Another year gone, another birthday celebrated! HMRC says that 80% of businesses registered for VAT cease trading within three years. I reckon that any business that makes it past that three year hump is doing OK, so we celebrated our 10th birthday with a party on 22 April.
John Sollars, founder of Stinkyink.com
When you tell people that you have been going for ten years they look at you and start to think about their own business as well. “We’ve been here for 21 years,” said my local convenience store. The chef at the restaurant I had Sunday lunch in, said that it had been serving for 15 years.
That really got me thinking, our local potato merchant celebrated 50 years in business last year and one of the guys I play golf with is the third generation to run the family blacksmith business. His son has just taken over from him and is now the fourth generation running a business that is over 100 years old.
I say we should celebrate and congratulate longevity in the business world; we should seek out those that are survivors and learn from their experience and examples. When I was a young man during the seventies the domination of our high streets by corporate chains was gaining momentum and the local independent businesses were being squeezed out.
Even back then the only real family businesses that were still around were farmers. The butcher, baker and candlestick maker of old had gone along with the chemist and haberdasher, relegated to museums, along with the canals and the manufacturing.
Seeing the light
But wait, what light burns bright in yonder window (to misquote the Bard)? Do I see the small family enterprise fighting back, is the shiny new online world enabling the small retailer to compete against the corporate might of the mega corporations?
If online is the way forward; if the web will provide a way for small start-ups and families to create an opportunity for themselves; if the UK, which is world famous for its entrepreneurial spirit, is now able to generate a living from ecommerce, then Napoleon’s famous quote that “Great Britain is a nation of shopkeepers” may once again ring true. But nowadays our shops are virtual and our high street is the World Wide Web.
So let us hope that the HMRC stats start to prove false, that more start-ups manage to get through the ‘three year hump’ and reduce that statistic. And Above all, let’s give thanks to the egalitarianism that the internet brings to business. If you have a bright idea, go for it, and the very best of luck.
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