Banks are Missing A Startup Opportunity

Yesterday, I tackled a lot of the admin fundamentals of getting my business off the ground – things like VAT registration etc. One of said tasks was to find a bank that would be a nice match for my needs as a new business owner. I took my query to Twitter and perhaps a little optimistically expected one of the banks to respond. In fact, knowing social media and how financial service organisations are really struggling to get to grips with it, it was highly optimistic!

A chance to be front of mind

I didn’t get any tweets back from a bank, and while that is perhaps not surprising, it did get me thinking that there is a huge opportunity for a bank to be the first port of call for all startup owners. We make up a huge market and one that is only likely to grow as people look to create their own opportunities instead of relying on an unsteady jobs landscape. If one of the banks was to grasp this and start giving some real attention to communicating with the new entrepreneurs out there they would go a long way to ensuring that when the time comes, they are the first name that comes to mind. Of course, the banks tend to go for big numbers and initially, startups may not put the funds their way that get the bankers drooling, but if they looked down the line, they would start to see opportunity that surpassed the short term while at the same time backing the endeavours of the new wave of business people.

For what it’s worth, I ended up going for Barclays as their startup account offered a two year fee-free option.

How have your found your experiences with the banks since starting up?

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