Member Article

Firstborn more likely to start a business

People starting their own business are more likely to have been born the first child in a family and have at least one sibling, according to research by Alliance & Leicester (A&L).

The A&L survey of more than 800 small business owners revealed that entrepreneurs’ childhood experiences can play an important part in the skills they develop.

The research found 60% of business owners are the eldest child in their family (which may have given them the confidence needed to strike out on their own), while 85% have had the chance to develop leadership skills because they grew up with younger brothers or sisters.

According to National Federation of Enterprise Agencies (NFEA) chief executive George Derbyshire, it is not possible to generalise on the skills entrepreneurs might have learnt during their childhood.

“The majority of people could use their skills to build a business,” he said. “I am very wary of generalising about the skills people have learnt based on their positions in families. For example, I can well imagine that many younger children acquire the skills of sticking up for themselves in the rough and tumble of family life - a very useful business skill.

“However, I am quite confident that the overwhelming majority of people have it within themselves to run a successful business. If they can put themselves in their customers’ shoes, have the patience to do a bit of forward planning and are prepared to work hard and invest in building their own skills, they are well placed both to survive and thrive in business.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .