Welsh entrepreneurialism

[Marlowe]

Honestly, where the hell is it? I think we have a good (or at least average) number of small businessmen and women, but true breakthrough entrepreneurs? Can't think of any off the top of my head... I think there's a guy outside Swansea that used to make the vibrating control pads for game consoles, but he might be older than 42 now.

The South West Business Insider did a piece the other month about 42 entrepreneurs under the age of 42, all around Bristol. How far can we get in Wales?

 

[YODspica]

you can go as far as St.Davids Bay (walking best option), very nice place been there. when you do return stop at my office, we offer free drinks to all visitors.

 

[cookieonline]

To be fair to WAG (and WDA before that) they have done a decent job with EU funding to push entrepeneurism in Wales. There are (or were) so many grants, courses and schemes for everyone, I don't think there was a single demographic they didn't try to reach.

I personally started my business in 2005 with KEF scholarship - without it I would have been doing something completely different!

You can't force entrepeneurism you have to let it flourish naturally. But obviously schemese like the above help, to a point.

 

[arekestall]

Hi all,

I agree with this post. There is a distinct lack of knowledge economy which I think is the main problem. The public sector makes up 60% of the economy in Wales, and clearly this needs to be reversed if we are to innovate and add value, improving the situation.

I think the impotus lies with manufacturing, anyone else agree?

Read your post with interest CookieOnline. WAG do their best to promote entrepreneurship in Wales, you're right.

I work for Venture Wales; we now run the KEF fund. I agree this is great; I hope to tap into it myself in the next couple of years.

We do also provide information on access to grants and help with gaining funding, on a side note anyone who is interested in more info drop me a PM.

Arek

 

[ADW]

Arek - how long does it take to get grants these days. I have briefly looked at it before and it almost seems that they put barriers in the way to make it awkward to achieve. Most Businesses that need grants need it for a specific reason where waiting for 6 months and filling out endless forms and kept guessing just isn't realistic. Opportunites don't wait.

If you have any pointers they will always be appreciated.

 

[Dawg]

Couple of elephants in the room here. Maybe there are no/very few entrepreneurs in Wales because those with the entrepreneurial spirit have left Wales: the market is too small, the position, (on the edge rather than the middle of a land mass/population cluster) is wrong, and probably, other, ruder, things.
And is the availability of grants a good measure of how an economy treats entrepreneurs? Many regard the phrase "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you" as a very scary phrase.

 

[ADW]

Not sure if things are that bad anyway. I know plenty of Business owners making a good go of it and some doing extremely well. Wales has a small population which obviously affects accordingly. Dawg does make some valid points on positioning but with the online opportunities this shouldn't overly affect. I never had problems securing appoinments with some of the major UK companies in the past even after disclosing company whereabouts.

 

[arekestall]

ADW;

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you.

There is indeed a fair bit of paperwork involved in obtaining grants; there's no doubting that.

The best way to go about I would suggest is through support organisations like ourselves who can help you out with the paperwork and advise on filling it in, as well as offer advice on what's out there for each business.

In a recent scenario my dad got the advisor to help do the application so not much of his time was taken up, and his company got a grant to buy machinery. We also just got a £350,000 grant for a restaurant: proving the money is out there.

In terms of timescales it does depend on how you do it, what grant you go for, but it can take months. As short term capital you're really better off going for Finance Wales or private, if you're willing to wait you can get the grant.

Hope this helps.

Arek

 

[YODspica]

I don't care if the market is small as compared to England, because we can offer our customers what most companies cannot. In that sense, as a start-up the market is just what we need to flourish.

 

[Subbynet]

This piece from the BBC is dated April 2002.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/wales/1907813.stm

 

[ADW]

ADW;

Apologies for the delay in getting back to you.

There is indeed a fair bit of paperwork involved in obtaining grants; there's no doubting that.

The best way to go about I would suggest is through support organisations like ourselves who can help you out with the paperwork and advise on filling it in, as well as offer advice on what's out there for each business.

In a recent scenario my dad got the advisor to help do the application so not much of his time was taken up, and his company got a grant to buy machinery. We also just got a £350,000 grant for a restaurant: proving the money is out there.

In terms of timescales it does depend on how you do it, what grant you go for, but it can take months. As short term capital you're really better off going for Finance Wales or private, if you're willing to wait you can get the grant.

Hope this helps.

Arek

Thanks for the info Arek. I have briefly looked into grants the past 18 months as we are continuously growing. The problem is, during a substantial growth period people tend to be very busy and find it hard to trawl through all the relevant info required just to have a chance. It is almost as if we need to hold off the growth and run at their speed rather than the businesses natural rate. I just took on a couple more employees but could easily have a few more if I could really do the things needed to move forward. It is free money so guess I can't complain to much. Just be nice if I could by the equipment I need and get 40%ish back. Luckily I have found the Bank to be quite helpful regardless of all that has been said in the press.

 

[CKG]

Couple of elephants in the room here. Maybe there are no/very few entrepreneurs in Wales because those with the entrepreneurial spirit have left Wales: the market is too small, the position, (on the edge rather than the middle of a land mass/population cluster) is wrong, and probably, other, ruder, things.
And is the availability of grants a good measure of how an economy treats entrepreneurs? Many regard the phrase "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you" as a very scary phrase.

I'd have to agree with Dawg.

Wales is just too small and inward looking. The further I move towards the M6 the easier it becomes to do business.

The further west I go the harder it gets as the population shrinks and the language you speak becomes an issue (at least in the north it does).

And there's absolutely nothing in the middle to do business with anyway.

It's a very strange little place to do business, almost tribal.

 

[Diesel]

It's a very strange little place to do business, almost tribal.

Can you expand on that a bit mate? It intrigues me!

I worked in London for many years and operated internationally. Now I'm back in my native Wales and setting up my own business. Your insight/thoughts could be valuable.

Ohh and the wife and kids LOVE it here - far better quality of life and, dare I say it, people!!!

D

 

[CKG]

Can you expand on that a bit mate? It intrigues me!

It all comes down to who you know not what you know - I know its like that in most walks of life but it is the case more so in Wales I find.

Everyone sticks together in their little clans - if you aint got family or weren't in school with so and so's brothers mums uncles dog you wont get a look in.

A couple of years ago we had a job vandalised because we didn't speak the local lingo and the local 'tribal elders' didn't want raiders from accross the menai setting foot on their hallowed island!

That's what it's like in the building trades anyway!

 

[YODspica]

I lived in the country for about 17 years, and I find it can happen some awkward situations especially when dealing with the older generation, younger people have an open mind and are easy to speak to with no preconceived ideas.

 

[Diesel]

Interesting!

There's no doubt something in what you say, but it is probably local knowledge and local connections in action in a stronger way than say the East Midlands - its isn't all tribal Pashtun's here LOL

We are all more likely to give a job to a schoolchum wherever we are doing business - but you are far more likely to actually come across one in the smaller pool of Wales.

Cheers

D

 

[CKG]

We are all more likely to give a job to a schoolchum wherever we are doing business - but you are far more likely to actually come across one in the smaller pool of Wales.

Exactly. The population is so small that this is how most work is divvied out. Not ideal foundations for building a decent sized sale-able business on. Your always limited by who you know.

I do work all over the North West, Midlands and ocassionally further south - it's a completely different mind set.

 

[Slartibartfast]

Hi all, first post to UKBF, so please be gentle

I'm hoping to move to west Wales (Ceredigion) sometime, and have been investigating how to make a living there. Whenever I'm out of contract (self employed IT) I tend to look into franchising. Having endured the sales pitches from various franchisors, my own investigations indicate most of these franchises wouldn't work there (and many thanks to the Franchising forum on UKBF for providing plenty of food for thought!).

My partner is from the area and backs up a lot of what I've read here - 'local businesses for local people', and with such small populations I guess it is a case of finding 'something that's not available' and trying to provide it (rather than competing with local established businesses and making enemies rather than friends ;-). I suspect that small business start-ups have to make more effort than normal to integrate into the local business community and get to know people. I'd be making the effort to learn the language of course (well, the Ceredigion version lol), and would try to make bilingual information available where possible. Again, to be seen to be making an effort, rather than in any expectation of a huge increase in business.

I've not really noticed any 'anti-English' sentiment in the area (they're well protected behind the Cambrians . However there's definitely a 'pro-Welsh' feeling.

The one really sad thing is the number of holiday homes that seem to have ripped the heart out of local communities (rather like areas of Cornwall). Some small coastal towns along Cardigan Bay seem only to be alive in the summer. Therefore I'd imagine most tourism based businesses to be very seasonal (perhaps more so than, say on the busy south coast of England).

So all I need to do now is work out how to make a living there and I'm sorted ;-)

Cheers,
Slarti.

 

[bluelight]

(Welcome to Wales - well almost!!)

Despite previous media reflections we are not all members of Meibion Glyndwr and Saesneg (English) phobics.

Good luck to you in your endeavours to fit into this little land of ours, you will score browny points straight away if you can start speaking the language.

Ceredigion is a lovely place I am sure you will fit in well.

By the way, did you know that Welsh is the first official language of heaven? LOL!!

 

[Rhyl Lightworks]

I agree with many of the posts on here. The problem seems to be more accute the further West you go, and I would largely blame incompetence among council and assembly representatives who seem to follow a tradition of paternalistic representation and largely inward looking (rather than outward looking) administration. This is not helped by (nor unconnected to) the language problem.
However, not everyone wants to make a fortune here, and there are compensations in a better quality of life in many parts.

Barrie

 

[Slartibartfast]

I get the impression that there's a feeling in mid/west Wales that they're largely ignored by the WA, which focuses its efforts on the South Coast. Whether the opening of the new WA offices in Aberystwyth soon will change any of that remains to be seen. I don't know how many 'new' jobs will be created there, and how many will be moved (or how many people will be willing to move of course). Maybe there will be an increase in the trains at last. Shame the old mid-wales line from Carmarthen is gone forever

My impression is that the language problem is compounded by differences in the way it is spoken in the North/Mid/South too, with each no doubt claiming it has the 'proper' version. I know someone (born & bred in the area, fluent Welsh speaker) who went for a job at the National Library and could hardly understand them. Apparently the interview was conducted in some kind of 'high welsh' [my interpretation ] with words and idioms that were simply not in use in the real world.

Perhaps what's needed is 'Welshperanto'

Cheers,
Slarti

 

[debbidoo]

My ex boss, Rhys Jones, founded SecureTrading (now one of the UK's leading payment processors) up here in North Wales in the late 90s, while he was in his mid-20s. He grew the company and sold it on to venture capitalists in about 1998/99, staying on as MD for another couple of years.

He then went on to found Accountis, innovators in e-invoicing, which a year ago was sold to Fundtech for millions of pounds. He's still there as MD, and still innovating.

He's also set up another groundbreaking company, Sanoodi, which I think will go on to be absolutely massive.

Rhys is still under 40

There's also Adam Price, who owns IT3.com in Cardiff. Their SEO-friendly CMS and e-commerce systems have won several awards. Adam is also under 40, IIRC.

And then there's all of us. I don't know about you lot, but I'm still under 40 (just!)

There is entrepreneurism in Wales, definitely

 

[CrackingProductions]

I get the impression that there's a feeling in mid/west Wales that they're largely ignored by the WA, which focuses its efforts on the South Coast. Whether the opening of the new WA offices in Aberystwyth soon will change any of that remains to be seen. I don't know how many 'new' jobs will be created there, and how many will be moved (or how many people will be willing to move of course). Maybe there will be an increase in the trains at last. Shame the old mid-wales line from Carmarthen is gone forever

My impression is that the language problem is compounded by differences in the way it is spoken in the North/Mid/South too, with each no doubt claiming it has the 'proper' version. I know someone (born & bred in the area, fluent Welsh speaker) who went for a job at the National Library and could hardly understand them. Apparently the interview was conducted in some kind of 'high welsh' [my interpretation ] with words and idioms that were simply not in use in the real world.

Perhaps what's needed is 'Welshperanto'

Cheers,
Slarti

I just worked on a media project for the All Wales Convention and its interesting what you say about being ignored if you are not in S Glam - I heard it said many times in different parts of Wales. I dont buy it myself, but I think this feeling starts just south of Pontypridd and is based on 3/4 of Wales living in Glamorgan!

Not too keen on the word 'problem' as regards the language - it was after all here way before most of us! I think you'll be fine though Slarti - with your healthy worldly wise outlook. Bet you'll be saying 'gracias' for your newspaper within a week (some don't manage it in a decade!)

The dialect thing is a minor issue that affects those that haven't travelled much (say north of Brecon or South of Aberystwyth) but is no greater an issue than a Geordie chatting to a Sloaney!

Hope it all works out for you as you seem to have the right attitude to 'fit-in'. I also believe they may have a few computers over there these days for you to fix too
D

 

[Slartibartfast]

Not too keen on the word 'problem' as regards the language

Yes, that came out wrong, problem wasn't the word I intended I was thinking more about the 'problem' of acceptance in some areas, or perhaps that you'd be accepted more readily if making an effort to use the language. Again, for some but by no means all areas

I managed a 'diolch' at a newspaper shop in Tregaron a while back which caused the woman behind the counter to switch from English to Welsh which was nice (I left before any further vocabulary was required LOL).

I have indeed seen the odd computer that's made it over the Cambrian mountains... did you know, they have electricity there and everything

Cheers,
Slarti.