Pre-Trip Part 2 – The Goal

To follow on from my first post I wanted to point out that I have not been sitting on my hands before or since funding cuts were announced. With the support of Business SA and some amazing companies (I will list them at the end of this series when finalised) the program will very likely continue next financial year. My aim is to make it stronger and better to ensure it stays around for many years to come which leads us back to the task at hand…

When filling out the Churchill application form I made a list of places I would like to visit overseas and chose 8 successful programs as examples. Since that time arguably the biggest of them has lost 60% of their funding (government cut) and another has closed down entirely. Clearly the issue of program sustainability runs deep which makes the study all the more worthwhile.

The mentor base and networks associated with SAYES have been a massive help in re-working and extending the contact list. A huge thankyou to you all! I now have a great starting list and I am sure there will be plenty of referrals along the way.

The questions are many but a starting list might be:

·         Who has a vested interest in seeing businesses succeed?

·         What kinds of revenue streams support programs around the world?

·         What kinds of people and businesses want/need the help?

·         What are the success rates and how are they measured?

·         Or, since business is commercial by its very nature should it just look after itself?

The question that remains of most interest to me is 'how do we make entrepreneurial support programs sustainable?'

Some of these answers are going to depend on the people seeking help and the types of businesses to be created. Through discussions with world experts I hope to shine some light into the corners.

First stop (4^th April)… London, England.

Pre-Trip Part 1 – The Background

Before I hop on a plane next week I thought it would be useful to include some background into how this all came about and what the purpose is. I will do this over 2 short posts.

Pre-Trip Part 1 – The Background

For the past 3 years I have been running a program for Business SA called the South Australian Young Entrepreneur Scheme (SAYES). This is a not for profit program which assists 18-35 year olds to start or grow a business and has been operating since 1998. The program runs for 12 months with workshop training and mentoring by experienced business people (all volunteers!).

There have been many successful graduates of the program over the years with young entrepreneurs' efforts featuring on the Hollywood red carpet, art galleries around the world, sporting goods distributors and more recently on iPhones to name a few. There have been over 400 graduates in the last 13 years and with no restrictions other than age the range of businesses is wide. In the process hundreds of jobs have been created on top of the business owners themselves. I get a lot of energy from the startup owners and the mentors alike, the program is such great fun and I really feel lucky to be involved.

The program relies chiefly on state government funding supplemented by sponsorship and a contribution by the participants themselves. The reliance on government funding for such an established and successful program, as well as other programs around the country, concerned me. I applied for a Churchill Fellowship to look at entrepreneurial support programs around the world. The pitch was to find a model, or combination, that will ensure SAYES and other Australian programs continue to support dynamic young Australians.

A few short months later state government funding cuts were announced for SAYES and many other South Australian business support programs effective June 30 2011.

The SA government and the Department of Trade and Economic Development (DTED) have always been huge supporters of the program and it would not be as successful as it is without their support so these cuts perplex me a bit. Having said that the cuts did not come from the department (DTED) itself and I am not convinced the government truly realises just what they stand to lose in SAYES. I think we just got caught up in some general cost cutting. Time will tell how this all plays out.

With 3 months to run is my timing good or really quite terrible?