GETTING ENGAGED
Talk to any business support professional and it won’t be too long before the subject alights upon the challenge (and, less frequently, opportunity) of ‘engagement’. How do you engage with small enterprises in a way that is genuinely responsive to their needs? Much of the turbulence in the world of business support has been occasioned by a desire to address this central issue. The most recent manifestation has, of course, been the process of business simplification: the reduction of business support schemes from 3000 to less than 100. It is too early to asses how these new ‘business solutions’ fare. But it’s a racing certainty that better ‘engagement’ with small firms will be an important measure of their success.
The generic challenge of engagement is intensified when dealing with businesses with owners from diverse backgrounds (ethnic minorities, women, the disabled,...). Although such businesses will face similar challenges to any enterprise, a ‘one-size fits all’ approach will rarely be successful in reaching them. For example, research by CREME and many others has indicated that ethnic minority entrepreneurs require approaches to engagement that are sensitive to their particular context. Policy responses to this thorny issue have taken a variety of forms, from the encouragement of specialist support initiatives to an emphasis on catering for diversity within the ‘mainstream’. There are no easy answers.
It is right therefore to open up a debate on this question that reflects the changing policy climate, and indeed, the innovation that has occurred to date. That is why the Minority Ethnic Enterprise Centre for Expertise (MEECOE) is delighted to be hosting a workshop that presents a number of ways in which individuals and organisations have attempted to promote business engagement with entrepreneurs from diverse communities. We’ll address a number of key questions:
- What approaches are emerging to engaging diverse communities in business?
- How can ‘mainstream’ and specialist agencies work together to promote effective engagement strategies?
- Can new approaches to supporting diverse enterprises be developed in the context of business simplification?
David Darlaston of Business in the Community discusses an exciting mentoring initiative involving the corporate sector and ethnic minority entrepreneurs. As David will highlight, a real ‘win-win’ situation can result from such linkages.
The rare occurrence of an ethnic minority business support provider successfully pulling off a ‘break-out’ to become a ‘mainstream’ provider is documented by Ilyas Munshi. Ilyas is the Chief Executive of Enterprise4All in the North West. His organisation has developed well beyond its initial niche of Asian businesses.
In contrast, Anne Francis describes how a generic business support programme, BizFizz (South East) can be made to work for ethnic minorities, particularly for new migrant entrepreneurs.
Too often, the contribution, and particular needs, of Chinese entrepreneurs are overlooked. Dr. Sylvia Sham of the Wai Yin Chinese Women Society addresses this gap by describing how her Centre provides an holistic approach to the Chinese community in the region.
Kay Greenbank, Director of Strategy at Business Link West Midlands draws the workshop to a close by offering some reflections on how many of these issues are being addressed in region. The workshop addresses an important debate. I hope you’ll get engaged.Watch this space for a report on the workshop.-Prof Monder Ram-
