Small country business supportSheila Robinson

Business ConsultantScotland

shei1arobinson@yahoo.co.uk

Science of Incubation

• Some aspects of business support for entrepreneurship are universal

• First the ‘numbers game’

• Designing the outreach (how my SME survived)

Pre Start

• Population of 5m,

• Lowest business start up in the UK,

• High unemployment

• Target between 500,000 and 750,00 people to get ‘some’ new businesses

• 1 in 5 will consider a business

Planning

• Population at this stage is 250,000

• 1 in 50 of that group will do Market Research, Business Planning, seek Funding

Launch

• Around 20,000 business ideas will get to Launch

Survival

• Around 8,000 of those businesses will survive for 5 years

• Many will be ‘Mom & Pop’

• Its still a significant shift in Enterprise culture

From the Funnel

• That population would provide enough growth companies for one sustainable incubator (rental model of sustainability)

Key Targets

• Women as entrepreneurs – vastly under represented

• Young people

• Disadvantaged groups in the cultureS

Use ICT to deliver

• It will speed up the education

• Create greater outreach

• Break down the barriers against ICT in women’s groups, disadvantaged areas

• Develop a consistent structure of incubation

Create icons

Building ICT

Markets

• National Markets – food, health, environment

• International Markets – ICT, pharmaceuticals, bio tech, communications, finance

• Local niches – look for the commercial angle – ‘sambaza’

Delivery Plan

RecognisableBrand

High Growthprogramme

Supplier networking

Incubators

Training

Sources of, and schemes for, financing start-up and growth

Effectivesignposting

SingleGateway

Advisory & Counselling

Business champions

Educationalschemes

Investornetworks

Entrepreneurialnetworks

Networkedincubation

CorporatespinoutUniversity

spinoutprogrammes

Ideas Bank

Formal business mentoring

Fast trackgrowth

programme

Exportprogrammes

Supplier training or accreditation

Careers advice

Screening

Roadmap

BusinessAngels

Re-trainingschemes

Fast tracking forunder represented

groupsEngagement and

awareness raisingfor under

represented groups

Specialistadvisorysupport

Investorreadiness

Culturaliconsand

artifacts

Coordinated events calendar

Media strategy

Master Plan

Leadership

Sponsorship Privatesector

support

Consistent and integratedtoolkit, widely adopted

Capacity Building and Capacity toDeliver

Evaluation Plan

Information Management Plan

Intensity of offline deliveryIntensity of online delivery

Resource Planning and Performance Measurement

Community based capacitybuilding

EnterpriseRoadshows

EnterpriseCulture

Client Tracking and Referral System

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Pre Start Start-UpAwareness raising Growth

Existing Enterprise Funnel – an example