end of another affair...

So – it lasted 6 years, we stood by each through good times and uncertain (contract) times, I got them international recognition and extra project incomes, protected them from project and government office auditors, and it now ends…

Some of you will know that my first contract when I became freelance was with a local enterprise agency – and yesterday, that working relationship came to an end.

Naturally it’s a little sad from the sake of my bank account, but more so for the opportunities I had with them, the projects I ended up running, and the sheer variety of people it allowed me to come into contact with and support along their journey of realizing their ambitions of creating their own enterprise. It’s also sad because this split in our relationship is not the result of us falling out with each other, but because the way in which funding to support people wanting to set themselves up in business is changing – business advisors are increasingly seen as a ‘luxury’ that can’t be justified in the context of publicly funded support. And that’s what makes me more concerned – a lot of people I’ve supported over these 6 years through the enterprise agency needed encouragement and motivation, not just a fact sheet or to sit through group presentations; with the loss of the personal business advisor, I fear that many people won’t have the opportunity to have their self-doubt challenged and so not take that first step into realizing their long-held ambitions of changing the world through launching their own enterprise…

That won’t stop me trying to support them – there are still other enterprise support programmes running that I’m involved with (Making Local Food Work, the Co-operative Enterprise Hub, Unltd Connect, ...) but the value of a local business advisor with local knowledge supporting someone who wants to set up a local business is surely a key ingredient of any strong community and economy. And I’ll miss it...