Brexit SME Scorecard helps business self-assess their exposure to Brexit

by Startacus Admin

A few weeks ago we promised to focus some of our editorial around the imminent UK General Election - whilst of course ensuring that it was relevant for startups, sme’s and entrepreneurs.

So far, we’ve highlighted PostBug - the  ‘online-to-postage’ website allowing groups of people with common interests to send similar postcards or letters to public figures, such as politicians and EchoBox - a startup seeking to disrupt polling by using big data to track election campaigns.

But what of BREXIT? Whether you voted ‘in’ or ‘out’, there’s no doubt that BREXIT still remains a big issue for startups, entrepreneurs and SME’s - there is after all still considerable uncertainty on how much of an impact it might have on business. It’s not just an issue on the political trail - but an issue within office boardrooms and co-working spaces across the UK - on the impact of BREXIT (good or bad) on how we trade and run our businesses.

It’s for this reason that we like the ‘Brexit SME Scorecard’, an interactive online platform, recently launched by Enterprise Ireland. which can be used by all Irish companies to self-assess their exposure to Brexit under six business pillars. Based on answers supplied by the user, the Scorecard generates an immediate report which contains suggested actions and resources, and information on events for companies to attend, to prepare for Brexit.

But how does this relate to the UK general election, one may ask?

Well put simply, irrespective of your political opinion, all UK business owners, CEOs, startup founders, and freelancers, surely must want an honest, non-partisan approach to how to best deal with BREXIT - on a commercial / business level, there must surely be some good and some bad that will come from leaving the EU.

This Enterprise Ireland led initiative, certainly doesn’t aim to scaremonger, but just give business owners a helping hand.

The Brexit SME Scorecard provides companies with an assessment of how prepared they are under six key pillars - Business Strategy, Operations, Innovation, Sales and Marketing, Finance and People Management. The tool is a starting point for SME management teams looking to develop an action plan to help mitigate risks and leverage opportunities which may arise from Brexit.

At the end of March when the Brexit SME scorecard was launched, Julie Sinnamon, CEO, Enterprise Ireland said: “Now that Article 50 has been triggered, a two-year time frame counting down to the UK’s exit from the EU has been set. Irish companies should start preparing for a hard Brexit and be fully equipped to meet both the challenges and the opportunities arising from Brexit head-on.”

So, much like Enterprise Ireland has created a #PrepareforBrexit campaign, running a series of Brexit events featuring expert speakers, throughout Ireland in May to promote the tool and encourage clients to prepare for Brexit, we think political parties should also lay down the postering and come together to #PrepareforBrexit - after all supporting UK business, both big and small employer is surely in everyone's best interest, whatever side of the political and European fence you may sit.

We embrace Enterprise Ireland’s proactive approach to helping their business community.

If you are aware of any UK wide initiatives to give UK businesses an assessment of how they can best prepare their business for BREXIT - we are all ears and happy to share if we feel it’s relevant! Tweet us at @iamstartacus

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Published on: 7th May 2017