Stuck at work? Daydreaming about starting your own business? You’re not alone. More than two-thirds of all working adults want to resign from their jobs to start their own business, according to a soon-to-be-released study from Intuit, the maker of QuickBooks.
Intuit gave me an exclusive first look at their survey results, which they conducted as part of their new “Just Start” initiative designed to encourage would-be entrepreneurs to launch new businesses.
Intuit’s survey results are closely in line with most previous surveys I’ve seen. According to Intuit’s results, 72 percent are eager to become business owners. Men were somewhat more likely than women to dream of launching a business, at 72 percent versus 62 percent. (The survey was conducted by the research firm, Decipher of Fresno, California.)
But Intuit’s survey also uncovered just how deeply unsatisfied most Americans are with their current jobs: 67 percent think about quitting their jobs ‘regularly’ or ‘constantly.’ Yikes.
The number one reason most people want to start their own businesses? To be more passionate about their work life.
“One of the things that’s exciting is how many people are contemplating starting a business, how much fire in the belly is out there,” said Rick Jensen, vice president, Intuit’s small business division. “When you ask why [people want their own businesses], they want to ignite the passion side of their work life. We always felt that was true, but that was validated in the survey.”
Personal Desire
My experience with small businesses over 20 years confirms that Americans’ perception that they’d be more engaged with work if they had their own businesses is realistic. You may not work less than with a job (in fact, you’ll probably work harder), you may not make more money (though private non-incorporated business ownership is the second largest source of personal wealth — after real estate — according to studies I’ve seen). But you’re almost certainly going to be more excited and challenged when you run your own company.
But Americans’ choice of entrepreneurial role models? According to the results of Intuit’s survey, that’s based more on television than on reality.
Who were the entrepreneurs that were most inspirational? The entrepreneur most inspirational to American women? Oprah Winfrey, with 66 percent choosing the TV-empress. And the most inspirational for men? Donald Trump, with 38 percent, and Hugh Hefner with 34 percent.
What are would-be entrepreneurs most afraid of when it comes to heading out on their own? Over half (56 percent) feared not making enough money and 27 percent feared not knowing enough about starting and running a business. Results were nearly identical for men and women.
I suspect, though not mentioned in the survey, many were also held back from launching a new business out of fear of losing health care coverage.
Free Start
One aspect of Intuit’s “Just Start” initiative sure to prove popular is that Intuit is now making Simple Start, their entry-level version of QuickBooks, free. It was previously priced at $99.95 This is a fully-functioning, non-trial version currently used by over 300,000 businesses. I’ve tried it, and it’s well suited for one-person or very small businesses. Come tax time, you’ll be thrilled you have your info in a computer rather than a shoebox.
“To this day, small businesses and new businesses use paper and pen or spreadsheets to do their finances,” said Jensen. “We want to help them focus on getting customers, not paperwork. Simple Start is drop dead easy.”
“The goal of “Just Start” is to encourage more Americans to actually pursue their entrepreneurial dream,” according to Intuit’s Jensen. “We’re hoping that people who have the passion to start a business see this campaign and say, ‘It’s time. I want to live the dream I’ve always had.’ We want to help them bring that passion to life.”
Rhonda Abrams is the author of “Six-Week Start-Up” and “What Business Should I Start?”
