A new wave of agile and market-aware
start-ups,
is turning the recession into an opportunity
Article reprinted from Design Week:
A few years ago, while discussing the decline of the French economy with former
Prime Minister Tony Blair, then US president George W Bush made one of his
most
famous gaffes, saying, ‘The problem with the French is that they don’t have
a word
for “entrepreneur”.’
Blair probably didn’t see the point in correcting Bush back in 2002, but in
2009 what’s
evident - regardless of the appropriation from the Gallic linguistic
repertoire - is tha
not even the deepening recession has dampened the
entrepreneurial spirit in the UK.
Witness the wave of start-ups and breakaways in design over the past two
months, which
has seen industry figures such as Michael Peters launch his third
consultancy, Pearlfisher
creative director Shaun Bowen take the plunge with
breakaway B&B, ex-Vibrandt
chairman Ray Armes open Touch of Mojo, and
former Established & Sons design director
Mark Holmes launch the small-scale
design collection Minimalux, to name but a few.
Accountant Kingston Smith W1 partner Mandy Merron points out that
it is not unusual
to see ‘green shoots’ in times of economic uncertainty. She
says, ‘Traditionally in a
recession we see waves of start-ups, as employees get
hacked off with networked groups’
constant focus on cost. Those working in an
atmosphere that has perhaps not been as
positive as it once was move on, or
designers made redundant launch start-ups
according to their own principles.’
But with a dearth of credit, apparently shrinking consumer markets and
shrivelling
client budgets, why would you want to set up a company in the
current climate?
A widely held view among those starting up or breaking away
is that the recession is
a platform for change, a time to root out inefficiency and
align business activity with
current market conditions. In other words, it’s a
perfect time for a new beginning.
