Is the term Entrepreneur Redundant in the UK…?

What does this term bring up for you when you think about it?  The Dragons from Dragons Den? Sir Richard Branson? Lord Sugar?

Apparently according to a recent survey by Software giant Sage, of  over 1,200 UK Small Business Owners that only 4% consider themselves to be entrepreneurs! Ouch…

We seem to prefer terms like:

Business owner’(53%), Self-employed’ (26%) and Businessman/woman’ (15%)

Which were more popular, despite the rise in popular TV shows like Dragons Den & The Apprentice fuelling the growth in the number of new businesses being created.

It seems that perhaps the current challenging economic climate is changing business owners perceptions of the skills required to succeed and the term entrepreneur is some what detached from their reality at the coal face.

The survey also showed that 66% of Business Owners surveyed believe the term entrepreneur denotes someone who brings innovative ideas to business – a quality viewed by 14% saw central to business success.  This is interesting when you consider that we teach a business has only 2 main functions – Innovation and Marketing!!

About 25 per cent associated the term with someone who sets up their own business, which reflects the link with creative new ideas.

Around 396,000 companies where formed in the year from March 2010 to March 2011, an increase of 9.4 per cent on the previous year taking the number above the last high before the 2008 recession.  This just reflects the growing realisation that people are having about the need to secure their own financial future and take ownership by building additional income streams.

“Ideas are vital, but for a business to discover its true potential the company must be grounded in reality and guided by an owner with a sound understanding of financial information.” said Lee Perkins Managing Director of Sage’s Small Business Division.

We still think that the UK has some of the most Entrepreneurial Business Men and Women in the World – perhaps we just need to get a little more comfortable with this Identity of Success?

Tell us what you think below – we would love to hear from you…

Tags: business education, Business to Business networking, Business Training, dragons den, lord sugar, Paul Avins, sir richard branson, the business Wealth club