How public service start-ups could transform Britain for the better
In the battlefield of IT provisions it is always good to be reminded of what we start-ups have over the public sector and large private companies. We thrive on the competition from big organisations and see the challenge they bring as a positive way to improve our business. This confidence is partly due to the knowledge of the advantages we hold.
Paul Miller, education evangelist and CEO of School of Everything, puts it well.
“Start-ups can find ways of connecting with public services by coming up with new ideas. But they are also small enough to talk directly to their users, learning how to improve their service day-by-day – something that the public sector struggles with because of the bureaucracy of change.”
“The capital efficiency [of start-ups] in creating innovation is unrivalled by anything in the public sector.”
Paul touches on a handful of advantages, here are a few more:
Fast response time
A smaller chain of command means we’re quick to respond and deal with issue – large companies have large chain of command and are often slow to respond to problems.
Decision-making flexibility
Large companies get bogged down with rigid procedures and policy. Start-ups do not have this problem and are able to make on-the-spot decision without having gone through a laborious process. This increases the productivity of the team.
Personal Attention
Small business have the ability to make decisions and tailor the customer service offering to the specific customer, whereas larger organisations have to standardise their approach to customer service. We pride ourselves on our approach to our customers and feel we are able to offer something that others cannot.
Specialised
Many small businesses are small because they are specialised, which gives them a major competitive advantage over large organisations. We can excel at tasks that are ignored or under-provided by large companies. It also means we can have much greater attention to detail.
Easy communication due to flat structure
With start-ups there is often a single point of contact between client and company, which aids communication hugely and fosters strong business relationships. The individual is more likely to know the history of the customer’s relationship with the company and is better suited to tailor correspondence.
More able to adapt means start-ups are future-proof
Smaller businesses are more able to adapt quickly to changes in the market. Less training is required for any changes that do occur and the changes are likely to have greater reach. Large organisations are slow to adapt to even the smallest of changes.
