An audience with Peter Jones (continued)

Education, education, education

Entrepreneurship may be more popular than ever before but the UK still lags behind many other countries. Why, asked one audience member.

Bemoaning what he said is a “general lack of focused and clear directional mindsets” in the UK, Jones said Britain needs a consistent learning structure which teaches people how to be an entrepreneur.

“We have business owners coming into the market only because they have been forced to go it alone because they can’t get a job. That shouldn’t be the case,” he claimed. “As much as we look to compete with the US, it’s the mindset of the American person that needs to resonate in this country. If we had more entrepreneurs in the UK today who had the knowledge of how to be successful, the current recession would be very shallow.”

In 2008, Jones launched a network of government-backed enterprise academies to teach 16-19 year olds about the skills of entrepreneurship. “My enterprise academy is Britain’s first which is pretty damning,” he said.

Should I go on Dragons’ Den?

It was inevitable that someone in the audience would ask whether they should brave the den but we had to wait until the last question for the subject to be brought up. Looking for advice on techniques for getting the word out about his company, a business owner questioned whether the BBC show could provide the answer.

Yes, Jones said but he had a word of warning: “If your business case is solid, I’d advise a trip to the den. If it isn’t, I think you probably realise that there’s unfortunately a certain humiliation for some of the idiots we get to see. We had a few last week for whom we should have had people with white coats taking them away!”

Is all publicity good publicity?

Amusing YouTube videos, PR stunts and criticising the competition are just some of the slightly more dubious ways entrepreneurs can get the word out but does the old adage ‘all publicity is good publicity’ apply to business owners? No, said Peter Jones.

“I’m different to the likes of Duncan Bannatyne [one of Jones’ fellow Dragons’ Den panellists] who will do anything for publicity,” he claimed. “I tend to be more considered.”

The serial entrepreneur warned that some publicity can actually be damaging to a company’s long term reputation. Admitting that even he has made a few mistakes when it comes to publicising his business interests, Jones urged small business owners to think strategically.

“Work out what kind of strategy and vision you want and fit it around the way you market your business,” he advised. But, he added, that doesn’t mean you can’t be edgy.

“Thousands of people have come up to me and said the gremlins advertisements I did for BT Business really resonate”, Jones said. “Of course, you won’t have the kind of advertising budgets BT does but if you do something really edgy that fits with your company strategy it could really work for you.”