Make a pitch to Piers for your firm’s chance to scoop £10,000!
FORMER Dragons’ Den investor Piers Linney returned to his hometown to find out more about the challenges small business owners are facing today. Stoke-on-trent-born Piers has been championing entrepreneurship for more than a decade after clocking up years as a venture capital lawyer.
And last week, the 50-year-old stopped off in the city for a business clinic with local companies as part of his ‘10 cities in 10 days’ tour.
As part of the tour – which is helping to promote his new venture, Moblox – Piers took part in a Q&A with business owners from across the region.
He spoke about everything from building networks and accessing finance to the importance of technology in business.
He even shared his one top tip for starting a business – ‘Focus on something that you enjoy and are good at.’
“One of the issues I have seen coming up time and time again is about access to networks,” said Piers, “And that is always inextricably linked to access to finance as well.
“Support, guidance, financial capital and access to it is not evenly distributed – but ambition is, and that’s a problem in the UK. We need to try to balance that out.
“I think the Government’s Levelling Up agenda is trying to do that, but that’s going to take a long time. Throwing a couple of million pounds here and there is not going to really dent it.
“We have to evenly distribute access to the networks and the capital.”
He added: “The people with the money, the investors, they’re looking for opportunities to put it to work.
“They don’t often really care where you come from, what colour you are, what sex you are, they just want to put money to work. But if they don’t see you, or don’t engage with you, then it’s hard to raise finance.”
During his talk, Piers – whose mother is from the West Indies – also revealed that he has faced adversity in the past but was determined to never let that stop him achieving his dreams of ‘being in business.’
Today he is recognised as one of the top 100 Black Britons.
He said: “When I faced people who wanted to prevent me from doing what I wanted to do, or call me names because of the colour of my skin, I’ve always kind of been quite belligerent and ignored them really. I try to go around them, under them, over them, just get on with it. But that’s me, not everybody is me, or should need to be me.
“I kind of made sure that all the barriers I perceived for me getting a job in the city – the colour of my skin, my academic record, the school I went to and my accent – I tried to lower them as much as possible.
“And the point there is, that I did that and I was quite good at it, but I should not have to expend the energy.
“The energy that I’m expending trying to make sure that I fit in, and that I’m not going to get caught by someone’s conscious bias, I should be saving for the interview and trying to get on.
“Society is not a fair one until the top of it is just like the bottom, and we’re a long way from that.”
Going forward, Piers believes that UK businesses should turn their focus to technology – and that’s where Moblox comes in.
Moblox is a technology and tools platform aimed at helping owner-led businesses across the UK understand their options and embrace and manage the tech and tools they need to succeed.
Piers said: “Moblox kind of brings together everything I’ve ever done and interests me.
“So small business, technology, communications, supporting entrepreneurs. I’ve rolled everything I know, enjoy and I’m good at, into a business.
“There is an explosion of technology available to small business owners, but they’re not embracing it. So I want to change that game.”
He added: “It has to be technology and innovation that makes this (the UK) a fantastic place to be and to build businesses.
“That is what’s going to keep us relevant in the global economy, without that I think our days and global relevance could be numbered.
“Not every small business owner is going to be a software engineer, but we have to use technology to improve customer experience, reduce operating costs and delight customers in new ways. That’s what we have to do.”
As part of his 10-day tour, Piers is also giving small businesses the chance to win £10,000 through his ‘Pitch to Piers’ competition which aims to raise awareness of small businesses.