Everyone has the potential to go boldly into enterprise

This month, a European spaceship landed on a comet and Global Entrepreneurship Week reached 125 far flung destinations of the world, including the Philippines. We can truly celebrate the spirit of enterprise.

Some people show early signs of entrepreneurship and abandon academic study to go into business. Richard Branson went from being a long haired music magazine producer in his youth to a long haired visionary of Virgin Galactic taking risks and setback as well as successes along the way.

 Technical, scientific and other discoveries do require academic rigour but without a spark of enterprise the brightest ideas remain in the dark. Incubation of innovation and successful translation into commercial success start with education. That is one reason why so many of the world’s leading universities in Britain are spinning out research into commercial realities. The ideal mix is the excellent technical competence in Asia of maths and other hard subjects with the creativity and challenging mindset we have in the UK. That is possible when more students have interactive face time with teachers rather than being processed in factory sized classrooms. Investment is essential in education that brings out the true potential of a person rather than a Malthusian challenge of survival.

In the UK, 60% of employment is in the SME sector which also accounts for half of national sales turnover. In my three years as a business advisor to SMEs in London, I saw how innovative and dynamic entrepreneurs are making a national and global impact. Recently, in Clark, I met three young brothers from Lancashire who built from scratch a business supplying customised cell phone accessories employing 350 people. Head Case takes orders online from worldwide customers and delivers within five days. The package boasts ‘designed in the UK, made in the Philippines.’ I saw the British company, STI in Cebu, making electronic components for iconic brands around the world including German cars. Passengers on the Airbus A350 will be eating food from the galley that is made by B/E Aerospace in Batangas, an investment from the UK. 

SMEs are part of International supply chains and that is the frontier of opportunity for businesses in the Philippines too. Enterprise is not just about importing and retailing products made by others or copying what others make. It is also about adding value and most of that energy is stored in small enterprises.

The British Council, through the I am a Changemaker programme, is mentoring people new to social enterprise. I said to the contest winners in Bohol, although the outcome of a social enterprise is for the general good, it needs the same disciplines of any other business. Social enterprise is not a hobby for well meaning do-gooders but for those who have the hunger, passion and commitment to take a business through the rough times of start up to a sustainable future.

The main role of government is to get out of the way of business. The focus of policy should be to create an environment where businesses can flourish and enterprise is rewarded. The default position should be that commerce is permitted and not subjected to a paper chase of permits. Taxation policy should harvest what is legitimately due from an enterprise, but it should also incentivise those who choose to risk capital in start-ups. Traditional sources of finance in the UK such as banks have seen the value of supporting SMEs. The UK Government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme allows banks to share the risk of backing business. The Alternative Investment Market in the London Stock Exchange has been used by domestic and international business to raise capital. Individuals have come forward as business angels and now we also see crowd sourcing as a way to find core funding. These are some models that could well be applied in the Philippines especially with the investment capital some OFWs have.

From the faces of the 700 young people who attended our Global Entrepreneurship Week partnership event with GoNegosyo, it was clear that the Philippines has the potential to go boldly into enterprise. Today’s new small Philippine business could well be our large commercial partner of the future.

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(Asif Ahmad is the British Ambassador.)