Equal - Digital Repository

Background

Half of all businesses starting up in Wales fail within five years and many new enterprises encounter difficulties which are specific to gender, age, disability, language, and ethnic differences. These factors can and do significantly limit both their aspirations and their potential to succeed in sustaining and growing a business. Without having the best chance of viability, the time and resources invested in starting these businesses will be lost. Cyfenter2 is a partnership formed in Wales to address these issues, drawing upon research initiated within an earlier Equal funded programme.

Aims

• Conduct action-based research which identifies and records the wide range of issues now being experienced by these new entrepreneurs
• Provide the evidence base to inform the development of mainstream business support policies and practices that will support the growth and sustainability of businesses owned by entrepreneurs from under-represented groups.

Objectives

• Expand and develop the data collected in Round One of Equal into a longitudinal study which tracks and records the demographic pattern and attitudinal changes in pre-start and very young businesses owned by the target groups 
• Compare the data and findings with those from new primary data sources to provide evidence and intelligence to inform policymaking, the application of delivery methods, and business support frameworks which will support the long-term viability, sustainability and potential for growth of young businesses owned by disadvantaged entrepreneurs.

• What additional support, if any, is needed to sustain and grow these businesses?
• Can we identify and track the points of growth for under-represented groups and individuals and what factors have facilitated that growth?
• How does a successful business develop its own personal management skills?
• Is there any evidence that peer mentoring and/or peer networks have been a positive influence in sustaining and/or growing a business?
• What is the effect of skills shortage on the success of a business, particularly in rural areas? 
• If, as research suggests, 50% of new businesses are started by people who have previously run a business, what were the reasons for their previous business closing? Was it related in any way to their demographic characteristics, and what were the drivers for them to try again?
• What has been the disadvantaged individual’s experience when accessing business support, particularly at the post-start stage?
• What are the existing demographics of high growth businesses?

Target Groups

• Women
• Ethnic minority groups
• Disabled people
• Refugees
• Welsh speakers
• Lone parents
• Young people
• People over the age of 50

The Cyfenter2 Development Partnership stemmed from a need within Wales for qualitative and quantitative data to ensure that policy decisions are based on evidence.

Cyfenter2 is a Development Partnership funded jointly by the Welsh Assembly Government and the Equal programme of the European Structural Funds. Its intended impact is to influence and develop mainstream business support policies and practices and enterprise support for excluded groups of entrepreneurs to enable them to grow and sustain new enterprises. Cyfenter2 is primarily a research-based project.