Managerial Skills for Small Business Start-Ups
Apart from offering undergraduate and postgraduate studies, NWBS of Wrexham University also specialises in advising food and beverage and supporting local small businesses on how to grow their business.
Professor Graham Jackson said: “We support and mentor small business start-ups to increase the survival rate in the food sector. I have recently worked with small and medium-sized businesses in North East Wales such as Patchwork Foods Ltd and Natural Wholefoods Ltd to identify fundraising and business restructuring so they will have more opportunity to be more successful”.
Research indicates that approximately 20% of small business start-ups failed in the first year, around 30% in the second year and around 50% in the fifth year. This failure has led to organisation struggles and sufferings, which leaves the practitioners with unanswered questions. Accordingly, NWBS has applied for the LEADER grant and received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme (Cadwyn Clwyd Cyfyngedig), which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.
The project and relevant publications were recently completed in 2022/23. It investigated managerial skills required to succeed in small business start-ups in the food sector. The findings were used to design online learning for enhancing the managerial skills of small business owners.
Supporting small businesses are critical because these parts of knowledge transfer from academia to local businesses. In addition, small businesses are considered as the engine of economic growth improving local economies and gross domestic product.
CONTACT: If you live in Wrexham, Flintshire or Denbighshire and thinking about opening your own business in the food sector, contact us as soon as possible to register your interest or if you want any advice on how to begin your entrepreneurial careers.
Please contact Professor Jackson at g.jackson@glyndwr.ac.uk, telephone 0197829066, Dr Muhyaddin at s.muhyaddin@glyndwr.ac.uk, or Dr Binsardi at binsardia@glyndwr.ac.uk.
