Over half of Australian entrepreneurs (53%) take up to a year to overcome fears and doubts before starting their business according to a new independent study by Servcorp, a leading provider of serviced offices around the world.
The study, What’s Holding You Back?, showed that the greatest fear among hopeful entrepreneurs related to concerns about money, fear of leaving a secure job, failure and perceived lack of expertise.
The results of the study fly in the face of the opinions of the business owners questioned, the majority of whom believe that important qualities of success are a willingness to take risks and not being afraid of failure.
“Entrepreneurism runs in our nation’s blood, however it’s natural to wrestle with fear and doubt when making the leap to business ownership. The Servcorp What’s Holding You Back? study showed that once Aussies have a great business idea, they do want to get out there and have a go and we need to support their entrepreneurial spirit,” said Servcorp’s COO, Marcus Moufarrige.
The Hon. Bruce Billson MP, Minister for Small Business said “it is important we all support and encourage our hard working entrepreneurial men and women as their success is all of our success.”
Despite the hesitation, the main motivations for Australians setting up their own business according to the study were the desire for a better work-life balance, belief of greater success, ability to create another income stream and dissatisfaction with corporate culture.