ENTREPRENEURS NEWS | IN BRIEF
BAD WEBSITES COST YOU MONEY
A total of 46 per cent of British consumers have cancelled plans to spend with a small business after finding a poor quality website, according to research released today by 1&1 Internet Ltd, www.1and1.co.uk, a web hosting business. From a study of more than 1,800 UK adults, 37 per cent have walked away completely while a further 9 per cent have opted to spend less as a direct result. Many consumers feel that small business websites today are mostly unattractive and often contain errors.
CROWDSOURCE YOUR FUNDING
A funding tool has been launched called Venture Bonsai for startups, using social media crowd sourcing methods. The idea hopes to raise money from a larger number of parties in smaller chunks than the usual set up of a few large investors. Venture Bonsai is the first startup funding tool accessible by any private investor. It allows anybody to become an angel investor with investments just as small as €5,000. Currently only European companies can run investment rounds within Venture Bonsai. Investors can be from any European country.
SME GROUP ANGER OVER BCC LEP CONTROL
Small and medium-sized business groups – the Federation of Small Businesses, Institute of Directors and the Forum of Private Business – have all expressed concern that the Department for Local Government has awarded the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) sole responsibility for running the new Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). The opposed SME groups are concerned that through awarding one organisation sole responsibility wider business interests will not be taken into account. The government did not put the job out to tender.