Getting started

SCOTLAND: There are many reasons to start your own business, and we hear many inspiring stories of how entrepreneurs succeed with their own companies. However, according to a new study, too few of these stories come from Scotland.

In the 10th Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Scotland, co-author Dr Jonathan Levie at Strathclyde University's Hunter Centre, reported that just one in five Scots said they knew someone who had started a company in the past two years.

By contrast, nearly a third of Londoners personally know an entrepreneur. In the rest of Europe, more than 40 per cent of people questioned say they know a business founder. Perhaps as a result, friends and family in other European countries are three times more likely to invest in a new business than the Scots are.

Just one in five Scots knows someone who has started a business in the past two years.

The authors of the report conclude that entrepreneurship training should be a part of the university system, and not just take place at business schools. They estimate it could double the rate of business start-ups. When more people know the basics of business start-ups, more are willing to start their own companies or support someone else’s, says Levie.

Considering the current tight employment situation, better business training could encourage more Scots to start their own companies. “Entrepreneurship education gives students a more competitive edge in the graduate labour market, as well as presenting new venture creation as a realistic and, in some cases, essential career option,“ Professor Sara Carter, head of the Hunter Centre, told the BBC.