Would-be entrepreneurs hampered by fear of failure

More than half of British workers confess that a fear of failure stops them from turning a potentially game-changing idea into a real business, research finds.

According to a new study by website building and hosting brand Moonfruit, 56 per cent of the 2,000 respondents surveyed say that they have come up with at least one idea or invention but haven’t turned it into a business.

The 18-24 year old bracket proves to be the most creative, with two thirds (66 per cent) coming up with at least one business idea compared to 57 per cent of 35-44 year olds – yet they still haven’t tried to make anything of it.

A lack of financial backing (21 per cent) tops the list of obstacles stopping people from creating their own business and nearly one in ten say they fear the words, ‘I told you so’ (8 per cent) as a reason for not making their ideas materialise.

Other reasons for not taking the plunge are a lack of confidence in their ability to make the business happen (17 per cent), a lack of awareness of where to start to get it off the ground (11 per cent) and that their partner wouldn’t let them (9 per cent).

Wendy Tan White, CEO and co-founder of Moonfruit says, ‘Starting a business can be a daunting prospect but I really urge budding entrepreneurs to give it a go. So many people come up with ideas but never act on them, and who’s to say we don’t have the next Emma Bridgewater or James Dyson in our midst?

‘If you’ve got a passion you want to turn into a business, do not be afraid. We’ve seen thousands of customers do just that, transforming their lives by creating successful businesses all over the UK.’

Further reading on starting a business

Ben Lobel

Ben Lobel

Ben Lobel was the editor of SmallBusiness.co.uk from 2010 to 2018. He specialises in writing for start-up and scale-up companies in the areas of finance, marketing and HR.

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