Is SMARTA a smarter way to start a business?

Posted by Darika on February 1, 2009 · View Comments 

Have Theo and Deborah backed a winner?

Have Theo and Deborah backed a winner?

Last week saw the launch of Smarta, a new advice and social networking destination for budding entrepreneurs. But is it a smarter way to do business than existing sites like Business Link and LinkedIn?

Well it’s certainly prettier than Business Link and there’s some great resource on there, as well there should with Bebo founder Michael Birch, Dragons Theo Paphitis and Deborah Meaden, plus Yo! Sushi founder Simon Woodroffe backing the venture.

Its success remains to be seen in the community it can build. I worry LinkedIn is too ahead of the game now. Smarta only has a handful of faceless profiles slowly being added to the site. Will we spend time getting our profiles and network to the same level as where we’ve invested elsewhere?

On the technology front, while Smarta is in Beta, I still think LinkedIn is also ahead. Even at a basic level LinkedIn can invite people to my network via Outlook and manage contacts with a superb plug-in. Smarta makes you faff about with exporting csv files. LinkedIn’s open API also means the wider community can add features & functionality I may find useful - Huddle workspaces currently has my interest.

A final thought is that Smarta’s very focus on start-ups may prove a weakness. On LinkedIn I can network with people at different stages of business. With Smarta catering towards new businesses there’s potential for this to turn into a community solely of entrepreneurs and wannabes all talking about the great things they’re gonna do if they can get the money.

Sorry to sound cynical but if there’s anything watching Dragon’s Den  teaches is that there’s an awful lot of people starting businesses who will never have a clue, no matter how much advice you give them.

On the flip side though, there is already too much cynicism about new business in the UK so I for one will stay part of the community and watch with interest to see how it develops.

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About Darika

  • raxlakhani

    Hi Darika. Great post!

    I’m keen to check out SMARTA but agree with you that LinkedIn is already very much ahead of the game. Having said that, it’s only recently started to make its comeback as I like many people I know had started to neglect the platform in favour of services like Facebook and Twitter.

    However LinkedIn has started behaving a bit more like a *social* network by adding profile pics, groups, applications and by opening up its API to enable mashups and integration with third party applications like Digsby.

    Services like these are fairly Darwinian in their nature – as the more you put in the more you get out. Only power users end up with a seat at the top table. By power user – that’s not necessarily volume of contacts, but about how you integrate a service into your business routine.

    There is a real opportunity for entrepreneurs and startups to punch above their weight using these networks. The advanced features allow you to gain wide visibility and to extend your recruitment and marketing capabilities.

    However, as with everything in business it all boils down to the human interactions which sit behind your communications. This doesn’t have to be in *real space* and can flourish in a purely virtual space. With this in mind, any business network needs to be *social* in it’s ideology. Something which LinkedIn has learnt.

  • raxlakhani

    Hi Darika. Great post!

    I’m keen to check out SMARTA but agree with you that LinkedIn is already very much ahead of the game. Having said that, it’s only recently started to make its comeback as I like many people I know had started to neglect the platform in favour of services like Facebook and Twitter.

    However LinkedIn has started behaving a bit more like a *social* network by adding profile pics, groups, applications and by opening up its API to enable mashups and integration with third party applications like Digsby.

    Services like these are fairly Darwinian in their nature – as the more you put in the more you get out. Only power users end up with a seat at the top table. By power user – that’s not necessarily volume of contacts, but about how you integrate a service into your business routine.

    There is a real opportunity for entrepreneurs and startups to punch above their weight using these networks. The advanced features allow you to gain wide visibility and to extend your recruitment and marketing capabilities.

    However, as with everything in business it all boils down to the human interactions which sit behind your communications. This doesn’t have to be in *real space* and can flourish in a purely virtual space. With this in mind, any business network needs to be *social* in it’s ideology. Something which LinkedIn has learnt.

  • Anonymous

    Hi Rax
    Thanks for taking the time to add your thoughts to this. (It also drew my attention to the fact I’d missed a section making my summary sound quite b*tchy. I’ve had a chance to update now.)

    Seems like we’re all pretty entrenched with LinkedIn at the moment. But I look forward to connecting with you via Smarta.

  • http://www.grapevine-consulting.com darika

    Hi Rax
    Thanks for taking the time to add your thoughts to this. (It also drew my attention to the fact I’d missed a section making my summary sound quite b*tchy. I’ve had a chance to update now.)

    Seems like we’re all pretty entrenched with LinkedIn at the moment. But I look forward to connecting with you via Smarta.

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