Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	GR/R22278/01
Title:	Optimising the Survival Probabilities of Start-Up Companies
Principal Investigator:	Thomas, Professor L
Other Investigators:	Archibald, Professor T
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department:	Southampton Management School
Organisation:	University of Southampton
Scheme:	Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts:	15 October 2001	Ends:	14 October 2003	Value (£):	81,038
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Mathematical Aspects of OR
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	Financial Services Information Technologies No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Start-up firms are considered a vital ingredient to a successful economy, but many firms fail in their start-up phase. This project aims to develop and analyse a series of mathematical models that specifically address the operational issues facing start-up firms in the manufacturing sector. In existing models of mature companies, the objective is to minimize the cost or maximize the profit to the firm. This objective may be appropriate for well- established firms with sufficient assets to allow long-term financial goals, but it is less appropriate for start-up firms whose main objective is survival, due to the limited capital available to them. The analysis will compare optimal strategies for well-established and start-up firms to see whether start-up firms should be more cautious in their outlook or should be willing to take more risks than well-established firms.The models developed can then be used to investigate the way the limited capital available to the firm should be used so as to maximize the chance of long-term survival of the firm. The demands on capital include inventory and equipment purchase, staff recruitment and training, advertising, and fixed operating costs. The project will investigate how the optimal allocation of capital to the competing demands changes as the capital available to the firm increases. This will provide insight into the successful development of start-up firms and give some indication of which type of government support is most useful.
Key Findings
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Project URL:
Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.soton.ac.uk