In terms of the most attractive things about running a business, 51 per cent of respondents thought that having more control/setting their own hours would be the best thing. A further 21 per cent thought that better job satisfaction would result, 15 per cent believe they could increase their earnings and 11 per cent like the idea of working from wherever they like.
Adrian Batchelor, Academy Director at St. James’s Place Academy, said: “It’s also great news to see women and men equally enthusiastic about the prospect of running their own businesses – indeed, the entrepreneurial vision seems to be something that unites the sexes rather than dividing them.”
The research further found that younger workers, aged 18 – 35, are more predisposed to the entrepreneurial dream than older people in employment, aged 55+. Londoners are the most entrepreneurially-minded with 81 per cent wanting to run their own business while Scottish are least with 69 per cent. Though, employees working in advertising/marketing are the most entrepreneurially-minded at 89 per cent while those in the public sector are the least with 68 per cent.
85 per cent of higher earners,those on £70k+, want to set up their own business vs 71 per cent of those earning less than £20k.
When it comes to perceptions of what might be the hardest thing about running a business, men and women slightly differed. A significant minority of women at 30 per cent think that managing the finances would be the hardest thing compared to the 38 per cent of men who think attracting customers would be the toughest challenge. Roughly equal numbers of men and women thought that long hours and stress would be the hardest thing to deal with.
