The take-up and variation of advice for new firm founders in different local contexts

Although business advice has been linked to entrepreneurial outcomes, it is subject to information asymmetries and market failure. We argue that the knowledge concerning from whom to take advice before starting a new firm is more easily accessed in areas with high start-up rates which therefore ameliorates market failure. The study is based on surveys of 599 new firm founders in England and 381 new firm founders in Catalonia. A series of probit and heteroskedastic probit models are employed to investigate not only the probability of taking advice but also the variance in that probability, which reflects uncertainty. Supporting our view, the findings show that the taking of advice in the places with higher start-up rates exhibit less variation compared to other localities. We also find differing effects of place on the take up and variation of private sector and public sector advice. Implications from the findings are discusse

When moving information online diminishes change : advisory services to SMEs

Small firms perform poorly. How to support SMEs effectively has occupied policymakers for decades. Previous work suggests weak competition as a cause of ‘the problem’. Therefore, the means of delivering support matters little. Accordingly, the government moved support online rather than be delivered in face-to-face exchanges between advisers and clients. However, we suggest adopting internal management practices to build capabilities does require face-to-face contact, so practices diffuse in a pattern like an ‘epidemic’. In support a multinomial logit model of 1334 cases of advice found SMEs that took advice to enhance internal management practices were more likely to be referred by other firms. Hence, we argue that moving online diminished change within these SMEs

Advice to entrepreneurs and small business

Concerns about the quality of business’s management and productivity has increased the salience of advice for policymakers. For policymakers, possibilities exist to develop advisory services and improve business practices bringing wider benefits to the economy and society. For academics, the problem of advice has become more important as it relates to firm development. Major perspectives on advice have developed in isolation from each other, in particular the psychology of advice taking and the managerial and economic perspectives. Hence it may be time for a re-think. The appraisal will be timely, as it reviews the literature on advice to entrepreneurs and to small firm managers. Therefore, the objective is to review the literature on advice to entrepreneurs and small business managers. In order to take advantage of the iterative potential that different perspectives would bring, this narrative literature review will need to understand these through the eyes of the advice seekers and the context within which they operate. Having identified and defined advice, the review discusses the different perspectives and the implications under five different headings that reflect the customer journey in the advice process from the initial “attraction” to advice, to the implications for businesses of consistent advice-taking. Implication for future research are presented

Supporting rural businesses

This review offers a concise overview of rural business support research from an academic viewpoint. As the concept of 'rural business’ is ill-defined, this review differentiates ’rural business’ - the business that is integrated into the rural socio- economic context via suppliers, staff and networks, from a business that is simply located in the rural without those links. ’Rural business support‘ denotes services provided to all rural businesses, that serve rural communities and beyond, from land-based to service businesses, although the rural economy is becoming less reliant on land-based businesses. Existing business support research findings implicitly claim general applicability, yet, are conducted nearly always in urban contexts. Hence, little research exists that identifies what is distinctive about rural business support and what is similar to services provided in urban contexts. Specific challenges business located in the rural face include the effect of fewer business and lower population densities, which reduce the abilities for rural businesses to access skilled workers and customers, and more limited infrastructure in terms of public transport and broadband. Market failure applies both to rural and urban areas. Market failure denotes the condition when markets do not allocate resources efficiently, for example, due to lack of information, and many rural businesses struggle to access quality business support. Market failure in business support is most obvious in those rural areas where many bank branches have closed, only few business services remain and public business support services have difficulties in accessing remote locations, due to the higher cost of visiting. Integrated policies for rural economic development need to recognise the inter- dependencies between rural (embedded) businesses and communities. The review addresses research findings on business support excluding specialist advice to farms and large rural estates

Discussing Negative Space: 10 Questions for Reckless Sleepers

This is a book of conversations about the Reckless Sleepers’ project, Negative Space. A sister project to their previous show Schrödinger, which can be viewed online here. It is a project that borrows, extends and re-invents certain materials and practices from Schrödinger but which also stands apart from it; developing a personality and agenda of its own. This book contains recorded conversations between Artistic Director, Mole Wetherell, and company member, Kevin Egan; transcribed conversations from company meetings; and captured conversations from post-performance discussions. Each conversation begins with a question. A question we ask of ourselves or a question that gets asked of us by an audience member. Sometimes we try and answer them, other times we take a tangential journey and end up somewhere else. Sometimes we get excited about the other ideas that the question brings up and other times we just can’t find an appropriate answer. But these are all questions that allow us to start a conversation; that allow us to articulate something about the project that might not be as visible in what is experienced in the performance. These conservations might offer an insight into the project, the company, the process or the development of ideas, but they might also help to understand how the process of making this particular project is entangled within a mesh of anecdotes, seemingly irrelevant memories and the excitement that comes from making work with your friends

How ‘buzz’ reduces uncertainty for new firm founders

To whom should potential new firm founders turn to for advice? This article identifies buzz as a mechanism to transfer the knowledge of who to turn to for advice. Previous work on buzz has linked it with clusters or compared local buzz with international pipelines of information. The interaction between place and business advice was examined in surveys of 599 new firm founders in England and 381 new firm founders in Catalonia (Spain). Our models exploit the denominator from a heteroskedastic probit to capture the local variation in uncertainty We show empirically how buzz can add to collective institutions outside of clusters. Our findings show that buzz influences the taking of advice and the uncertainty surrounding advice. Besides, there were strong impacts from policy on the take-up of advice in Catalonia, but it did not change the variations in uncertainty

How ‘buzz’ reduces uncertainty for new firm founders

To whom should potential new firm founders turn to for advice? This article identifies buzz as a mechanism to transfer the knowledge of who to turn to for advice. Previous work on buzz has linked it with clusters or compared local buzz with international pipelines of information. The interaction between place and business advice was examined in surveys of 599 new firm founders in England and 381 new firm founders in Catalonia (Spain). Our models exploit the denominator from a heteroskedastic probit to capture the local variation in uncertainty We show empirically how buzz can add to collective institutions outside of clusters. Our findings show that buzz influences the taking of advice and the uncertainty surrounding advice. Besides, there were strong impacts from policy on the take-up of advice in Catalonia, but it did not change the variations in uncertainty

Estimating the innovation benefits of first-mover and second-mover strategies when micro-businesses adopt artificial intelligence and machine learning

Digital technologies have the potential to transform all aspects of firms’ operations. The emergence of advanced digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning raises questions about whether and when micro-businesses should adopt these technologies. In this paper we focus on how firms’ adoption decisions on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning influence their innovation capabilities. Using survey data for over 6,000 micro-businesses in the UK, we identify two groups of adopters based on the timing of their adoption of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. ‘first movers’ – early adopters of the new technologies - and ‘second movers’- later adopters of the new technology. Probit models are used to investigate the innovation benefits of first and second mover adoption strategies. Our results suggest strong and positive impacts of adopting Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning on micro-businesses’ innovation outcomes and innovation processes. We highlight the differential benefits of first mover and second mover strategies and highlight the role of technology characteristics as the differentiating factor. Our results emphasize both the innovation enabling role of digital technologies and the importance of an appropriate strategic approach to adopting advanced digital technologies

Research Report Rural family businesses and exporting behaviour

Driven by the importance of exporting for growth, this report examines the exporting behaviour of UK small firms in rural and urban locations. Analysing data from five waves of the Longitudinal Small Business Survey from 2015 to 2019, the report examines the development by firms of goods or services that are suitable for exporting and the subsequent decision to export, either consistently or intermittently. Overall, we find significant differences between rural and urban firms in terms of exporting, where firms located in sparse, dispersed areas were more likely to export, although less likely if they declared themselves as family businesses. We also find that some types of firms, BAME- owned and women-owned businesses, are much less likely to develop tradeable goods and services. We demonstrate how the role of advice seems specifically connected to the decision to develop tradeable goods and services, rather than exporting per se. The research confirms the importance of productivity and innovation on both exporting and developing tradeable goods and services. We propose a future research agenda on the exporting practices of rural family businesses and women-owned enterprise, and on the role of exporting advice