Director Named as Rising Business Star 2013

So how do we encourage more of this spirit? Many of this year’s rising stars credit their families with helping them get ahead. They also mention colleagues, a couple of institutions, and the decisions they made themselves.

There may be a lesson in this. The next time a friend or member of your family says they are chucking in their job to start, say, a paintballing company, or a brewery, ask what you can do for them, and give them some advice and support.

I wonder sometimes how many potentially great business ideas have never come to anything because the husband or wife started going on about the mortgage and bills, or the after-work crowd said “it’ll never work”.

Enterprise is not the sole preserve of young directors of start-ups, of course. There’s plenty more of that spirit in Insider, for example the law firms (p40) that are responding in different ways to challenges and opportunities. Then there’s Biomonde, the Bridgend-based wound treatment company (p14), which is planning to set up an offshoot in the US. Or Hobbs Valve (p26), also focused on promising international markets.

We have plenty of advice for ambitious companies, whether it’s from our Grow Your Business Breakfast (p12) or funding guide (p35). Funding is a perennial issue for many growing businesses. We have all heard the story about the bank that would not lend money for a sure-fire proposition. The story may be true, or the proposition may not have seemed quite so sure-fire to the bank. Either way, entrepreneurs are tapping in to a variety of funding options, be it family, friends and credit cards, or private equity, asset finance and bank loans.

If we can link the business talent in Wales with serious funding and clear-headed advice, we’ve got a good chance of lifting the country off the foot of the UK economic league table. Just as long as we keep encouraging the entrepreneur next door.

Douglas Friedli, editor

Twitter: @DouglasInsider