Support for entrepreneurs

How we can help

If you’re an entrepreneur in Scotland, we can offer specialised, one-on-one advice to help you grow and develop.

We can help you understand what support is available and help you access some of the services Scottish Enterprise offer, including:

• Funding and grants
• Export support
• Intellectual assets protection
• Scaling support
• Innovation support

We can also help you understand your market and competitors. Our free international market research service can give you reports on:

• Competitor insights
• Global market intelligence
• Credit rating checks
• Industry trends and forecasts
• Consumer demographics
• Supplier databases

A focus on inclusive growth

We’re committed to supporting inclusive growth in Scotland. This means helping businesses become more diverse, inclusive and purpose driven. We can help you understand how to use your business for good, to make positive impacts on your customers, community, employees, sector and the wider economy.  

Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem

In Scotland there are lots of services, facilities and organisations that can support innovative entrepreneurs. These include our multiple innovation centres catered to different sectors, plus co-working spaces, networking organisations, specialist support providers and more.

Where else you can get support

Business Gateway also offers a range of support for entrepreneurs. Business Gateway is there to support people just starting out, and can offer advice on things like starting a business, creating a business plan and hiring employees, as well as workshops and events.

For social entrepreneurs, organisations such as Firstport and Social Investment Scotland provide tailored advice and support for starting, growing and scaling a social enterprise or socially focused business.