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Enterprise Nation’s Emma Jones and Start Up Loans launch the StartUp Kit for a new generation of entrepreneurs

Press release 14 January 2020

Emma Jones, the founder of Enterprise Nation, with support from The Start-Up Loans Company, part of the British Business Bank, has released a new book to inspire and support the increasing number of self-made entrepreneurs in the UK.

According to Companies House data, more than half a million new companies are registered every year. Since 2012 the number of business registrations has increased steadily, reflecting the growing trend for people to start a business or build a ‘side hustle’. According to a study by The Henley Business School, as many as one in five 18 to 30-year-olds expect to be financially self-sufficient at some point in their career.

The StartUp Kit caters for this appetite. Demystifying entrepreneurship, the book pulls together detailed information gathered since the trend began in 2012 to offer simple, accessible tips and support for those forging out a self-made career. It comes complete with stories of people who have successfully become their own boss and show how it can be done.

Enterprise Nation is a small business support network which aims to help people turn their good ideas into great businesses. Start Up Loans is a government-funded programme that provides low-interest loans to help people from all walks of life to realise their ambitions and start their own business.

Emma Jones, author and founder of Enterprise Nation, said:

“The nation’s appetite for starting a business has not diminished, in fact, it has grown to record highs 1 . Today starting a business is the new normal.

“That’s because people now have access to affordable easy-to-use technology, they can see opportunities and better ways to do things or a gap in the market for their product. They can do all this whilst holding down a day job and testing the market.

“This book is designed to be an efficient, practical guide to help people form a sensible plan so they can concentrate their efforts on building a sustainable business and avoid making costly mistakes or wasting effort.

“Starting a business does not have to be difficult, but there are some elements of knowledge that it is useful to have. These are collected here, succinctly expressed for the next generation of self-starters.”

In addition to finance, aspiring business owners need advice and mentoring support to help guide them through the early stages of their business journey. That’s what makes up the Start Up Loans programme and it’s why we are delighted to be sponsoring this new StartUp Kit – a valuable resource that covers everything you need to know about launching your own business in a simple and easy-to-understand way. - Richard Bearman Managing Director at Start Up Loans

The StartUp Kit will be launched at StartUp 2020, an event for start-up entrepreneurs in London and Manchester on January 18 and 25 respectively. The kit is available from online stores and in book shops for £12.99.

Notes to editors

About Enterprise Nation

Enterprise Nation is a small business network and business support provider. Its aim is to help people turn their good ideas into great businesses – through expert advice, events, acceleration, diagnostics and networking. Enterprise Nation was founded in 2005 by Emma Jones MBE, also co-founder of national enterprise campaign StartUp Britain. She is author of best-selling business books including Spare Room Startup, Working 5 to 9, Go Global, Start a Business for £99 and the StartUp Kit, Going for Growth. In 2018, Richard Harpin, the entrepreneur behind global home emergency repair firm Homeserve, invested in the company as part of a drive to create a ‘more entrepreneurial Britain.’

About Start Up Loans

The Start-Up Loans Company, part of the British Business Bank, was formed in June 2012. The Start Up Loans scheme provides personal loans for business purposes of up to £25,000 at a 6% fixed interest rate per annum and offers free dedicated mentoring and support to each business.

The primary aim of the Start Up Loans scheme is to ensure that viable start-ups and early-stage businesses have access to the finance and support they need in order to thrive. A network of Delivery Partner organisations supports applicants in all regions and industries throughout the UK. The Start Up Loans scheme is not designed to generate a commercial profit. Capital payments together with the interest are recycled to help meet our customers’ increasing demand for finance.

Free guides on a range of subjects related to starting a business are available on the Start Up Loans website. You can find recent media coverage and press releases in the Start Up Loans Media Centre.

The funding for the Start Up Loans scheme is provided by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The Start-Up Loans Company is a subsidiary of the British Business Bank plc. The bank is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government which is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). British Business Bank plc and its subsidiary entities are not banking institutions and do not operate as such.

The British Business Bank makes finance markets for smaller businesses work better, enabling the sector to prosper, grow and build economic activity.

Key Statistics

The following figures are drawn from data on delivery of loans up to end November 2019.

  • Since 2012, the Start Up Loans scheme has delivered more than 68,600 loans, providing more than £551m of funding.
  • In the financial year 2018/19, the scheme provided 7,869 loans with a total value of approximately £83m – helping to support around 22 businesses every day of the year.
  • Since 2012, 35% of loan recipients were formerly unemployed or economically inactive.
  • 15% of loan recipients since 2012 were aged between 18 and 24 at the time of application.
  • Loan recipients report estimated average turnover of £42,000 in the first year after they have drawn their loan down.

For more information about Start Up Loans, please visit: startuploans.co.uk.

All these statistics are gross estimates, except for the return on investment numbers, and are based upon Start Up Loans CRM and externally commissioned research undertaken by SQW Ltd, with support from BMG Research.

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