Commentary

Just An Online Minute... Entrepreneurial Aspirations

  • by April 14, 2006
Yahoo's second annual survey of entrepreneurial aspirations finds that two-thirds of American adults (66 percent) say they've considered starting their own businesses, compared to 72 percent last year. The survey was commissioned by Yahoo Small Business and conducted by Harris Interactive.

Baby boomer-aged survey respondents indicated a significant increase in entrepreneurial aspirations. For example, when asked, "At what age do you think it would be too late to start your own business?," 70 percent of respondents who were 45 to 54, and 72 percent of those 55 and older answered, "I will never be too old to start my own business." The Yahoo survey finds this a substantial increase compared to last year's survey, when 54 percent of those aged 45 to 54 chose the "never too old" response, and 58 percent of those aged 55 and above chose the same response. Across all age groups, respondents choosing "never too old" increased to 60 percent this year, versus 47 percent in the 2005 survey.

Among the survey's other key findings:

  • 55 percent of respondents chose "own my own business" as the kind of work they would prefer to do late in life. Other choices included: volunteer work/public service (42 percent); consulting (29 percent); teaching (20 percent); and running for political office, retail/customer service, corporate officer, and sales (less than 15 percent).
  • 75 percent of U.S. adults who go online said that the Internet has made it easier to start a small business.
  • 92 percent of U.S. adults who go online said it was important for a new small business to have an Internet presence.

    "The vast majority of people, regardless of age, have entrepreneurial aspirations, and they recognize the power of the Internet in making it easier for them to act on those aspirations and launch small businesses," said Rich Riley, vice president of small business services at Yahoo, in a statement.

    The survey found that nearly one-third (31 percent) of those polled said that doing work that they really love was the main reason for launching a business. The second most popular reason, selected by 22 percent of respondents, was "to be my own boss." Less than one-fifth (17 percent) said they decided to start a business "to make more money."

    Yahoo is releasing the survey of more than 2,100 U.S. adults in conjunction with National Small Business Week April 9-15. The study was conducted four weeks ago. However, one point that was not addressed is why the percentage of adults wanting to start their own business declined from 72 percent last year to 66 percent. What are the reasons for the slight decline? We're not sure.





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