Business Link

I only saw them once about an idea to open a shop. I didn't have a business plan, and basically his advice revolved around How to do a Business Plan! 

He gave me some great tips and hand-outs though and I would definitely use them again. 

But I haven't gone forward with the idea (funding...) - so the info is buried in a drawer... whilst I grow my online business.

I must admit with all my encounters with business link there advice has been invaluble, direct and truthfull.

I would recomend anyone starting in business to utilise every business service you can where free or low cost advice is available and these guys certainly can point you in the right direction

Great for sign posting you to other sources of help but not very good at helping build a business in my experience. They seem to vary so considerably probably the best way forward is to try your own and see how you feel about the advice given. Our advisor on business set up was very good at giving leaflets and pushing services of others but knew next to nothing about the marketing business.
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Emma Thorpe

Zest

Carrington Business Park

Carrington

Manchester

M31 4XL

T 0161 775 1669

The quality of advice available to small businesses varies greatly, and this applies to Business Link as much to anybody.

As has already been mentioned, they can be useful for signposting you to other sources of information. But the anecdotal evidence I have encountered suggests they tend to think in very orthodox, textbook ways which are not always appropriate to entrepreneurial ventures.

I have also met a number of people who have found them very defeatist (the great British “no, it can’t be done” attitude) and they have little idea about bootstrapping a startup.

The acid test is whether or not your advisor (Business Link, high street bank, or whatever) has ever run a business of their own – and by that I mean something more than a small consultancy telling other people how to run a business. It is a fairly reliable generalisation that those who have never run their own business have no real idea what it’s like. Would you expect a professor of brain surgery not to be a competent brain surgeon? How would you feel if your driving instructor had never driven a car?

And if I can indulge in a quick plug for myself, the very first episode of the Mind Your Own Business podcast discussed this topic in depth. All the shows are free to download from www.myobpood.com.

Guy Kingston

Mind Your Own Business Podcast - The Entrepreneurs' Podcast
www.myobpod.com">href="http://www.myobpod.com">www.myobpod.com