The New Scottish Entrepreneurs – it’s a manifesto promise?

The dragon’s den and that ilk of programme are a disaster for entrepreunerialism. They teach investors to act like masters whith the entrepreuneurs as the servants prostituting themselves for cashy. The real message is that capital is boss, ideas are cheap.

Of course we all know that money is cheap. There’s bags of it around, just a shame that too many greedy “so called capitalists” understand nothing about risk and want all the reward.

So I looked for interest to the political manifestos to find out what the parties are going to do to kindle new enterprise. They all want successful businesses (sorry didn’t check the SSP and Solidarity) but do they have any matches to light the fire?

Labour sound promising. They’re going to create a new loan scheme. I give this a thumbs up. What we need is not greedy business angels who are just devils in disguise it’s moderately priced loans. But oh, what about the detail? People keep going on about manifesto promises being costed. So how much is this fund worth? No mention. What are the criteria, terms, condition, assumptions, objects…oh you get the idea there aren’t any details.

The Conservatives don’t promise anything for new Scottish start ups

The SNP – hey they’re going to establish an investment fund for business start-ups. But read into the manifesto and it turns out that “we will make better use of underspends in the Scottish budget to establish a Scottish Investment Fund.” That means not just an uncosted promise, but a promise that depends on an unlikely contingent outcome. What a bunch of tossers. Throw us the crumbs that might fall off your plateful of promises.

The Liberals – Well Nicol, because it is he who will do everything in his first person manifesto  – “will work with the Scottish Banks and financial institutions to increase access to venture capital.” Yes, but over what timescale, to what end? As anyone else who talks to the banks will know, they will lend you money if you can demonstrate that your business already exists, has revenues and will succeed. So thanks Nicol, but you’re not filling me with confidence. The banks are so risk averse they see the Small Firms Loan Guarantee Scheme as providing no mitigation against their risk.

The Greens may be the answer as long as you’re starting a business in the country and it’s a social enterprise.

So there we go. They all speak the language of enterprise and entrepreneurs. Business is the new rock and roll etc., etc. etc. In reality this is all just so much posturing. No one’s got a practical, costed policy that will give a new business what it needs – not training and education – we’ve got that – what new businesses need is money, spondoolies, cash, funding – on reasonable terms. Government used to plough millions into brining firm from the far east over here – a policy that failed miserably. If you took a hundred million out of Scottih Enterprises bloated £550 million budget and made it available to Scottish start ups in the £100k bracket, you would reap back many times what you sowed in VAT, PAYE, NI, Rates, etc. Employment would go up and Scotland would truly flourish.

Love

McGellie x