Lord Sugar is right be he needs to think positively
Well, what did small business expect from Lord Sugar? The TV star told small companies that they are moaners. And they proved him right by moaning.
The Federation of Small Businesses called for the host of The Apprentice to resign his role as the government’s enterprise champion after Sugar said firms that complain they can’t get loans probably need a bankruptcy adviser rather than a bank. The FSB got its column inches of publicity as well as Sugar therefore.
Sir Alan Sugar said he wouldn’t lend money to most of these moaners. That’s probably true, but if more bank managers had shown the same reticence, the banks would not be in the trouble they now are. Beneath Sugar’s bluster he has a point: if companies came up with a proper business plan, many would realise their idea is unworkable. Luckily for them, bank managers point out the flaws the would-be entrepreneurs fail to see themselves.
But Sugar is wrong in criticising the 85 per cent of businesses that are rightly refused finance rather than praising the 15 per cent that do have a viable project. Having built his own business empire from scratch, Sugar should see the glass as 15 per cent full, not 85 per cent empty.
That’s why Lord Mandelson is such a good champion of enterprise: he strives to make things work rather than moan about why they do not. However, as both peers are likely to be out of government by next summer, the moaners will win the day.
