Keeping The Dog Advisers At Bay - Shutting Out The Backdoor Businesslinks

They’re creeping back.

In fact, they never really went away.

You might have heard of WTAs – Waggy Tailed Advisers. If you are in start-up or early stage business, there is a strong chance you will have met one, or even a pack of them.

They are business advisers who bear a very strong resemblance to labrador dogs. They stomp around the place, staring up with vacant eyes for any sign of longed-for approbation…..look at me, look at me, I’m a business adviser.

All the while, however, their big, clumsy tails are thrashing around behind them, leaving a trail of mess and often actual damage.

I have had detailed conversations about the role of the public sector in enterprise support provision with a number of senior economic development people in the last couple of weeks, both on a national and a regional basis.

Their general argument is that the state has a need – an obligation indeed – to involve itself in enterprise and business support. I wouldn’t disagree.

But there is a massive need to bring this debate centre stage. A huge of amount of money still flows from the public purse into "enterprise support" and this is premised on what, I feel, are two extremely dubious premises.

Firstly it is assumed that the public sector has the expertise, capability and commitment to establish realistic models of effect delivery. Secondly, it is assumed that the tactical level of intervention is to be prioritised over the strategic.

I would place any public sector/state role at the level of an enabling environment: a SMET-facing education system; vigorous access to business funding and compelling investment incentives for business angels; newly competent academic IP-capture; newly effective export support.

My partners in this debate generally display a psychological barrier around withdrawing from a model based around the public sector providing generalist advisers, or advice intermediaries, which is currently and variously labelled mentoring, coaching, gatekeeping and signposting.

But, I have asked them, if you are looking to buy a car, do you contact Car Link, a vast and shambolic public sector agency which then bizarrely and glacially slowly semi-engages with you in a frustrating and futile process of “signposting” to other equally clueless individuals?

Or, if you are looking to learn to swim, do you contact Swim Link, a vast and shambolic public sector agency which then bizarrely and glacially slowly refers you on to people who may or may not be able to teach you to swim?

Isn’t more usual, when you are seeking to access a product or a service, to go direct to people who manifestly have the experience and competence to deliver – and certainly not to junior generalists?

Business Link was done away with for these very reasons The packs of WTAs were sent howling on their way. Except that a lot of them seem to be sneaking back in again.

I have no time for the “signposting” and “gatekeeping” arguments. Such activity is simply a fundamental and vast waste of money. On a more detailed level, how on earth can there even be such a service if the people administering it have no personal capability of assessing the quality and effectiveness of that to which they are signposting?

In a couple of discussions during the last week, I have distilled my contention into something which I think is highly reasonable. It’s called The WTA Test. It is specifically designed with the NW in mind and tests for a basal level of understanding around an absolutely core set of knowledge in the enterprise support space. I would contend that a good performance in this is a sine qua non of being able to operate within enterprise support. We live in a credentialist society; I cannot understand how anyone cannot sign-up to The WTA Test.

If you are tempted to have anything to do with public sector, or subsidised, enterprise support, then you need to put the people you are dealing with through the following. This test applies to everyone in the chain – advisers, managers and directors; the old, discredited, “signposting” nonsense must be rigorously outed for the conceit and deceit that it is.

Here are the six key questions for Greater Manchester and the North West WTA Test (enjoy making bespoke questions for your own region):

1. Discuss the key issues around Access to Finance for business.

2. Discuss the general opportunities and constraints around Advanced Manufacturing.

3. Discuss the issues and possibilities for sustainable value and jobs creation from Digital.

4. Discuss the opportunities within the Cloud for both producers and consumers of its technology.

5. Discuss possible strategies and opportunities within superior Etailing and Internet Services.

6. Discuss the main strategic issues around the spin-out and commercialisation of academic IP.

These are a very basic minimum of perspective that should be possessed by absolutely anyone purporting to involve themselves in enterprise support.

I don’t think I could bear to see new hosts of signposting and gatekeeping emerge.

My purpose is simply to keep the dogs at bay. But I’m probably howling at the moon.