A new YouGov poll commissioned by Google has shown that most young people don’t see the benefits in starting and owning their own business.
Only 32% of teenagers in this age range think they would personally benefit from starting their own company, while 53% said they were afraid to take risks when it came to making money.
Meanwhile, the government’s latest budget has put a focus on small businesses and the next generation, putting emphasis on home-grown entrepreneurs.
Peter Gibbons, Director of Small Business, Bennett Verby believes that for this strategy to succeed, we need more young people to want to start their own businesses. And they will only do that if they think the benefits outweigh the risks.
“From the unique kind of job-satisfaction that comes from running your own company, to the freedom of being the boss, starting your own business can be so rewarding. But if most young people can’t see why, we need to improve the way we communicate the benefits.
“It needs more attention in schools. Maybe we need to take some of the focus off exams and start asking pupils to come-up with creative solutions to real-life problems. School is a place where children can be exposed to subjects and interests they want to pursue in later life – what about entrepreneurialism?”
But young people need to also be told the risks. Communicating the benefits doesn’t mean sugar-coating the risks. That wouldn’t be fair to the young people we’re relying on to pull-up our economy.
Peter added: “The risks need to be talked about up-front, so that young people understand them. So that the things that could go wrong don’t seem so alien and scary. So that not trying doesn’t seem more appealing than giving it a go.
“Again, this comes down to the way entrepreneurship is talked about in schools.
“If we’re relying on more young people to want to start a business, then they’re relying on us to prepare them for that.”
Peter Gibbons specialises in accounting for small businesses, working with them to develop growth plans and secure funding.