Fear is halting Britain’s self-employment hopes, our Business Dreamers survey reveals all

Does age and location deter Brits from starting a business?

The British Business Dreamers survey found age and location to be two of the many factors that can determine attitudes towards kick starting your own company.

The survey revealed that Brits living in the North East were twice as likely to worry about business funding than someone living in East Anglia.*

Start Up Loans for Women - over half have dreamt about owning a business

Are women braver than men when it comes to making the jump into self-employment?

Our British Business Dreamers survey looked at a number of areas within the UK demographic, including gender, to learn more about the nation's attitudes toward business start ups.

Over half of our female respondents revealed that they have dreamt about starting a business.

Interestingly, women (8%) reported to be less driven by the financial aspect of starting their own business than men (17%).

Neomi Bennett is just one of the many women out there who have made their dream a reality with the help of a Start Up Loan. Her Neo-Slip business manufactures and sells anti embolism stocking aids. 

Read more about her inspiring story.

Three quarters of British parents would like to start a new business

For many parents, the cost of childcare and the pressures of balancing a career with family life have made becoming self-employment an attractive prospect.

In fact, our findings show that three quarters of British parents wish to start up their own business with increased flexibility topping the list of triggers for doing so.

Gail Brown, a mother who founded her own gluten and wheat-free food company, is just one of the many parents to have benefitted from a Start Up Loan.

Our survey also found that number of children you have could vary your attitude towards going self-employed.

For instance, potential earnings attracted parents with one child, whereas working for yourself was featured highly on the list of priorities for parents with four kids.

For some businessmen and women, children have actually been the main inspiration to start a company.

That was the case with David O'Neal whose innovative children's salon and barbers ShortCuts took off with the help of a Start Up Loan.

So, why start your own business? The perks of being your own boss

We've looked at a few examples of people who have already made the leap, as well as funding initiatives like the government-backed Start Up Loans scheme. But what are the main reasons for wanting to start a business in the first place?

As you would expect, flexibility topped the list of the 10 most popular reasons for becoming self-employed.

Over a quarter of respondents to our survey said they felt owning their own business would free up more of their time. Added flexibility isn't the only perk. Self-achievement and a reduced daily commute also ranked highly.

In numerical order, here are the ten most popular triggers for starting your own business:

1. Flexibility
2. Being your own boss
3. Potential earnings
4. A feeling of self-achievement
5. Wanting to pursue a hobby as a business
6. A reduced commute to work
7. Solving a problem
8. Having something to pass down
9. Self development
10. Having an alternative approach to what is out there already

From creative arts to food, the top 15 sectors for start up businesses

Half of the battle of going self-employed can be choosing a profitable business sector. Here are the 15 most popular business sectors, according to our survey:

1. Creative, arts and entertainment
2. Food
3. Retail and related services
4. IT, software and telecoms
5. Leisure and travel
6. Financial services
7. Accommodation services
8. Education
9. Tech
10. Miscellaneous
11. Manufacturing
12. Automotive
13. Housekeeping services
14. Information and communication
15. Building services

And finally, what is Start Up Salary Success?

Working out how to start a company is one thing, knowing how much money is yours to take home is another.

At Start Up Loans, we offer mentoring and support to people from all backgrounds, including financial advice with business salaries and profit margins.

Choosing a business salary can be tricky. There are a number of questions that you need to ask yourself before choosing a figure. How much can you really live on? Do you have any outstanding personal debts or overheads?

Have you worked out the figure you'd be happy with taking home in your first year of trading? You might be interested to hear that three quarters of Brits regard £25,000 to be a successful business salary in year one.

Britain's average salary is estimated at £26,012, meaning a large number of those looking to start a business would potentially take a pay cut.

But that hasn't stopped some of our most successful beneficiaries making the jump. For most, the increased flexibility, self-achievement and potential income have warranted the risk. To read about our many success stories, visit our success stories page.

You can download the full British Business Dreamers survey dataset here (.xlsx, 225.92KB).

If you're just getting started on making your business dream a reality, why not check out our guide to preparing a business plan as a starting point?

*Survey based on 2,000 UK adults, aged 18 and over, of whom 500 were Scottish residents. Research conducted by One Poll between February 3rd and 8th 2016.