A potential Brexit from the EU and recent uncertainties in the Asian stock market unleashing fears of a new global recession are not worrying the UK’s new generation of entrepreneurs, with almost 80 per cent of those interviewed for a new report feel optimistic about the future of small businesses in the UK over the next five years.
The report on the new breed of UK entrepreneurs also revealed that 37 per cent of UK entrepreneurs have turned their hobbies and passion projects into successful businesses.
The analysis also discovered that almost 90 per cent of entrepreneurs think Britain is a good place to start a business and feel confident about the future.
A strong and growing interest in launching small enterprises has spread across the nation’s biggest cities with Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London and Manchester identified as the fastest growing UK’s entrepreneurial hotbeds.
Providing evidence that digital technologies are fuelling the UK’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and helping people turn their interests into a viable career path, the study highlights that more than 37 per cent of respondents have started their enterprise as a passion project, which they managed to transform into a successful business and a full-time job.
And once entrepreneurs savour some sort of success with their start-up, the study finds that almost 45 per cent of them put revenues back into their business to support growth plans.
The survey also showed a 50/50 split between entrepreneurs setting up online-only and online and offline hybrid. Moreover, the study highlights that this new breed of entrepreneurs is boosting UK’s manufacturing, as 85 per cent of them sell UK made products on their e-commerce sites.
Dion McKenzie, Country Manager at Weebly UK, who commissioned the report, said: “This study is clearly showing how the UK entrepreneurs are fully taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the digital economy to build their businesses. Now there is a record 5.2 million** small businesses in the UK, making a massive contribution to the country’s economic output, and intuitive and user-friendly technologies will only further boost the growth of the UK entrepreneurial community, paving the way for a new UK economy. Our sophisticated technology platform is empowering millions of wannabe entrepreneurs to unlock their potential in the most seamless and accessible way.”