smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Advances on the web mean it’s easier than ever to set up your own business, claims serial entrepreneur and Dragons’ Den investor Peter Jones.

‘You could set up a business online in a day if you wanted to,’ said Jones, adding that now may not be such a bad time to turn that seed of an idea into a reality.
 
‘We are out of the recession. People will say we remain in a recession over the next 12 to 18 months but what we will be seeing from now on are just the consequences of hitting the bottom of the recession.’
 
Speaking at the BT Business Experience event in London, the Dragons’ Den star argued that if there was a better sense of entrepreneurship in the UK, then the recession would be ‘a lot more shallow’.
 
‘We lack the mindset of entrepreneurialism in this country. It requires forward thinking, clarity and self-belief and these need to be encouraged,’ he said.
 
By way of contrast, Jones noted that the US has a deeply-rooted culture of risk-taking. ‘We need more of that entrepreneurial attitude in this country and that can only happen through education,’ he said.
 
Jones has seen an unprecedented level of interest from young people in starting their own business, but he suggests many of them shy away from putting their ideas into action because the business skills of entrepreneurship are not taught in schools.
 
‘It’s all about education and that is why I set up the National Enterprise Academy,’ added the Dragon.
 
The Academy was set up last year and helps 16 to 18 years olds to study enterprise and entrepreneurship.

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