Carrying on, not giving up

I obviously had my tabloid hack hat on when I wrote the headline for the story 'Entrepreneurs on the brink of giving up, warns FSB' on Monday. It caused some controversy over on social network with business journalist Matt Thomas urging me to "challenge the claim entrepreneurs are about to give up". His boss and successful serial entrepreneur Shaa Wasmund then joined in saying she was "NOT about to bloody give up!" adding that "no self-respecting entrepreneur would ever give up" and it is "strong entrepreneurs...who will pull the economy out of recession". I couldn't agree more.

I admire the Federation of Small Businesses in many ways. It has been key in overturning some outrageous anti-small business government decisions but like many organisations at the moment is prone to the occasional sensationalism amid all the economic doom and gloom.

The point is though that the vast majority of entrepreneurs who I've met over recent weeks couldn't be further from giving up.

Take, for example, Nicki Stewart, the founder of Diverse Hampers who won our Dragons' Den-style competition The Pitch in June. She's far away from throwing in the towel.

I spoke to her earlier this week and invited her to an event. She couldn't make it. Unfortunate for me but fantastic for her. She and her team are busy packing hampers for the festive season and when I ask her about the impact of the economic downturn she shrugged it off. "People use the economy as an excuse," she told me. "But you've got to adapt and use it as an opportunity."

The UK is also seeing a surge in the creation of new businesses despite the so-called financial crisis. That's shown by the interest in our recently launched service The Start Line, which profiles new companies set up in the past six months.

And when you check out the details of their companies, lots of the new entrepreneurs we've featured have come up with ideas well suited to the economic conditions: outsourced services and cost effective marketing products among them.

Also, I dare you to tell that majority of entrepreneurs on our sister website UK Business Forums that they're about to give up. I know what answer you'd get but I can't repeat it in polite company!

Take UK Business Forums member Ashley Price for instance whose blog refuting the claims of recession which I reposted on BusinessZone.co.uk has proved to be one of our most popular articles of the year.

"If a company closes down during a recession I would say there was something fundamentally wrong with how they ran their company or customer service," he said. "How come some businesses thrive in a so-called recession when their competitors fail?"

The ability to adapt, often at short notice, is what separates the good from the bad entrepreneurs and it's those type of business brains the UK economy needs at the moment. They're not lacking; they're out there, in their thousands.

Yes it is vital that organisations like the FSB are in the corridors of power communicating to the government what small business owners need and deserve but they also must be careful to not contribute to talking ourselves into a worse situation than actually exists.

I hold up my hands to accusations of sensationalism following my 'Entrepreneurs on the brink of giving up' headline but like my accusers, I truly believe very few entrepreneurs are going to throw in the towel. And that is bloody good if you ask me!