What’s Stopping the UK’s Start-Ups?

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According to StartUp Britain, 2014 saw a record number of businesses registered at Companies House, hitting 581,173. There’s clearly a healthy appetite for entrepreneurship in the UK, but there are also a host of barriers hindering the growth of start-ups.

Whilst capital investment, government initiatives and crowd-funding all help the UK capitalise on the growth of the FinTech sector, figures suggest growth isn’t what it could be. According to the Scale-Up Report, the UK is creating more new businesses per capita than the US. However, too many are failing to scale-up into large, global companies.

From initial funding, to a lack of industry contacts and the burden of regulation, there are a lot of challenges for UK start-ups to face. Furnishing your business with the right people with the right skills is crucial to its success. But it’s also essential to get the basics right before looking to expand with more staff in more markets.

There is a danger that too much focus can be put on growth before businesses have the right infrastructure in place. The IT capabilities and applications that form the back-end of a business are essential, but what seems adequate for a small company can stifle its growth later down the line. Creating an IT platform that will grow with the business, making it more flexible and allowing for continued innovation is, therefore, crucial.

Another important consideration is payments. Of course, part of the back-end of any successful business is its payment capability, yet many start-ups overlook the importance of this issue. Getting a good payment process in place, early, shouldn’t be undervalued.

The traditional banking sector still offers less than good value for start-up businesses – especially those wanting to trade overseas – with slow, expensive transfers that can hamper new relationships and hold back growth. This is why many new businesses are turning to disruptor services, such as Banking Circle, which offers fast, flexible and affordable cross border transfers, regardless of location and currency.

Your business may be happy in the domestic market today, but tomorrow could bring an opportunity to expand into new markets or bring the potential for international partnerships. By putting a flexible payment process in place at the outset, you’re ahead of the competition when it comes to fast payments that reduce banking costs and support future expansion, worldwide.