Member Article

New research reveals link between unhappiness and entrepreneurship

New research carried out by business data provider Company Check has found that unhappy people are more likely to set up new businesses in the UK than their happier counterparts.

The correlation between unhappiness and entrepreneurship was revealed when Company Check cross-checked UK’s firms’ financial data against the happiness ratings from Rightmove’s recent ‘Happy at Home’ report: the unhappiest areas of the country had recorded the highest instances of new business incorporation in 2014.

According to Rightmove’s study of 25,000 people, Barking and Dagenham is the least happy place in the UK and it saw 21,400 new companies incorporated last year, the second highest of all the 130 towns and cities surveyed.

Eight of the top-10 places for new business figures were in the bottom half for happiness, including Liverpool and Glasgow. Bristol was the only place out of the happiest 50 to also make it into the top-10 for number of new businesses.

Harrogate was named the UK’s happiest location by Rightmove, however it was one of 29 of the top 50 places for happiness to rank in the bottom half for entrepreneurship, falling at number 76.

Alastair Campbell, founder of Company Check, said: “Entrepreneurship is an essential part of the UK’s economy, with well over 5 million new businesses filing accounts with Companies House in 2014 alone.

“The correlation between happiness and entrepreneurship highlighted in this research cannot explain cause and effect, but I wouldn’t be surprised if entrepreneurship was, at least in part, a result of dissatisfaction.

“The data suggests that the less happy someone is, the more likely they are to set up their own business. I started my first company because I didn’t agree with how other people ran their businesses and wanted to do it my way. As business people, we shouldn’t be afraid to say that we’re unhappy with how things are and aim to improve them.”

The report from Company Check ranks UK locations in terms of business metrics, such as average wages and business dissolutions, alongside the happiness ratings from Rightmove’s research. A full breakdown of rankings for each of the metrics can be found at hub.companycheck.co.uk/happiness-in-business/.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lauren Wilson .