Business has changed over the years, but it still comes down to: ‘Can I make a few quid out of it?’ – London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com

Entrepreneurs usually set out with one thought, how can I set up a business that does something new or something different. And can I then make money from it. It’s a simple premise that is often so difficult to turn into a reality.

In 2024, it’s one that’s been made even more difficult! The hoops we’ve jumped through and obstacles that have been put in our way since launching WeFix are so much more substantial than they were 40-odd years ago.

Back in 1979, when I started Pimlico Plumbers, the world was, of course, a different place. There was undoubtedly less red tape when it comes to business regulations, the mountains of laws we have to comply with now, plus the HR practices and training requirements we have to meet.

Of course, some of those things can be turned into positives, especially the training, but the rest can make you feel like you’re wading through quicksand even before you get to open the doors to customers for the first time.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we’re not complying with any of this bureaucracy, quite the opposite. We tell our customers we will give them the best possible service, and that has to include how we run the business too. All this bullshit hasn’t stopped us though, we’ve had a great start, and our engineers are already really busy fixing London.

It just makes everything a lot tougher, and you can see why others may decide that running a business is not for them and they just throw in the towel, and that’s more bad news for the economy.

The other stark difference between then and now was the culture of enterprise that was appearing and helped set the tone for the next few decades. Before Margaret Thatcher was elected in 1979 the economy was in an absolute mess and was still in recession when she came to power.

The Iron Lady decided the way to pull the country out of the economic mire was to put her faith in enterprise and entrepreneurship. By doing this she encouraged people to start their own businesses, me being one of them. In the words of Lord Sugar, it ‘allowed chirpy chappies to succeed and not just the elite’.

Her first government came up with a shedload of policies to develop a new ‘can do’ enterprise culture and help small firms. So, did this work? Well, in 1979 there were 1.8m businesses in the UK and now there’s 5.5m. The question is, will it stay that way? I hate to say it, but I’m not so sure.

Fast forward to 2024 and we’re already seeing signs that things are on the turn and definitely not for the better. Swapping Mrs Thatcher’s pro-enterprise stance for Keir Starmer’s business bashing policies, we’re already seeing a very large number of businesses become very vocal about the damage the Labour government is going to do to the economy.

They keep harping on about not impacting on the pay slips of working people. But if businesses can’t afford to employ them because of the huge government burden they’re faced with, the only pay slip people will get is a P45 and an intro to the local job centre.

How does that help the economy? While businesses are making their opinions very clear on Labour’s planned decimation of private firms, most are also doing what good enterprises do, work out how the hell we’re going to negotiate our way through these very choppy waters.

As a family business, just like Mrs Thatcher grew up in, WeFix is doing all it can to brave the conditions and thrive. My son Scott and grandson Ashley, who are running the business are putting in the graft and have already built a strong team that’s taking WeFix forward and making it the success we know it can be.

Entrepreneurs love a challenge, even with the likes of Starmer and Rachel Reeves throwing rocks at us every day. I just hope the millions of UK SMEs are able to weather this storm, because it ain’t half going to give us a battering.