Over the past few weeks, we have seen a great deal of advice being shared through councils, business federations and community based businesses like ours but one thing we have not been able to share much of...that is support for start ups! 


Having community lead co-working spaces across the south coast, we appreciate just how important it is to support those start ups and the affect your surviving and thriving could have on our future economy.


The statistics speak for themselves....

According to www.microbizmag.co.uk:

  • 672,890 start ups were founded in the UK in 2018/2019 tax year (that is 1,843.5 per day or 76.8 per hour!)

  • 89% of companies founded in 2017 survived the first year

  • 65% of UK employees want to start their own business



So as the founder of a startup company, exactly what can you do to ensure you survive COVID-19?


 SURVEY, SPEAK AND STAND UP!


Fortunately it is not only our team who have spotted the lack of support for start up businesses and it is time to make the government aware of exactly how important you all are! The following sources will lead you to surveys-giving you the chance to have your say and make a critical difference: 


  1. Freedom Works survey for freelancers: Last week - Freedom Works and a couple of other owners of Coworking spaces in Sussex had a 'round table' call with the County Council, Coast to Capital LEP and a couple of the local authorities. The aim of the call was to see how practical support can be provided to the grassroots businesses, freelancers and start ups who have slipped through the net.

Just some of the questions we had to ask included:

  • Can local funding be made available?

  • Can we get a strong enough voice to lobby effectively? 

  • Can we get something going where whatever spend is being spent in the Sussex region to get channelled and driven to our grassroots economy?

So now we NEED YOUR VOICE - if you are one of those who have 'fallen through the gaps'! 

If this is you - Can you please take 10 mins out of your day and complete the following survey:  https://lnkd.in/gv4XJZR


  1.  SAVE OUR START UPS: This is an opportunity for founders, employees, shareholders, customers and the wider ecosystem supporting Britain's startup and high growth businesses to tell the UK Government what needs to be done to protect their future. To have your say follow this link: https://saveourstartups.co.uk/

  2. Petition for Coronavirus Support Package support - This is a petition for the government to provide a COVID-19 Support Package in line with that offered to the Employed and Self-Employed. This petition has already received almost 42,00 signatures but as we know it needs to reach 100,000 signatures, this to be considered for debate in Parliament- sign it here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/310515

  3. Now no Freedom Works blog would be complete with sourced advice and information so our final link is for a campaign in which the Federation of Small Businesses has launched to advise and guide small businesses and the self-employed through the COVID-19 situation. Please find the link here: https://www.fsb.org.uk/campaign/covid19.html


Now although we can not guarantee a tangible result for you, we CAN promise you that your voice WILL be heard at a regional level if you complete these steps!

Be the first one to leave a comment!
Sign in or join to post new comments