Inspired by television programmes such as Dragons‘ Den, Risking It All and The Apprentice, the UK is on the verge of an entrepreneurial boom, according to research by YouGov.
The survey of 2,000 people claims that one in three British adults (34%) is interested in running their own business, with one in eight actively planning to start up within the next three years.
If the figures mentioned actually went on to run their own ventures, the UK would see an extra 3m businesses by 2009 without taking into account people who are self-employed.
But of those who expressed an interest in running their own company, 63% admitted it was unlikely they would do anything about it in the next three years, with financial risk (36%), paucity of funds (36%), lack of knowledge (26%) and worry over a loss of security (23%) seen as the main deterrents.
Young people aged between 18 and 29 are the most keen with over half (52%) those questioned wanting to start their own business, the research suggested, but are also most likely to be held back by a lack of funds, with 56% seeing this as a barrier and 51% citing the financial risk.
“In recent years, technology has removed many of the barriers for getting a business off the ground,” said Simon Arbuthnot, general manager of Extrasys, which commissioned the research.
“However, it‘s clear that more must be done to tackle some of the other perceived barriers, such as providing better access to capital and improved education on the help and support available,” he added. “What‘s particularly concerning is that we have a generation of young, aspiring entrepreneurs who currently feel unable to pursue their ambitions.”
This group is also likely to have been inspired by the recent wave of entrepreneurial television programmes, with 30% admitting Dragons‘ Den influenced their attitude and 24% pointing to The Apprentice. This compares with overall figures of 16% and 12% respectively.
“Television is often blamed for all kinds of society‘s ills, so it‘s good to see that some shows are increasing people‘s desires to positively contribute to the country‘s economic wellbeing,” added Arbuthnot.
