Entrepreneur Tim Campbell is calling on the government to focus its business support spend on those start-ups that stand a real chance of succeeding.
In an interview in today’s Financial Times, Campbell called on the government to stop spending money on business support schemes that were motivated by a desire to make up the numbers.
Campbell, who founded the Bright Ideas Trust in 2007, which helps young people from disadvantaged backgrounds set up businesses, said the success of government enterprise support was often measured on the quantity, rather than the quality, of new businesses being set-up.
He argued that, at a time when government borrowing has hit record highs, it was even more important to ensure money wasn’t being wasted on ideas that were not sustainable.
“There is no point telling me 400 businesses were started last year if 399 collapsed the next month,” he told the FT.
“Lots of people have been inspired by the new rock gods of entrepreneurship, but the reality of making the transition from an employed position to becoming self-employed is a huge chasm,” he said.
Campbell, who won the first series of BBC’s The Apprentice, said that many of the young people who turn to the Bright Ideas Trust for support are not armed with viable business ideas and called for more education on what it takes to be an entrepreneur.
“There are a lot of people who haven’t thought about entrepreneurship in realistic terms,” he said, adding that in these cases it was often more helpful to show them the door.
“There is no harm in saying ‘No’ because those individuals will refine their proposition if they are really entrepreneurial.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2009