​Politicians must see problems as fertile ground for solutions to emerge

In that piece, I reflected upon FSB’s annual ‘Power of Small Business’ roundtable we had just held in Washington DC, where we hosted the US Special Envoy to Northern Ireland, Joe Kennedy III, and drew on his Kennedy forebears for some inspirational direction; in particular, Bobby Kennedy’s entrepreneurial declaration that “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly”.

Many innovators from Northern Ireland have created opportunity by seeing problems and instead of being overwhelmed by them, devised innovative solutions.

They have ‘dared to fail greatly’ before going on to ‘achieve greatly’. Danske Bank featured some on their bank notes – John Dunlop, of pneumatic tyre fame; Harry Ferguson of the tractor three-point linkage system, and four-wheel drive; SC Davidson, who developed air conditioning and established the famed Scirocco Works; and James Martin who invented the aircraft ejection seat that has saved over 7,600 lives to date.

There are many more, too – such as Frank Pantridge who invented the portable defibrillator and James Drumm of nickel-zinc battery fame.

All people who saw a problem or an un-met need, and who ‘dared to fail greatly’ as they ventured where no one else had succeeded; each becoming a start-up business that became an SME and in many cases went on to become globally-successful giants as they ‘achieved greatly’.

These are a source of real inspiration – and for so many globally successful inventors and business people to come from a single county (Down) is truly remarkable.

However, despite this great legacy, we still have a long way to go until we see entrepreneurship embedded as a high priority, let alone a first choice for most.

Recently published statistics showed that the NI business ‘birth rate’ was just 28 per 10,000 population - matched exactly by the business ‘death rate’, meaning our economy is barely treading water.

But worse, the birth rate here compares with almost twice the rate in England (52 per 10,000) and is dwarfed by the rate in the United States, where there were over 150 new-starts per 10,000 population in the same period. In other words, proportionally, more than five times as many people in the US start a business compared with here.

The appointment of Joe Kennedy III as US Special Envoy to NI has been of high benefit, not least as he was able to contribute greatly and give leadership in a time of political instability when the Stormont Executive was absent. This month, we will again be hosting our annual roundtable with Joe Kennedy as our guest but, importantly, Stormont Ministers will also be present in Washington.

While the Special Envoy has made huge inroads into brokering relationships and ensuring Northern Ireland is high on the menu of choice for US investors looking for a European base, we must not ignore the opportunity that strong transatlantic relationships present for our indigenous innovators and business owners.

More than that, though, we must seek to draw on those relationships to reignite and bolster the entrepreneurial spirit that those world-leading innovators of the past show we possess and try to propagate it so that we double and redouble our entrepreneurship.

In agreeing to return to Stormont, our local politicians have made much of the ‘dual market access’ that has been secured.

But the associated Command Paper also committed to give a suite of benefits that could truly make Northern Ireland the ‘Singapore of the Western Hemisphere’ if our local politicians seize the opportunity.

Powers to reduce Corporation Tax here so that it matches the Republic and is half the rate of the rest of the UK, and also to establish a generous, turbocharged Enhanced Investment Zone, for which the UK Government undertook to give the tools needed to boost growth and attract investment with £150 million in funding, able to be used flexibly across spending and tax levers.

The single-mindedness of innovative entrepreneurs is key to their success; we need to encourage a similar spirit in our politicians where they set the highest ambition for our economy to emulate that of the best of the United States, and focus laser-like to seek the means to achieve it.

Having encouraged US industry to consider Northern Ireland as a location of choice, the lasting input that Joe Kennedy III might next make is to encourage and support our local political leaders to ‘dare to fail’ in their efforts to give effect to the ambition to make this the most exciting enhanced economic zone on the planet.

If they adopt that ambition, and see our problems as the fertile ground for innovative solutions to emerge, then there is no limit to the barriers our entrepreneurs will break. In so doing, we will create a society that has opportunity, wealth and wellbeing in its DNA for generations to come.