On Internet Business

UK entrepreneurs confident about the future

Posted by Michael under Entrepreneur Resources, Leadership

Despite the challenging tax and regulatory environment, entrepreneurs expect this year to be good for business, with many expecting both profitability and revenue to rise.

A recent roundtable, involving some of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs, cast light on a survey conducted by Investec Specialist Private Bank and the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. The roundtable, organised by realbusiness a leading resource for entrepreneurs and small businesses, cast light on the responses of the UK’s entrepreneurs to the current business climate.

While the survey revealed that almost 90% of entrepreneurs expect to increase business revenues this year, there are still areas where the UK does not support its entrepreneurs as well as they might hope.

The survey showed that 83% of entrepreneurs are assuming that the UK economy will not get worse over the coming 12 months while 63% believe it will actually improve.

More impressively, 89% think their business revenues will increase, compared to the 4% who predict a revenue drop.

Peter Selkirk, Chief Executive of Egbert H Taylor and Company, Britain’s largest manufacturer of commercial waste and recycling containers pointed out that, ‘The survey tells you as much about Britain’s entrepreneurs as anything else’ While Bill Laio, co-founder of social network Xing.com and CEO of Finaxis AG said that, ‘The UK could gain from a better awareness of the benefits that entrepreneurs bring. Entrepreneurialism is good for everyone.’

It’s true that adverse economic conditions often bring entrepreneurship to the fore, leading to the establishment of new businesses and the exploration of new ways of doing business. 72% of those responding to the survey said that the current state of the economy could bring them new opportunities.

However, the downside is that the tax and administrative regimes in the UK are seen as a brake, limiting innovation and business grown as far as entrepreneurs are concerned. Less than half of those surveyed 46% were investing in innovation and 10% were actively considering relocation their business operations off-shore.

I expressed the view that there was an entrepreneurship risk for the UK, ‘If measures aren’t taken to encourage people to stay, there are so many other places which are more attractive. Technology has made it so much easier to run a business from anywhere in the world.’ Bill Liao agreed, saying ‘punitive tax policies and short-term thinking are hurting the UK’.

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