Did you know that at the start of 2023, there were 5.5 million small businesses (with 0 to 49 employees) which consisted of 99.2% of the total business population. SMEs* account for 99.9% of the business population (5.6 million businesses). They also account for three-fifths of the employment and around half of turnover in the UK private sector.
The total employment in SMEs was 16.7 million (61% of the total), whilst turnover was estimated at £2.4 trillion (53%). Employment in small businesses (with 0 to 49 employees) was 13.1 million (48% of the total), with a turnover of £1.6 trillion (36%)**.
Entrepreneurship is alive and kicking globally; continuing to expand and providing opportunities for growth, investment and changing local, national and global economies.
Running your own business might seem daunting and many people don’t believe they have what it takes. The added pressure from family, friends, mentors and other well-wishers will exacerbate the fear of starting out. However, like everything else in life, you must be brave enough to take calculated risks and determine what kind of life you really want to lead. It’s true, many businesses fail within the first five years of start-up. However, if you are determined, disciplined and decisive, you can work through almost any situation and become successful.
When you start on this path, working from home becomes the norm and you might need a complete mind shift from working in a collaborative environment to being isolated, lonely and working through most things on your own. Luckily, social media has made it easier to connect with like-minded communities and therefore you can check in and out with these groups when you need to.
There are lots of support services to help you get started and where you can find information from***.
Obviously, if you’re starting a business from home, you save a lot on start-up costs which many of you may not have when starting out. Save, save save your money! Don’t spend too much on fancy courses and resources which have no return on investment. This means you’ll have a lot more money to spend later when you can see how your business shapes up.
So, why have many started turning to Entreneurship? There is a plethora of reasons but the main ones usually are because of an increasingly complex and unstable global economy which is resulting in job losses all over the world; wanting to become a millionaire (it may/may not happen); wanting to be your own boss and wanting to achieve huge personal satisfaction/success!
Singing Canary will be bringing you the latest and up-to-date business and tech news to help you on your journey. Remember, it’s never too late to start investing in yourself at any stage of life so if you’re looking for new ideas and wanting to start a new venture, follow us and be prepared to journey into the unknown, with a little help from our friends!
Sobia x
Notes
*Small to Medium Sized Enterprises
**https://www.fsb.org.uk/uk-small-business-statistics.html
***Resource list to start you off
https://www.gov.uk/set-up-business
https://www.gov.uk/browse/business/setting-up
https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/how-we-can-help/support-starting-business
https://www.entrepreneurial-spark.com/
https://nationalenterprisenetwork.org/
https://www.natwest.com/business/insights/businessbuilder.html
https://www.nesta.org.uk/contact-us/
https://ukinnovationhub.ukri.org/suppliers/british-library-s-business-ip-centre