When the Government trumpets its latest initiative to boost small business, it normally elicits a cynical, slow handclap rather than an enthusiastic round of applause from me. I always wonder if and how they’re going to put their money where their mouth is – and how will the powers that be help these small businesses a) find the support to get off the ground, and b) secure funding to bolster their subsequent growth. It’s a stark fact of entrepreneurial life that four out of five start-ups fail.

However, I’m starting to think that entrepreneur-backed Startup Britain – which on the surface looked to big on rhetoric but low on funds ­– is offering more inspiration and support than I initially believed.

While it’s not offering handouts to get up and running, in my view, an initiative that kick-starts an entrepreneurial, get-up-and-go culture and attitude in this country has to be a good thing.

The fact the Government is asking small businesses to respond to its call for an ‘enterprise-led’ recovery – and higher education institutions have been asked to create new ‘enterprise societies’– makes me feel that it could be a noble cause. And it’s one to which I am personally responding.

You see, not all start-ups have to be profit making: I think Startup Britain can prompt a while raft of not-for-profit ideas and social enterprise initiatives that can help harness the entrepreneurial spirit that the Government is attempting to inspire, and help build some pride and some direction in the communities in which we live and work.

I’ll be announcing my new initiative in the next few weeks – and you can email me on jon.treanor@conduitpartners.co.uk if you’d like to know more.

For now, let’s just say that I’ll be helping to put the social enterprise into the enterprise-led recovery.