Would you encourage your child to start a business?

According to a survey carried out by PeoplePerHour, only 11% of parents in the UK will keenly encourage their child to start a business.

Although there are many areas where entrepreneurship is favoured, the percentage of parents who will inspire their children to start a business is very low, however only 7% said that they would discourage it.

There are many reasons as to why parents won’t motivate their children to start a business, the three main reasons are; the headaches that come with the lifestyle, the unpredictable cash flow and the lack of a pension once retired. Owning a business comes with a lot of responsibility and stress, as an owner you are the safety net for the company.

Those who responded have acknowledged the qualities that are needed to make a business successful, when asked what is the most important quality to have when owning a business, these responses came in; 32% maintain it is self-belief, 31% think it is money or funding, 19% feel that it is passion, 10% trust it is good connections, and finally only 8% of those who responded believe that education is the most significant factor when it comes to qualities in owning a business.

Xenios Thrasyvoulou, the founder of PeoplePerHour has said that; “Our research has shown that the vast majority of people who have started working for themselves would find it inconceivable to return to the PAYE system, but it’s clear that taking that step is still something that is viewed as engendering risk. Not everyone could happily embrace that risk,’

He continues to say:

“Despite this, our most recent survey has shown that 62% of people believe that there has been a shift in views when it comes to the UK workforce and that the recent peak in entrepreneurship is not just a bubble, but rather here to stay.

He finishes off by saying

“From my work with PeoplePerHour, this is a view that I have to share.”

Here is one self-made young entrepreneur, who had plenty of support from his parents…

Henry Patterson, the schoolboy professional.

By the age of 9, Henry had started his third company, after taking after his father Julian Patterson, Henry began selling manure for £1 per bag! He then went on to sell items that he had purchased from a charity shop on his own eBay store by doing this he managed to make £150 since then Henry has started an online sweet shop named Not Before Tea. Within the first week of the first month of Not Before Tea being live Henry received over 100 orders and reached his £10 profit target goal.

His jar containers are not just about the sweets, Henry decided to add pens to the jars so others could create their own designs. He also decided to include reward stickers inside the jar for parents to give to their children after they brushed their teeth for bed (or for yourself!)

In response to how he thought of the idea for Not Before Tea, Henry said;

“I thought I didn’t want to do just sweets so I came up with the idea of Sherbet and Pip. I really loved English at school and so I thought we should have a story to go along with the shop.

‘I hated cleaning my teeth after I have eaten sweets but love getting stickers at the dentist. That’s how I got the idea.”

For industry types, self-employment is favoured the most. In Liverpool 46% agree, in Manchester 45% and in London 42%. Even though those who have responded are sided towards self-employment, they all strongly believe that business owners and entrepreneurship are an important part to the UK economy. So, maybe it is not so bad encouraging children from a younger age to start or consider beginning a business. With support and the right mind, anything is possible. Henry’s mother commented by Who knows where he’ll be in 10 years time!

Kareema