Member Article

State of the economy preventing Brits from starting their own businesses

New research has revealed that the UK’s precarious financial situation is preventing Brits from starting their own businesses.

The study, released for Small Business Advice Week, has revealed that over two-thirds (68%) wouldn’t want to start their own business in today’s economic climate.

In addition, a fifth of Britons (20%) have said that they wouldn’t start a business because they lack the finances required, while 94% believe that they don’t have the necessary support they need to start a business.

The research, conducted by Key Person of Influence, comes despite reports that the economy is finally beginning to recover following a crippling recession.

Darshana Ubl, CEO of Key Person of Influence and Female Ambassador of Small Business Advice Week, said: “In the UK we have about 3.6 million sole proprietors. If we could get only 50% of these to get enough attraction and business that they could hire 1 more person, we could create more than 1.8 million more jobs in the next year.”

The Office for National Statistics recently reported that the GDP of the UK grew by 0.8% in the second quarter of 2014, while the British Chamber of Commerce is forecasting a growth in the economy of 2.8% in 2015.

Despite this, the average Brit is seemingly yet to feel the positive effects of the upturn in the economy.

The study found that only 12% actually believe the news that Britain’s financial state is improving and only 8% have noticed more opportunities in the market today than in the last 3-6 months.

Darshana went on to explain: “Although evidence shows that that economy is improving, the research we have conducted shows that effects of this are still not being felt by majority of Brits.

“Despite the latest GDP figures suggesting things are slowing beginning to get better there is still a long way to go to get to the pre-recession sentiment.

“A lot of small businesses are still facing challenges like raising finance and investing in technology and this is putting people off starting up their own enterprises. There’s obviously a lot we can do to help new and established businesses with the challenges they are facing and we aim to do just that during Small Business Advice Week.

“For instance, if UK small business owners focus on creating IP, developing routes to market including exports and building a reputable brand around themselves and their businesses, growth will continue.

Small Business Advice Week runs from the 1st-7th of September and aims to offer assistance to the nearly 5 million small and medium enterprises (SMEs) which provide jobs for over fourteen million people in the UK.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Independent Media News .