Why does the government (local / regional / national) not support new start SME businesses

Isn’t it a shame that the ‘powers that be’ don’t want to support small, newly launching micro businesses!  The current situation is that they are happy to get involved if you have ‘high growth’ aspirations (or, if you are already large and plan on getting larger) … yet most ‘good’ small start ups don’t launch with this level of growth in mind - and nor should they!

Frustratingly, any small business which genuinely does have these growth aspirations can easily get help, support and funding on the basis that they actually have a good and viable plan … so the controversial reality, in my opinion, is that they don’t need the government money or funded support and we should grow and develop the region by spending this cash elsewhere.

The argument often made to ‘not’ support new launch micro businesses is because so many of them go bust - but this is simply a recognition that they were not supported or educated sufficiently in the first place - no one ever intentionally sets up a bad business.

Missed opportunity

What the agencies fail to recognise is the regional economic value of a new-start sole trader. Firstly, their decision to resign from their current role and set up on their own has the implication of creating a job in itself as their previous employer will now need to replace them.  Assuming they are setting up professionally and ‘doing it right’, as per the advice on Yorkshire Powerhouse, they are about to inject an awful lot of their cash, savings or borrowings into their local business economy - seeking the support of business advisors, accountants, designers, etc.

This very injection of revenue (especially if there's more of it!) will eventually lead some of these support businesses to grow and employ more staff themselves, thus creating more jobs.  They themselves also start injecting more cash into the local economy as they grow, buying more print, taking on larger premises, buying more furniture, etc.  A wonderful virtuous circle.

Business Link?

In the ‘good old days’ of Business Link, the government spent money by actually training new business owners on a range of aspects of business skills by proving a series of free workshops that you could attend where knowledge was shared.  There were many aspects of Business Link that were wrong (the main one being their inability to judge 'value'), but these workshops were one area that was exactly right and, in my opinion, we should re-engage in, instead of spending taxpayer cash on businesses that don’t actually need it!

To be clear, in my world, the money would be spent on high quality education and intellectual support but not in cash handouts which only serve to weaken a business model.

In summary

The truth is, running a good business is hard work, it takes skill, nerves, talent and is not a subject taught in school. As a region, Yorkshire has an enterprising and grafting culture so isn’t it a shame that our authorities (local, regional and national) don’t want to develop the right people or nurture good, strong, small businesses that can truly drive the region forward.

In my own small way, I hope that the effort, time and private cash I’ve invested in Yorkshire Powerhouse is contributing towards these ambitions - everyday I see new start businesses downloading business plans and template business documents to help them develop their thinking … I frequently take calls from new business owners desperately seeking help … and yet, every day, I get more and more frustrated at the lack of face-to-face training and educational support offered.

I'd love to know your opinion?