure across society

The paper identifies that there is a great need to encourage and support female entrepreneurs, because they appear to have much lower confidence and aspirations when it comes to enterprise.

Women’s fear of failure is higher (39.2 per cent) compared with men (32.6 per cent) and women are substantially less likely:
• to know an entrepreneur (22.5 per cent compared with 31.7 per cent of men);
• to see good business opportunities (32.1 per cent compared with 41.2 per cent
of men); and
• or to think they have the skills to start a business (39.8 per cent compared with
58.6 per cent of men).

This appears to be mainly a confidence and access to role models issue - but the impact is significant, because the much lower enterprise activity of women in the UK accounts for most of the difference between the USA and the UK!

The government also wants to develop an enterprise culture in young people.

Culture: Key policy new proposals

So here are the new policies proposed by the government to encourage enterprise culture and reduce unfounded fear of failure (exactly as set out in the white paper):

  • Insolvency rules – the Government proposes to change the law by the end of 2009 so that insolvency officers have the discretion to decide whether or not to place an
    advertisement in the local press with the aim of reducing the embarrassment and risk of stigma in the local community and associated fear of failure.
  • Global Entrepreneurship Week – Building on the success of the UK’s Enterprise Week, run annually since 2004, 35 countries will now join in the first Global
    Entrepreneurship Week in 2008, involving 14 – 30 year olds, schools and universities, and a wide range entrepreneurs, businesses, and non-profit organisations.
  • Erasmus for young entrepreneurs – Government will support the pan-European pilot programme (currently known as ‘Erasmus for young entrepreneurs’) to offer
    cross-border mentoring and work placements in SMEs.
  • Premier League – The Government will work with the English Premier League football clubs to promote enterprise and deliver enterprise education through the
    football clubs’ community programmes. This will include working with schools and wider members of the clubs’ local communities.
  • Women’s enterprise campaign – The Government will run a high level media campaign around women’s enterprise – ‘Spark an idea’, to be coordinated by
    Enterprise Insight.
  • Over 50s Campaign The Government will work with Enterprise Insight, PRIME (the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Entrepreneurs) and South East of England Development Agency to develop a campaign to encourage older people to realise the benefits of unlocking their talent and exploiting their skills and knowledge to
    be active in enterprise.

To me, every single one of these points are mildly useful but some are already happening (so hardly new), and others seem insignificant.

To really create an enterprise culture in the UK is going to take more than this. A simple media campaign won't make women start a business. It may generate interest, but there isn't the framework ready to follow up on that interest.

The focus on young people is good for long term change and therefore important - but I believe we also have to target those in their 20's and 30's who have experience of the workplace and may well have ideas and opportunities - and they have a greater chance of success. If we can give them the encouragement and support we may well be able to make a difference very quickly - providing more and more role models for the next generation too.

I think there is scope for more 'troubleshooting' support for businesses facing serious problems. A kind of batphone for entrepreneurs. Most business problems can be turned around, but the founders delay going to an insolvency practitioner until it's too late, because of the stigma and fear of failure. How to plug this gap could dramatically reduce the failure rates - and make any unavoidable failures less serious and therefore mean there is less stigma attached.

How entrepreneurs are reflected in the media also needs to be addressed - they are either super-human miracle-workers (and therefore none of us could ever be like them) or they are dodgy geezers who make a fast buck and then head off to a secret island on their private jet (and therefore the public resents them). There is a complete lack of profile for normal entrepreneurial role models. People who have a great idea, work hard, build a good business and earn their big rewards. But there are still some amazing stories in this 'normality'.
Through better links and communication journalists, authors and TV writers could gain great inspiration from some of these stories if they had access to them - and then they would provide better role models to the wider public.

We need to let people 'have a go' at enterprise without jumping in with both feet and risking it all. The US has a much wider culture of people working full time, but also having a part-time business run from their garage or spare room. This can often lead to a full time business later.
I think Young Enterprise in the UK is particularly good at doing this for young people - they actually run a real business in their spare time for a year.

The government correctly identifies having great role models as important in the white paper itself - but this doesn't then appear in these policy recommendations. I believe this could make a large difference and needs to be better addressed.

What are your thoughts? What would improve the culture of enterprise in the UK - making more people want to start a business, and making the wider public appreciate and respect entrepreneurship?