More help for start-ups than ever before

An organisation that offers support for start-ups claims there is now more help available to entrepreneurs than ever before.

Emma Jones, who founded Enterprise Nation, believes even more new firms will be founded during 2014 than last year when 500,000 start-ups were registered with Companies House. 

Since the start of January, more than 3,000 people have signed up to the organisation’s free email course for people looking to get started in business. Emma says: “

There is a huge amount of support and help available to entrepreneurs, from funding to mentoring and training provided by support groups like ours, business member organisations, banks and even other companies.

“The costs of setting up a firm are also very low, from as little as £100, which means people can try out their business ideas online and see if they have mileage, with little risk. It is no longer a case of risking your home to run a business.”

More than a million new businesses since 2011

Since 2011, a record number of UK businesses have been created with more than a million new start-ups. And a range of government initiatives to make things easier for small businesses is set to see this number rapidly increase over the next 12 months.

One of these is the government’s £30 million Growth Voucher scheme, which will allow small businesses to access advice on a range of topics like financial management, leadership, digital technology and hiring staff. It is hoped that this will make it easier for entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into a reality.

But John Longworth, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is calling for more to be done to help small businesses grow into medium-sized enterprises.

He says: “We must find ways to become a national incubator for those who want to be medium-sized enterprises so that when they reach this stage in their growth cycle, they have the opportunity to become the UK’s wealth creators of tomorrow.

“In 2014, we urge the government to focus on measures that will incentivise large businesses to invest the cash they have accumulated, and boost the confidence of small and medium-sized businesses so they can become the UK’s global champions of the future.”

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