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80% of youngsters are wannabe entrepreneurs

New research shows that almost 80 percent of youngsters aspire to own their own business, and half want to be their own boss.

The 11-18 year old surveyed cited TV shows such as Dragons Den and The Apprentice as their inspiration, as well as the high profiles of entrepreneurs creating successful online businesses. One in five of these young people also wanted to created a business online.

There is also little difference between genders; 75 of girls and 80 percent of boys want to run their own businesses.

Karen Brady, one of the Ambition AXA Awards judges and a champion of young people in business, said: “It’s wonderful to see that at last the number of women being motivated into entering the business world is growing.

Gender should never be an issue when it comes to achieving ambitions and has no place in the modern world. I’ve long been aware that women like me are paving the way for our daughters, so it’s rewarding to see that this is now happening.“

The AXA Awards survey also showed that more can still be done to support entrepreneurship. Of the individuals who were not interested in setting up alone, 17 percent said it was down to a lack of confidence, and 40 percent were worried about the financial implications of setting up alone.

Catherine Marchant, Director of Young Enterprise, said: “It’s heartening to see how many young people dream of becoming an entrepreneur.

“What concerns me among these results is that many say they lack the confidence to follow their dream or fear failure. That is why we put 5,000 volunteers from 3,500 real businesses into classrooms up and down the UK every year to inspire young people and give them the skills and ambition to succeed in business.”

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