Small firms let down by StartUp site

StartUp Britain and Better Business Finance offer help to small businesses and entrepreneurs, but teething problems and a lack of genuine advice has left some users cold The launch of StartUp Britain (Sub) last week, a website for UK entrepreneurs, has been dogged by a row over its content, with accusations it has been plugging US firms over British ones and that its content is of little use to UK businesses. The site, which has the aim of “helping Britain’s future entrepreneurial talent by providing links to the web’s best business resources, along with offers from some of the biggest brands in the country”, has been put together by a number of private-sector entrepreneurs, including Jamie Murray Wells, founder of internet retailer Glasses Direct . But despite the fact Sub is a not-for-profit company a huge picture of a perfectly-coiffured David Cameron adorns the masthead, indicating it has the support of government if not funding, which makes the decision to point Brits in need of design help to a US design directory all the more baffling. Gareth Coxon of Dot Design said Sub had made a “massive mistake” in sending users who wanted to “create a logo” to a US-based design crowdsourcing site, 99designs , and said the site in its current form is merely a bunch of links rather than a site containing valuable resources. “The site looks useful if you need something and don’t know where to get it, but at the moment it’s just a lot of links to large companies that don’t need the help,” Coxon said. “It feels like a reasonably designed spam site full of affiliate links for large corporates.” Another British designer on the UK Business Labs forum said he was “incandescent with rage” at the error. But after the error was pointed out on Twitter, Sub changed the link to the UK-based Design Business Association (DBA) directory within 24 hours, receiving praise for its speedy correction. One designer tweeted: “Would that happen with a government-owned site?” Sub itself tweeted: “You spoke – we listened; replaced the 99designs link with a link to designers from the DBA”. But the site also contains a bewildering number of links to external companies offering advice or products for sale, such as Smarta.com’s business plan advice or Brightword Publishing’s small business start-up kit. Coxon said: “I hope it’s the start of something that really helps smaller firms, but it just seems to point to resources rather than provide them.” He also highlighted the quality of some of the advice. “Helping users by telling them to ‘find a great idea’ and then merely point them to an ideas blog is not going to help many people,” he said. Sub is one of two recent launches designed to support small business in the UK that have received praise from the government – both are part of the coalition’s aim to foster Britain’s entrepreneurial talent, support businesses looking to raise finance, and “create the right conditions for businesses to succeed”. Better Business Finance (BBF) was also launched in early-March and promised a suite of tools and factsheets to help smaller firms gain access to finance. It was developed by the British Bankers’ Association along with Barclays, HSBC, RBS, Lloyds and Santander, and promises to support business customers looking to raise finance. Despite Sub’s teething problems, Prue Watson of the Federation of Small Business said her organisation welcomed the launches: “Both of these websites offer good, practical advice – whether [people] are looking at starting up a business or if they are looking for the best type of finance or what to do if they get into financial difficulty. “At such a difficult time for existing small businesses and start-ups, information like this is precious and can help save time and money. It is now important that these invaluable resources are promoted and advertised to the small business community and budding entrepreneurs.” BBF had a less troubled reception than Sub. At its launch, Lord Sassoon said: “The BBF site provides a one-stop-shop for businesses from which they could get impartial information about how to secure finance and consider the best options available for their business. It also includes a series of factsheets about many of the issues that matter most to them, so I urge businesses to visit the site.” BBA chief executive Angela Knight said: “Making the right impression is as vital for business as for individuals. BBF is designed to put businesses in touch with the kind of practical help they need to help make any application for credit a winner. It will also let people know where they can go for additional help and support, including our calendar of regional roadshows.” But some SME owners might balk at the quality of advice offered for those struggling financially. Under the header: “What can I do if I have been refused lending?”, users are told they should appeal to the bank that turned them down, consider alternative sources of finance, or seek support from a business mentor. For most SMEs that advice is either glaringly obvious or just plain unhelpful. Both websites will surely evolve into offering more effective resources for smaller firms in the future, and are a step in the right direction for those looking to launch or improve a business, but have you found them useful? What help do you really need to launch or boost your firm? Work & careers Small business Mark King guardian.co.uk

Posted by on April 5, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.