Following are highlights from Survey and Study by Vivek Wadhwa & others: Anatomy of an Entrepreneur Part II:Making of A Successful Entrepreneur
This research is based on a survey of 549 company founders in a variety of industries, including aerospace and defense, computer and electronics, health care,
and services.
Entrepreneurs Obstacles from their past, Time and effort required, capital/financing, and experience in running a business
We asked company founders to rank the challenges they faced in starting their businesses.
• 61 percent said amount of time and effort required was a challenge
• 52 percent said lack of available capital/financing was a challenge
• 52 percent said lack of prior experience in running a business was a challenge
Entrepreneurs Obstacles for others, Lack of willingness to take risks, Time and effort required, Raising capital, Business management skills and Family or financial pressure
• The factor most commonly ranked as important—by 98 percent—was lack of willingness or of ability to take risks, with 50 percent believing this to be an extremely important barrier to entrepreneurship. This clearly indicates that these company founders considered entrepreneurship to be a risky endeavor.
• 93 percent said that the amount of time and effort required was an important barrier.
• 91 percent said that difficulty in raising capital was an important inhibitor.
• 89 percent said business management skills, 84 percent said knowledge of how to start a business, and 83 percent said knowledge about the industry and markets were important issues.
• 73 percent believed that family or financial pressures to keep a traditional, steady job were issues.
Experience, Management, and Luck: The Keys to Success
• 96 percent ranked prior work experience as an important success factor
Professional Networks, Education, Funding, Personal Networks: Important
• 73 percent said professional networks were important to the success of their current businesses.
Location, Investor Advice, Alumni Networks, and Regional Assistance: Not so Important
• Entrepreneurs were almost evenly divided about the importance of the location of their businesses. 50 percent said location was important.
Using Personal Savings is the Norm, Venture Capital Comes to the Experienced, and Friends and Family are Always There
• The most significant source of funding for all businesses was company founders’ personal savings: 70 percent said they had used personal savings as a main source of funding for their first business, more than four times the number chiefly financed by any other type of funding.
