There is a fine balance between seeing Brexit either as an opportunity or a threat. We know that the Government and the EU are doing their best to find terms that suit everyone. The question is of course, will what they agree actually make small or big differences to our growing businesses?
And whom should we trust for opinions that can help us make decisions and take or mitigate risks?
Looking past the English Channel there are all the old Commonwealth countries the UK used to trade with, but over the past 40 years, they have formed new alliances with highly competitive industries from the Far East. So the challenge is to go back to those countries, trying to do new deals in the face of competition and perhaps some loss of good will.
We have to ask ourselves about the USA and whether that country can be relied upon for increased trade opportunities. And what will happen to us with all the paperwork and red tape in our dealings with one of our biggest markets – the EU?
Can the USA be relied upon for trade opportunities?
These are clearly rather dark clouds that hang over us. But what about opportunities? The UK has always been inventive and created innovations of technologies and products that the world needs and wants.
I am old enough to remember when the UK joined the EU – we had misgivings about the benefits of leaving the Commonwealth behind. Then there was decimalisation that rocked the island. And Y2K for those who remember that far back about the doom that would befall companies that were unprepared. No one prepared us for the banking crisis of 2008 and we are all still here growing – if slowly – but growing.
During the Brexit referendum, we were told that data was irrelevant – that sentiment was more important. Yeah sure!
We need debates to help us clarify the fact from fiction, we need to talk in sensible ways to our peers and we probably need to do our own deep dive into our businesses to make sure we are resilient for whatever comes our way. Here are five things that we should be doing to secure ourselves?
We will be debating and discussing 'life after Brexit' at the 2017 Cranfield VentureDay (14th September). Cranfield VentureDay is a one-day annual conference for Entrepreneurs, 2017 will be the biggest event to date, partnering with the Festival of Enterprise, there is plenty on offer for everyone attending. Find more information, including the Keynote speaker details and the full agenda here, plus take advantage of our exclusive BGP blog offer below.
Thank you to Dr Shai Vyakarnam, Director, Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurship, for providing this blog post.
