PRESS RELEASE FROM ENTERPRISE NATION
A UK business mentor named on the Enterprise Nation Top 50 British Business Advisers is now in the top 10.
Quentin Pain who offers business advice to help entrepreneurs, was picked from hundreds of advisers around the UK for his work helping businesses find and attract new customers.
Quentin, who runs Legendary Business Owners Ltd said: “One of the things I stumbled on early in my business career was that being #1 in what you do plays a huge part in whether you are successful or not. So helping businesses spot the opportunities and create a strategic marketing plan to get them through is a core part of what I do.”
Quentin has spent his entire working life starting, running and selling businesses as well as helping others including software company Accountz, whose products are sold throughout Europe as well as retail outlets including PC World and Amazon.
The awards are run by small business network Enterprise Nation, which asked fledgling businesses to nominate an adviser that had helped them to build and grow a sustainable business.
The awards, which set out to highlight the work done behind the scenes by experts helping Britain’s army of small businesses to build and grow, revealed a rich vein of dedicated supporters for the UK’s expanding entrepreneurial culture.
Emma Jones, founder of Enterprise Nation said: “These business advisers are the unsung heroes behind Britain’s booming small business culture.
“The awards have uncovered some incredible work that has helped fledgling firms take steps towards sustainability and growth by taking a strategic look at their business.
“Research shows that those firms that take advice do better than those that don’t – and it stands to reason that good advice can help avoid some of the damaging, early mistakes entrepreneurs can make that can often force them to give up.
“Thanks to the Government’s £30m Growth Voucher initiative, there is now an increasing interest in taking strategic advice to overcome some of these behavioural barriers and unlock growth potential.
“The awards were designed to show this important work in action, in order to help more start-ups and small firms find out about the benefits of taking advice.”
The 50 advisers were chosen from hundreds of entries from around the UK, with ten outstanding experts, including Quentin, picked out as the top ten.
Quentin’s top tips for growing a business are:
- Start with the end in mind. Write your younger self a letter explaining what you achieved, how you achieved it, and why you did it.
- Choose one thing and do it to the best of your ability. Anything more than one will almost certainly become overwhelming and will dilute your efforts.
- Never give up. If you’re doing the right thing, why would you want to do anything else?
A Government report entitled Growing Your Business, written by Enterprise Adviser Lord Young suggested if Britain’s smallest firms were to take on just one more employee each, it would eradicate unemployment in the UK.
He said: “The evidence is unequivocal: businesses that seek and engage external help are more likely to grow. But much more needs to be done to encourage firms to invest in their capability.”
A report from the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce suggested by 2018 there would be more than five million people working for themselves in this country – exceeding the number working in the public sector for the first time.
Entries were judged by a distinguished panel including Emma Jones, and representatives from professional bodies including the ICAEW, as well as the Department for Business, Industry and Skills, StartUp Loans and James Layfield, the founder and entrepreneur behind Central Working.
To see the full list go here:
Top 50 Advisers In The UK
For more information contact Lynne on 020 7193 9297 or email support@legendarybusinessowners.com
About Enterprise Nation
Enterprise Nation is a small business network with more than 67,000 members. Its aim is to help people turn their good ideas into great businesses – through expert advice, events, networking and inspiring books. Enterprise Nation was founded in 2005 by Emma Jones MBE also co-founder of StartUp Britain. 2015 is the year of membership.
About Growth Vouchers
[UPDATE: 31st march 2015 – The Growth Voucher scheme has now ended]
There are six stages in the GV programme.
- Stage 1, is the initial application stage where businesses apply to join the programme. All applicants will be able to complete the application process online by going to www.gov.uk/apply-growth-vouchers
Eligible companies that wish to participate will be invited to apply online and to answer a brief questionnaire. This is devised to help assess which one of five areas of their business might most benefit from strategic advice.
- Stage 2, will involve businesses carrying out an assessment of their needs by either completing an on-line assessment or by meeting with an adviser. Adviser interviews can be carried out over the telephone but the majority will need to book an appointment and arrange to meet face to face.
- Stage 3, after completing the assessment, applicants will be given a recommendation about what type of advice would be the most appropriate to meet their needs. Applicants will be told at this stage whether or not they have been allocated a voucher to help pay for the cost of obtaining this advice. Businesses will be randomly selected to receive a voucher. Not being selected is not a reflection on the viability of the business. This is to ensure we get a good selection of businesses across all groups to help assess the impact of the advice that has been delivered.
Vouchers can be used to subsidise the cost of obtaining strategic advice on any of the following five areas:
- Raising finance and managing cash flow
- Marketing, attracting and keeping customers
- Making the most of digital technology
- Improving leadership and management skills
- Recruiting and developing your staff
- Stage 4, applicants will then be advised to select a supplier from the list of registered providers on the new on-line Marketplace managed by our external partner, Enterprise Nation. The providers on the website have to meet an a quality criteria to be listed.
- Stage 5, once a suitable provider has been selected, the participant will make their own arrangements to receive the advice. The Growth Voucher can be used as part subsidy to pay for the advice. Vouchers will cover up to 50% of the cost of paying for advice up to a maximum of £2,000. Participants can pay more if they feel it is appropriate but the maximum they can claim back from the Government is £2,000.
- Stage 6, after paying for the advice they have received, participants can submit a claim for the subsidy. They will have to provide evidence that the invoice has been paid and details of the advice they received.