Entrepreneurship has long been recognised as a vital driver of economic growth, innovation, and job creation. Yet, one of the challenges in building an entrepreneurial nation is ensuring that entrepreneurs are not just inspired, but also supported with structured learning pathways that help them to grow sustainable ventures. This is where the UK’s National Occupational Standards (NOS) for enterprise provide a valuable foundation.
Although originally developed nearly a decade ago, these NOS documents remain highly relevant today. They set out the core skills and behaviours entrepreneurs need – from scanning the business environment for opportunities, to engaging customers, managing ventures, and sustaining networks.
By mapping these NOS to the three proposed entrepreneurial apprenticeships – Level 4 (Starting a Business), Level 6 (Growing a Business), and Level 7 (Scaling a Business) – we can translate a set of legacy standards into a modern, practical framework for entrepreneurial development. This approach ensures that apprenticeship pathways are not only aligned with employer and learner needs, but also embedded in a recognised skills infrastructure that government and industry can support.
In this blog, I’ll show how each NOS element fits naturally into the journey of an entrepreneur, and how this mapping creates a clear, progressive route from startup through to scaleup success.
Here’s a draft mapping of the NOS titles to the stages of entrepreneurial apprenticeship:
Level 3 – Starting a Business (Foundation / early-stage venture skills)
Focus: discovery, opportunity recognition, validation, and establishing a viable startup.
Scan the business environment for enterprise opportunities (CFAENTI&TA1)
Make sense of enterprise opportunities and their compatibility with organisational priorities (CFAENTI&TA2)
Identify stakeholders for an enterprise venture and evaluate their needs (CFAENTI&TA4)
Develop a vision and goals for an enterprise venture (CFAENTI&TA5)
Identify customers and how to engage them in an enterprise venture (CFAENTP&DB2)
Level 5 – Growing a Business (Building operations, managing growth, developing resilience)
Focus: customer traction, managing operations, proving business models, and developing organisational capacity.
Manage an enterprise venture (CFAENTP&DB4)
Plan to deal with uncertainties, ambiguities and contingencies relating to an enterprise venture (CFAENTP&DB1)
Review and sustain networks to support an enterprise venture (CFAENTP&DB5)
Demonstrate the difference created by an enterprise venture (CFAENTM&RC2)
Level 6 – Scaling a Business (Strategic leadership, productivity, and impact)
Focus: innovation, impact measurement, leadership, and preparing for independence or exit.
Monitor and evaluate the difference created by an enterprise venture (CFAENTM&RC3)
Demonstrate the difference created by an enterprise venture (CFAENTM&RC2)(relevant here too at a deeper, strategic level)
Plan to deal with uncertainties, ambiguities and contingencies(applies at scaling stage in terms of strategic risk and resilience)
The UK economy thrives on entrepreneurship. Small businesses account for 99.9% of all enterprises and employ 16.7 million people, or 61% of private sector jobs (FSB, 2024). Yet the challenge is clear: while the UK is excellent at creating startups, too many fail too soon, and too few scale into productive, sustainable firms.
In 2023 alone, 841,000 new businesses were registered. But the reality is stark—20% fail within the first year, and 60% within three years (ONS, 2023). This churn represents a huge loss of potential jobs, innovation, and tax revenue.
A Coaching-Based Apprenticeship for Entrepreneurs could change this picture—transforming startups into scaleups, widening access to entrepreneurship, and delivering measurable returns for the UK economy.
The Case for Action
1. From Startups to Scaleups – Closing the Growth Gap
Research consistently shows that it is scaleups, not startups, that drive growth. Just 6% of firms that scale rapidly create over half of new jobs (ScaleUp Institute, 2023).
The UK’s productivity gap with G7 peers—around 16% lower (OECD, 2024)—is partly due to a “long tail” of low-productivity SMEs that never professionalise. By embedding structured coaching, mentoring, and skills development into the apprenticeship system, entrepreneurs can be supported not only to start but to grow and scale sustainably.
This approach directly addresses wasted effort, increases survival rates, and generates long-term tax revenues.
2. Widening Access – Entrepreneurship as a Driver of Social Mobility
Entrepreneurship is not just about economics—it’s about inclusion.
1 in 4 students is already running or planning to run a business during university (Santander Universities, 2023).
Yet only 5% of equity investment goes to all-female founding teams.
Black entrepreneurs face over 60% lower median turnover than White counterparts (British Business Bank, 2022).
For many groups—young people, carers, older workers, those excluded from traditional employment—entrepreneurship is a vital pathway to independence.
A coaching-based apprenticeship would level the playing field, offering funded access to mentoring, peer networks, and structured learning. It ensures that opportunity is not limited by background, geography, or personal circumstance.
3. Building Future Skills – Productivity and Innovation
Apprenticeships traditionally focus on technical or trade skills. But the modern economy demands more:
Strategic thinking
Resilience
Digital literacy
Innovation management
Poor management and leadership remain major contributors to the UK’s productivity lag (OECD). By formalising entrepreneurial development as a national standard, the government ensures founders are building not just businesses, but productive firms that innovate and compete globally.
The Economic Impact – A High-Return Investment
A recent economic impact assessment of the Apprenticeship for Entrepreneurs programme shows the scale of what’s possible.
3-Year Pilot Projection (1,000 apprentices recruited annually):
8,100 – 9,180 net new jobs created
£505m – £572m in annual Gross Value Added (GVA) by Year 5
ROI of £8.43 – £11.93 for every £1 of public investment
Wider Systemic Benefits:
Regional growth: Each cohort could inject hundreds of millions in GVA into regions outside London.
Innovation diffusion: Firms supported through coaching are more likely to adopt and spread new technologies.
Investor confidence: A pipeline of trained, mentored entrepreneurs de-risks early-stage investment.
Reduced economic drag: Higher survival rates mean less wasted capital, debt, and unemployment.
This is not a marginal policy—it is a game-changing intervention.
Why Government Support is Essential
Without government backing, the Apprenticeship for Entrepreneurs risks being an underutilised idea. With support, it can:
Maximise levy utilisation: Billions in unspent apprenticeship levy funds currently flow back to the Treasury unused.
Support levelling up: Creating viable businesses in every region, not just London.
Reduce welfare dependency: Making self-employment a supported, credible career path.
Boost competitiveness: Ensuring UK startups survive, scale, and thrive globally.
A Call to Action
The case is clear: this programme is more than an education policy—it is an economic growth strategy, a social mobility enabler, and a productivity booster.
For a relatively small investment, the UK government can unlock: ✔️ More jobs ✔️ Higher productivity ✔️ Stronger regions ✔️ Greater inclusion
It’s time to make entrepreneurship a recognised, funded career pathway. A Coaching-Based Apprenticeship for Entrepreneurs is the way to do it.
Why startups should focus on meaning, not just minimalism
In today’s startup world, speed to market is everything. Entrepreneurs are taught to ship fast, break things, test quickly, and get feedback. Enter the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)—a core concept from lean startup methodology that encourages launching the simplest version of a product to validate assumptions.
The MVP is practical. It’s efficient. But here’s the problem:
🚨 Too many MVPs forget about value.
They prove an idea can technically work, but say little about whether it actually matters to the user.
That’s why I believe it’s time for a shift in thinking—from MVP to MVD: the Minimum Valuable Difference.
What is the MVD?
The Minimum Valuable Difference is the smallest possible change, feature, or action you can introduce that delivers real, meaningful value to your target customer.
It answers questions like:
What pain am I truly relieving?
What task am I genuinely simplifying?
What desire am I directly fulfilling?
It’s not about what’s viable for you—it’s about what’s valuable to them.
MVP vs. MVD: What’s the Difference?
MVP
MVD
Tests feasibility
Creates meaningful impact
Focuses on minimum product
Focuses on minimum transformation
Often prioritises speed
Prioritises significance
Asks “Can we build this?”
Asks “Should we build this?”
Measures engagement
Measures improvement or outcomes
Why MVD Matters More Than Ever
In a saturated digital world, users are overwhelmed by options. The market is flooded with viable products—but few of them make a real difference.
🧠 A basic to-do list app? Been there. 🧠 Another newsletter tool? Yawn. 🧠 A photo filter that changes eye colour? Cool… for 5 seconds.
What people remember—and keep using—are the tools and services that improve their lives in noticeable ways.
Real-World Examples of MVD Thinking
1. Calendly
Their MVD? Eliminating the pain of back-and-forth emails for scheduling. That single, clear difference made users immediately say, “This is better.”
2. Slack
Slack didn’t launch with a full suite of integrations and channels. Its initial MVD was centralised team messaging that actually reduced internal email. That alone got teams hooked.
3. Duolingo
Rather than launch with hundreds of languages, Duolingo focused on one: Spanish. Its MVD was making language learning fun, gamified, and mobile-friendly—solving a problem that textbook apps didn’t.
How to Build with MVD in Mind
Find the Critical Friction Point What’s the single most frustrating or inefficient part of your user’s day? Start there.
Go Deep, Not Wide Don’t try to solve every problem. Focus on one, and do it better than anyone else.
Prototype for Value, Not Just Function Ask: “Does this improve someone’s situation in a tangible way?” If not, keep refining.
Measure Real Outcomes Instead of tracking clicks or installs, look at retention, referrals, or behaviour change.
What the Research Says
Academic literature is increasingly supporting a value-first mindset in entrepreneurial design.
And in the world of effectual entrepreneurship, co-creating value with early users—not just validating an MVP—is seen as the more sustainable approach.
Final Thoughts: What Are You Really Offering?
It’s easy to launch something. It’s harder to launch something that matters.
So the next time you’re planning a product, prototype, or pitch—ask yourself:
Will this make someone’s life measurably better?
If it disappeared tomorrow, would anyone miss it?
Am I building for validation, or for value?
Because in the end, traction doesn’t come from being viable— It comes from being valuable.
Case Study: Calendly – From Simple Scheduling to a Minimum Valuable Difference
Overview: A Tool to End Email Ping-Pong
Calendly, founded by Tope Awotona in 2013, didn’t enter the world with an elaborate suite of scheduling features. Its early product was stripped down—yet laser-focused. What it did do, it did exceptionally well: eliminated the back-and-forth of scheduling meetings.
Rather than testing if users would click a scheduling link (MVP logic), Calendly focused on delivering an immediate, meaningful outcome—saving users time and frustration. This wasn’t just a minimal product—it was a minimum valuable difference.
The Problem
Scheduling meetings is a universal pain point. Most professionals were stuck in endless email threads:
“Are you free Tuesday at 3pm?”
“No, how about Wednesday?”
“That doesn’t work for me, maybe next week?”
This inefficient dance cost time and often resulted in dropped opportunities. Tools like Outlook and Google Calendar helped manage time, but not coordinate it between people.
The Insight
Tope Awotona’s insight wasn’t technical—it was human. He asked:
“What’s the smallest thing I could build that would truly remove this pain?”
The answer? A link that lets others pick from your available time slots.
Not a calendar app. Not a meeting manager. Not an all-in-one productivity suite.
Just a solution to the one thing that hurts the most: scheduling friction.
Execution as MVD: The First Version of Calendly
Calendly’s early product had:
Integration with your existing calendar (Google, Outlook)
A link with your available times
Automatic timezone detection
Confirmation emails
That’s it.
But these features, though minimal, delivered maximum difference. Users who tried it once saw the value immediately: no more email ping-pong. It felt like magic.
Customer Response and Growth
Calendly didn’t need fancy marketing. The product spread virally:
Sales teams shared it with clients
Recruiters shared it with candidates
Coaches and consultants added it to their email signature
“The true power of Calendly was in its shareability—it solved a problem so simply that people naturally wanted to pass it along.” — TechCrunch, 2021
Key Metrics That Reflect MVD Success
Over 20 million users by 2022
Used by 90% of Fortune 500 companies
$3 billion+ valuation (without raising early VC money)
More telling than the numbers, however, was the retention. Users didn’t just try Calendly—they stuck with it. Why? Because it had created a daily improvement in their lives.
Lessons for Entrepreneurs
Focus on the Problem, Not the Product Calendly didn’t ask: “How do we build a scheduling app?” It asked: “How do we eliminate scheduling pain?”
Make a Small But Clear Difference Instead of bloated features, aim for impact. What’s the one thing your user will thank you for?
Deliver Emotional Relief The best products don’t just save time—they remove frustration. Calendly’s early adopters felt the difference immediately.
Why lean isn’t enough—and how value creation builds businesses that last
In today’s startup culture, the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) has become something of a holy grail. Popularized by Eric Ries in The Lean Startup, the MVP is described as the simplest version of a product that can be released to test hypotheses and gain customer feedback. It’s fast, frugal, and focused.
And yet, as someone who has worked with hundreds of startups and advised entrepreneurship programmes across sectors, I’m starting to ask: Have we gone too far with the MVP mindset?
Too many founders are stuck shipping half-baked products, mistaking viability for value. They aim to “fail fast”—but often end up failing shallow.
It’s time to move beyond MVP hype and refocus on something more enduring: creating real value.
The MVP Trap: Fast But Fragile
Don’t get me wrong—lean thinking has its place. It prevents founders from building in a vacuum and encourages rapid iteration. But over time, the MVP approach has been reduced to “launch anything quick and dirty” without a deeper reflection on long-term customer value.
As academic research begins to show, this oversimplification has real consequences.
“Lean startup methods can result in premature scaling if the learning process focuses on superficial feedback rather than deep value creation.” – Blank & Dorf (2012),The Startup Owner’s Manual
In other words, just because something is “viable” doesn’t mean it’s meaningful. Without understanding the core value you’re delivering—and to whom—there’s a risk of building a product that works but doesn’t matter.
Value Creation: The Real Driver of Lasting Businesses
In contrast, value-driven startups focus on solving real problems for real people in ways that are desirable, feasible, and sustainable. This isn’t just about functionality—it’s about impact.
As strategy scholar Michael Porter argues:
“Competitive advantage is created and sustained when firms deliver greater value to customers or create comparable value at lower cost.” – Porter (1985),Competitive Advantage
Value creation means understanding:
What your customer truly cares about
How your solution improves their life
Why your offer is better than alternatives
This leads to stickier products, stronger word-of-mouth, and deeper emotional engagement—all of which support long-term growth.
Examples of Value-Driven Startups That Went Beyond MVP
1. Canva
In my recent blog on Canva’s early days, we saw how co-founder Melanie Perkins identified a deep pain point: the complexity of design software for non-designers. Rather than simply launch a basic design tool, Canva focused on ease, speed, and beauty from day one. They delivered value—not just a viable product.
2. Notion
Notion didn’t release its first product until years after development. Why? Because it wasn’t just about launching an MVP—it was about creating a tool that people loved using every day. Their focus on elegance, simplicity, and modularity led to high retention and viral growth.
3. Duolingo
Instead of launching a barebones app to test assumptions, Duolingo obsessed over learning outcomes. They made language learning fun, gamified, and research-backed—leading to real user value and a product that has scaled globally with strong loyalty.
Academic Perspectives on Value-First Innovation
Value creation is increasingly seen as the central pillar of innovation in entrepreneurship literature. Sarasvathy’s concept of effectuation—a theory on how expert entrepreneurs operate—places strong emphasis on leveraging existing means to co-create value with stakeholders, rather than just validating hypotheses.
“Entrepreneurs start with who they are, what they know, and whom they know… and interact with others to co-create opportunities.” – Sarasvathy (2001),Effectual Reasoning in Entrepreneurial Decision Making
Likewise, Osterwalder’s Value Proposition Canvas has emerged as a tool that shifts attention from the MVP to customer gains and pains, helping entrepreneurs design products that are deeply aligned with user needs.
From MVP to MVD: The Minimum Valuable Difference
What if, instead of focusing on the Minimum Viable Product, we focused on the Minimum Valuable Difference?
What is the smallest thing you can offer that makes a real difference in someone’s life or work? That’s where true traction starts.
Value-driven startups don’t just ask, Can we build this? They ask: Should we build this? And will it truly help someone?
Final Thoughts: Redefining Startup Success
MVPs can get you started—but only value creation keeps you going.
In a world where users are drowning in “viable” but soulless products, it’s the businesses that focus on deep, relevant, and transformational value that will stand the test of time.
If you’re a founder, ask yourself:
What is the real outcome I’m enabling for my customer?
Am I focused on features, or on transformation?
Would anyone care if my product disappeared tomorrow?
Only when the answer is “yes”—because of the value you create—should you launch.
Want to build a value-driven business from day one? Join our upcoming session on “From Ideas to Impact” at Albion Business School, where we’ll explore the tools and mindsets to make your startup matter.
