occasional paper

EMERGING INDUSTRIES
National Youth
Entrepreneurship
Attitude Survey

10
Department of Industry,
Science and Resources
Emerging Industries Section

May 2001

C O M P E T I T I V E A U S T R A L I A
National Youth
Entrepreneurship
Attitude Survey

May 2001

Department of Industry, Science and Resources

Emerging Industries Section

This paper is issued for discussion and information purposes only.

The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the
Australian Government or the Departments of Industry, Science and
Resources and Education, Training and Youth Affairs.

Copyright in ABS Data resides with the Commonwealth of Australia.

 THIS REPORT IS PART OF A SERIES OF EMERGING INDUSTRIES OCCASIONAL PAPERS. THE PAPERS
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN THIS SERIES ARE:
Emerging Industries Occasional Paper 1 Emerging Industries & Technologies Forum -
Report of Proceedings, Canberra, 17 August 1999

Emerging Industries Occasional Paper 2 Enabling Technologies for Australian Industry - A Pilot Study,
November 1999

Emerging Industries Occasional Paper 3 A Study of Government R&D Expenditure by Sector and Technology,
December 1999

Emerging Industries Occasional Paper 4 World Wide Work: Globally Distributed Expert Business Services,
October 2000

Emerging Industries Occasional Paper 5 Skills Needs of Emerging Industries, October 2000

Emerging Industries Occasional Paper 6 Being heard above the crowd. Showcasing the environmental industries,
December 2000

Emerging Industries Occasional Paper 7 Titanium Metal - a market analysis, February 2001

Emerging Industries Occasional Paper 8 A Study of the USA and Canadian Flower Markets, March 2001

Emerging Industries Occasional Paper 9 Investing in Emerging Opportunities: Emerging Industries Forum
2000 Report of Proceedings, Canberra October 2000

Copies of these papers are available from the Emerging Industries Section of the Department of Industry, Science
and Resources, GPO Box 9839, Canberra ACT 2601 or email: EmergingIndustries@isr.gov.au

Copies will also be available through the Emerging Industries website which can be accessed through ISR’s website
http://www.isr.gov.au/industry/emerging

© Commonwealth of Australia (2001)

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced
by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth available through AusInfo. Requests and
inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Manager, Legislative Services, AusInfo,
GPO Box 1920, Canberra ACT 2601.
ISR 2001/072
ISBN 0 642 72194 7
The views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the Departments of Industry, Science and Resources, and
Education, Training and Youth Affairs, or of the Commonwealth of Australia.

ii EMERGING INDUSTRIES
 List of Figures
Contents Figure 1
Figure 4.1
Research Components
Perceived importance of entrepreneurial
7
13
attributes
Figure 4.2 Self-rating of entrepreneurial attributes 15
Figure 4.3 Proportion of young people who rate 16
themselves equal to or higher than
entrepreneurs
Acknowledgements iv
Figure 4.4 Possessing and acquiring 17
entrepreneurial characteristics
Executive Summary 1
Figure 4.5 Attitudes to entrepreneurs 18
Research context 5 Figure 4.6 Attitudes to entrepreneurs as proportions 19
2.1 Research objectives 6 Figure 4.7 Opportunity, capacity and social context 21
Figure 4.8 Opportunity, capacity and social context 22
Research design 7
as proportions
3.1 Qualitative research 8 Figure 5.1 Perceived importance of benefits 28
3.2 National telephone survey 9 Figure 5.2 Perceived importance of benefits as 29
3.3 Research among indigenous Australians 11 proportions
Figure 5.3 Benefits delivered by starting a business 30
Entrepreneurship 12
Figure 5.4 Benefits delivered by starting a business 31
4.1 Personal qualities of entrepreneurs 12 as proportions
4.2 Attitudes 18 Figure 5.5 Importance and delivery of benefits 32
Figure 5.6 Perceived prerequisites for starting 33
Starting a business 24
a business
5.1 Starting a business 24
Figure 5.7 Perceived prerequisites for starting 34
5.2 Benefits of starting a business 28 a business as proportions
5.3 Barriers to starting own business 33 Figure 5.8 Extent to which prerequisites act 35
5.4 Predicting entrepreneurial activity 38 as barriers

5.5 Possessing and acquiring necessary skills 39 Figure 5.9 Extent to which prerequisites act 36
as barriers as proportions
5.6 Role of influencers 41
Figure 5.10 Prerequisites and whether these act 37
Risk-taking 43 as barriers
Figure 5.11 Predicting entrepreneurial behaviour 38
New apprentices 45
Figure 5.12 Possessing and acquiring practical skills 39

Possible areas for action 47 Figure 5.13 Where skills were/could be acquired 40
Figure 5.14 Strong, positive influences 41
Appendix A 50 Figure 7.1 Plans post-apprenticeship or traineeship 46

List of Tables

Table 1 Breakdown of sample structure 9

EMERGING INDUSTRIES iii

 Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the guidance and

assistance provided by staff of the two Commonwealth
departments that funded this research. In particular,
Peter Sesterka, Justin Hill and Abram Hays of the Emerging
Industries Section of the Department of Industry, Science
and Resources and Suzi Hewlett of Youth Events and
Marketing, within the Youth Bureau of the Department
of Education, Training and Youth Affairs.
We also wish to thank Robin Campbell-Huff, for her
assistance in organising the qualitative component of
this research, and Steven Davies and H J Kim, of ADIS
(Australian Data & Information Service Pty Ltd) for
conducting the quantitative fieldwork in a professional
manner.
Lastly, we acknowledge the painstaking work of our
colleague Christina Falsone in the interpretation of
statistical tests and the preparation of the charts
shown in this report.
John Sergeant
Jennifer Crawford
Eureka Strategic Research Pty Ltd
Sydney, April, 2001

iv EMERGING INDUSTRIES
 1 Executive Summary
Executive
Summary Background
The Departments of Industry, Science & Resources and
Education, Training & Youth Affairs commissioned Eureka
Strategic Research to conduct a research project
investigating young Australians’ attitudes towards
entrepreneurship, and the factors that influence those
attitudes. The research was designed to inform the
development of policies, programs and communication
initiatives designed to promote entrepreneurship among
young people.

Method
The first stage of the research project involved a small
number of in-depth interviews with people aged 15-24
years. The findings from this exploratory qualitative stage
were used to inform the development of a telephone
survey administered nationally to 784 young Australians
(including 156 who indicated that they had been an
apprentice or trainee). This report focuses on the results
of the telephone survey.

Entrepreneurial qualities
Respondents were asked to rate the importance of various
personal attributes of entrepreneurs and to assess the
extent to which they themselves possessed these
attributes. To help ensure a consistent frame of reference
was used, the following description of an entrepreneur
was read to all participants:

An “entrepreneur” is a person who recognises

opportunities, has ideas and uses them to create or
develop a business.

Four personal qualities were seen to be essential to the

success of an entrepreneur: determination and
persistence; confidence; being good with people; and
enthusiasm and energy.

Creativity and the ability to be innovative; accepting of

the possibility of loss in order to have a chance of
succeeding; and intelligence were seen as slightly less
critical, but nevertheless important. Honesty was not

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 1
 universally seen as a characteristic of entrepreneurs, with
some seeing it as essential and others as less important.
The characteristics ‘honesty’ and ‘being good with people’
had the highest mean self-ratings. Participants were less
likely to see themselves as a person with ‘ruthlessness’, or as
someone who ‘accepts the possibility of loss in order to have
a chance of succeeding’.
Respondents’ entrepreneurial qualities
In general, respondents felt that they possessed
entrepreneurial qualities to a lesser extent than
entrepreneurs themselves. However, for each attribute, there
was a sizeable group of young people who felt that they
possessed that quality to an extent equal to or above
entrepreneurs. Indeed, 69.9% of young people rate
themselves as equal to or above entrepreneurs on three of
the nine characteristics measured in the survey.
In particular, most young people (73.7%) see themselves as
more honest than entrepreneurs. In contrast, only slightly
more than a quarter of participants saw themselves as
equally or more confident, or determined and persistent:
three important entrepreneurial qualities.
Despite this pattern of results, almost two-thirds of
participants (62.8%) said they felt that they had the qualities
needed to be an entrepreneur. This suggests that young
people believe they do not need all nine characteristics in
order to be an entrepreneur. This may reflect a view that
only those qualities they possess are important or that the
requisite qualities can be developed.
Attitudes towards entrepreneurs
Participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement
with a series of statements about entrepreneurs and their
impact on others and on society generally. The results
suggest that young Australians have a generally positive
view of entrepreneurial activity, a majority agreeing with
positive statements such as:
• they create jobs;
• they help Australia compete in the world; and
• they provide goods and services that people need.
2 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
Capacity, opportunity and social context
The research gauged perceptions of the capacity of
Australians for entrepreneurial activity; opportunities in
Australia for entrepreneurial activity; and the cultural
climate and degree of acceptance of entrepreneurial
behaviour. Young Australians perceive a favourable cultural
climate for entrepreneurial activity, especially among their
peers, with a high level of agreement with the statement
‘my friends would respect someone who started their own
business’. A similar level of agreement was found with
‘starting a new business is a respected occupation in the
Australian community’.
It was generally agreed that ‘in Australia, people who have
built great personal wealth are admired’ and that ‘there are
plenty of Australians with the ability to start successful
businesses’. In contrast, there was less certainty (although
still majority agreement) with ‘compared to people in other
countries, Australians tend to be more innovative’ and
‘compared to people in other countries, Australians are good
at turning their ideas into profitable businesses.’
The views of young Australians on the extent to which they
should expect to be able to rely on government are similar
to those found in the general adult population in Australia
and in other western countries. However, they differ greatly
from those found in the United States, where there is almost
universal agreement that young people should not expect
to rely too heavily on government.
Starting a business
Despite being aged 15-24, a sizeable proportion of
participants (10.3%) said that they had set up a business in
the past. However, the responses to the open-ended
questions suggested that some participants appeared to
interpret any form of self-employment as ‘starting a
business’. Approximately two thirds (68.2%) of all
participants claimed that they wanted to start a business
of their own at some time in the future, a similar level to
that found in the United States.
Importance of benefits of starting a
business
The research project investigated the perceived importance
of various possible benefits of starting a business and
whether respondents believed that starting one’s own
business represents a way of achieving these benefits.
The results show that ‘earning a living doing something I
enjoy’ and ‘having a career that uses my skills and abilities
fully’ are of key importance to young Australians. Issues of
control, including ‘working the hours I want’ and ‘being my
own boss’ were also seen as important, yet slightly less so.
‘Making lots of money’ was less important, although still
attracting more agreement than disagreement.
Benefits of starting a business
Participants were most likely to see starting one’s own
business as a way of earning a living doing something that
one enjoys. Indeed, starting one’s own business was seen as
a way of achieving the three benefits perceived to be most
important to participants:‘earning a living doing something
I enjoy’;‘putting my ideas into practice’; and ‘having a career
that uses my skills and abilities fully’. More generally, the
pattern of results showed that starting a business was
perceived to deliver benefits to approximately the same
extent as they were sought by young people.
Barriers
As well as the perceived benefits of starting a business, the
research gauged perceptions of the requisites for starting a
business, and the extent to which these represent a barrier
to starting one’s own business.
Young people perceive that one needs good communication
skills to start a business, and participants also agreed that
starting a business involves taking a risk. There was some
disagreement about whether one would ‘need a lot of
money’ to start a business, although most thought that they
would.
A reluctance to take the risk of starting one’s own business
appears to be the principal barrier to doing so, rather than
a perceived inability to acquire the necessary skills. However,
as discussed in a dedicated section exploring the issue of
risk taking, more respondents disagreed than agreed with
the statement, ‘I’m reluctant to take on the risk of starting
my own business’.
Influencing entrepreneurship
Beliefs about the benefits available through starting a
business, and perceptions of their importance, as well as
beliefs about barriers to starting a business, proved to be
better predictors of entrepreneurial activity and intentions
than personality traits1, suggesting that entrepreneurship is
more malleable and less innate ... and thus open to influence.
Sources of influences could include role models, training and
communication initiatives.
Role of influencers
Participants were asked to list those things that have
influenced their views about starting a business. In
descending order, the following were cited as strong positive
influences:
• hearing about people you know becoming successful;
• the subjects you have studied;
• your parents;
• hearing in the media about people becoming
successful;
• other family members;
• careers advisers;
• your friends; and
• teachers.
Business skills
Over two thirds of those surveyed (68.8%) felt they had the
practical skills needed to start a business of their own and
most of the rest felt that they could acquire these skills.
Questions on how these skills had been (or could be)
acquired suggested that practical experience is the principal
means by which business skills are perceived to be learnt.
Formal courses, apprenticeships and traineeships appear to
play an important but secondary role.
1
Although it is acknowledged that personality traits were self-assessed in this study.
EMERGING INDUSTRIES 3
 New apprentices
Over half of young people (54.9%) had heard of the New
Apprenticeships program. Awareness levels were higher in
non-metropolitan areas. The majority (62.2%) of those
participants who were currently working as an apprentice or
trainee indicated that, at the completion of their
apprenticeship or traineeship, they planned to remain in the
same line of work. One in six (15.6%) said that they were
planning to start their own business in the same line of
work. The rest were either unsure of their plans after
completing their apprenticeship or traineeship, or planned
to enter a different field.
Most (86.5%) of those who had ever been an apprentice or
trainee felt that they had learnt (or were learning) skills
during their apprenticeship or traineeship that would be
useful for a person interested in starting their own business.
Risk-taking
The perceived importance of ‘accepting the possibility of loss
in order to have a chance of succeeding’ was high, although,
relative to several other characteristics, risk-taking was seen
as less critical to the success of an entrepreneur. Generally,
respondents rated themselves low, relative to entrepreneurs,
on this attribute.
There was a high level of agreement with the statement
‘starting my own business involves taking a risk’ and a stated
reluctance to take risks was the most significant barrier to
doing so. However, it should be remembered that the
reported extent to which the prerequisites act as barriers to
starting one’s own business was, overall, quite low. Indeed,
a greater proportion of respondents disagreed than agreed
with the statement ‘I’m reluctant to take on the risk of
starting my own business’.
Detailed analysis
In addition to expanding upon the findings discussed in the
Executive Summary, the body of the report contains details
of analyses that relate to comparisons between subgroups
(for example, how and whether variables such as gender,
age and parents’ occupation influence variables such as the
desire to start a business). It also includes an analysis of
open-ended questions and compares selected results with
those found in similar studies in Australia and
internationally.
4 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
Possible areas for action
The research strongly supports the contention that
entrepreneurs are to a significant extent made, not simply
born. This means that interventions directed towards
changing attitudes and beliefs can have an impact on young
peoples’ interest in starting a business. The results allow
policy makers to be confident that attitudes and beliefs
matter enough to warrant targeted action.
Among the areas for possible action are communication
campaigns directed towards reinforcing the benefits of
starting one’s own business. There is evidence that a case
study approach could fulfil these objectives, providing
certain guidelines were followed. These are discussed more
fully in Section 8.
The research results underline the importance among young
people of skill acquisition through the experience of working
in someone else’s business. There may be an opportunity to
strengthen the role played by formal on the job training in
building entrepreneurial attitudes and practical skills.
The attitudes held by young people about the benefits that
are to be gained by starting a business are subject to a
variety of influences. A number of government and non-
government agencies are in a position to play a positive role
in helping young Australians develop a more entrepreneurial
culture. Therefore, any serious attempt to bring about these
changes would ideally involve a cooperative and coordinated
approach.
The report also discusses possible future research aimed at
measuring the effects of policy and communication
initiatives in this area and identifies opportunities to extend
the understanding of youth entrepreneurship in Australia
and internationally.
 2 Research context
Research International research has suggested strong links between

context
2
levels of entrepreneurial activity and economic growth.
Countries exhibiting high rates of entrepreneurial activity
are generally recognised as innovative, adaptable and more
likely to produce new or improved products and services.
Entrepreneurship has the capacity to expand the boundaries
of economic activity and seize economic opportunities as
they arise.

This issue has increasing importance in the light

of globalisation of economic activity. Australian
entrepreneurship will not only determine whether or not
economic development takes place, but whether or not the
fruits of this development are captured by Australians.
Australian ideas can increasingly be leveraged globally but,
similarly, entrepreneurs in other countries are poised to
exploit opportunities existing here.

With the links between entrepreneurship and a vibrant

economic culture being so compelling, the Innovation
Summit held in Melbourne in February 2000 recommended
that Australia develop an entrepreneurial culture.
In particular, the potential role for education, research,
industry and community organisations in facilitating
entrepreneurship should be harnessed. The current
generation of young Australians will be future business
leaders and decision-makers. Accordingly, the Departments
of Industry, Science and Resources and Education, Training
and Youth Affairs are interested in collecting data on the
attitudes of young Australians towards entrepreneurship
and the factors influencing the development of
entrepreneurial qualities to complement existing
Government initiatives in this area.

It is generally recognised that there are both broad and

narrow definitions of entrepreneurship. At its most general,
entrepreneurship is used to describe the group of qualities
and competencies that enables, both at individual and
societal levels, creativity and adaptability in the face of, and
as contributors to, rapid social and economic change.

2
Reynolds, P. D., Hay, M. & Camp, S. M. (1999). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 1999
Executive Summary.

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 5
 A more narrow definition of entrepreneurship refers to
business entrepreneurialism, such as starting up one’s own
business or undertaking and managing a new business
venture. Previous research within Australia has tended to
focus on this more narrow definition, specifically on
attitudes towards small business. While there are clear
connections between small business and entrepreneurial
activity, the Commonwealth has identified the opportunity
to conduct research in a framework that incorporates a
broader definition of entrepreneurship, to the extent that
this is compatible with young peoples’ own understanding
of the term. It is also important that this research
establishes a basis for comparison with research conducted
in other countries, where a more business oriented usage of
entrepreneurship has been used.
In this context, the Department of Industry, Science and
Resources (ISR) and the Department of Education, Training
and Youth Affairs (DETYA) commissioned Eureka Strategic
Research to conduct research to investigate and measure
the attitudes and influences that facilitate or impede this
mode of economic innovation and risk-taking.
Also relevant to the context of this research project, the
Government’s Innovation Statement, Backing Australia’s
Ability was released prior to the completion of this report.
One initiative, the National Innovation Awareness Strategy,
is providing $35 million over five years and supporting a
range of grants and awards. The initiative seeks to:
• encourage more young people to study science and
mathematics to meet the increasing demand for these
skills;
• assist business to stimulate/attract more young people
into entrepreneurship as a career option; and
• foster more informed business decision-making through
greater awareness of the importance of innovation and
the role of science and technology.
This has served to increase interest in the issue of
entrepreneurship and in the results of this research project.
With this background in mind, the research objectives of this
project are outlined in the following Sub-section.
3 The methodology used to fulfil these research objectives is
Reynolds, P. D., Hay, M. & Camp, S. M. (1999). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 1999
Executive Summary.
6 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
2.1 Research objectives
The broad objective of this research was to gain an
understanding of the current attitudes of young Australians
towards entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial activity, and
the key factors that influence those attitudes. In essence, the
research was conducted to gain a thorough understanding
of the context in which any proposed targeted strategies
promoting entrepreneurship would be delivered, to
maximise their relevance to young people.
Enhancing entrepreneurship has emerged as a key finding
for governments committed to improving their countries’
economic wellbeing.3 The methodology and outcomes of
this research enable some comparison with similar national
and international studies, as well as providing a firm basis
for further national research. Key themes and issues on
which this research focuses are listed below.
Attitudes
What are the current attitudes of young Australians towards
entrepreneurship? What factors influence these attitudes?
What evidence exists that entrepreneurship can be
learnt? Do young Australians aspire to develop these
entrepreneurial characteristics? What socio-economic and
cultural factors influence the fostering and development of
entrepreneurship? Do young Australians hold ideas about
the role of entrepreneurs within a society?
Awareness
Does entrepreneurial activity attract young peoples’
attention? Are young people both aware of and attracted to
the characteristics and attributes of entrepreneurship? Are
these characteristics seen to be associated with personal
and financial success?
Aspirations
Do young Australians envisage themselves becoming
entrepreneurial? How would this entrepreneurship
manifest itself? If entrepreneurship is typified by certain
characteristics, what factors influence the acquisition of
these traits? What do young people perceive as practical or
structural barriers to entrepreneurship? What do they
perceive as enhancers of entrepreneurship?
detailed in the following Section.
 3 Research design
Research A qualitative-quantitative method was used, including:

design • exploratory qualitative research involving 32 in-depth

interviews with the target audience, with appropriate
representation of Non-English Speaking Background
(NESB) participants (Sub-section 3.1);

• a national telephone survey among 15-24 year olds, with

appropriate representation of NESB participants,
designed to be used as a benchmark and tracking study
(Sub-section 3.2); and

• a separate program of community consultation

research conducted amongst indigenous Australians
(Sub-section 3.3).

These research components are illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Research Components

Qualitative National
research telephone survey
(32 face-to-face interviews) (n = 784)

Community consultation research among Indigenous Australians

15-16yrs, 17-18yrs, 19-21yrs, 22-24yrs,

4 mini-
groups Alice Redfern Mt Druitt Cairns
Springs

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 7
 3.1 Qualitative research
The qualitative phase of the project was used to understand
the mind and mood of young Australians regarding
entrepreneurship. The understanding gained from the
qualitative phase served to clarify the scope and form of the
quantitative component of the research. That is, it allowed
the identification of issues, as well as an understanding of
how these issues could best be measured.
The qualitative phase ensured an efficient and effective
quantitative stage by:
• determining factors of relevance for inclusion in the
survey, and eliminating superfluous factors;
• locating any areas of interest or concern not already
identified by ISR, DETYA, previous research or the
research team; and
• providing an understanding of terms and expressions
used by young Australians, enabling an easily
comprehensible survey to all groups of interest.
Individual interviews, rather than group discussions, were
employed. There were several reasons for this:
• The group context can be intimidating to young people,
particularly adolescents, who are conscious of the
presence of their peers. This may result in consequent
self-censorship, or posturing. In contrast, an interview
can provide a more relaxed atmosphere, allowing the
participant to air their views freely and openly.
• Group cohesion is at its best when the participants’
views on the subject matter of interest are largely
homogenous. It was anticipated that there would
be sufficient diversity of opinion regarding
entrepreneurship that group discussions would not
function well, disallowing a true understanding of
the range of opinions to be attained.
• One of the issues of interest was how young Australians
develop the qualities of entrepreneurship. Direct
self-reporting of factors seen by young people to be
influential in shaping their entrepreneurialism, or asking
individuals to reflect upon this question, represents a
valuable approach to this issue. Clearly, group
discussions would have provided a poor environment
for such an approach.
8 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
The qualitative sample structure incorporated the following
variables:
• gender.
• age. The target audience (15-24 year olds) was split into
four age bands. Given maturational factors, it was
essential to use narrow age bands, especially among
younger participants.
• location. The in-depth interviews were conducted in
three different geographic locations, including coverage
of metropolitan, regional and rural Australia, and
including coverage of two states. The locations, which
4
were selected using the ARIA classification system.
In addition, the sample was divided into three levels in terms
of an entrepreneurial mindset:
• half of sample ‘high’;
• quarter of sample ‘medium’; and
• quarter of sample ‘low’.
This classification was done using a self-categorisation
technique. Potential participants were asked to indicate
which of two short descriptions was most akin to their
character, or if they considered that they fell somewhere
between the two types. The descriptions were based on
entrepreneurial traits, using peers as a reference point.
Furthermore, half of those in the ‘high’ group were to:
• have started their own business (which may or may not
still be operating); or
• agree with following statement: “One day, I’d like to start
my own business”.
The sample structure, incorporating all of these variables of
interest, is illustrated in Table 1.
4
Department of Health and Aged Care (1999). Occasional Papers: New Series No. 6 -
Measuring Remoteness: Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) National Key
Centre for Social Applications of Geographical Information Systems.
Table 1 Breakdown of sample structure

Age category
Location 15–16 years 17-18 years 19-21 years 22-24 years

Metropolitan H L H L H H H M
(Sydney) L H H H L M M H
M H
Regional M H L H
(Coffs Harbour) H M H L

Rural H L M L
(Mackay) M H

Female respondents Male respondents H High M Medium L Medium

Eight of the 32 interviews were conducted with participants
from non-English speaking backgrounds, approximately
relative to their incidence in the three locations. The criteria
used for this was that a language other than English was
spoken at home. Given logistical and ethical reasons,
parental consent was sought for the participation of 15 and
16 year olds in the in-depth interviews.
The interviews were conducted during January 2001.
All participants received an incentive payment of $50.
The results of the exploratory qualitative investigation have
been reported separately. They have had a bearing on the
current report only insofar as they:
• guided the development of the questionnaire; or
• assisted in the explanation of the results of the
quantitative phase, in which case they have been
mentioned in this report.
climate among young Australians, and the effect of policy
and communication interventions can be monitored over
time.
Questionnaire development
After the in-depth interviews had been conducted, the
survey questionnaire was designed and confirmed with the
Commonwealth. To maximise data quality and to ensure
that the questionnaire was not burdensome to respondents,
the questionnaire was kept to an average length of 15
minutes.
Where international comparison was possible and desirable,
questions that have been used in other studies
were duplicated. However, in the development of the
questionnaire, a number of inadequacies of overseas studies
were noted. These are explained under the following
headings.

Understanding motivations and barriers to starting one’s

3.2 National telephone survey own business

Methodological details of the quantitative research, which US studies5 have measured the major reason given by young
is the principal subject of this report, are outlined below. people for wanting to start their own business by asking an
This component of the research was designed to enable open-ended question, and then coding the responses. While
tracking over time, so that changes in the entrepreneurial this is an effective was of ascertaining young peoples’ main

5
Walstad, W. B. (1994). Entrepreneurship and Small Business in the United States. . University
of Nebraska-Lincoln & The Gallup Organization.
Walstad, W. B. & Kourilsky, M. L. (1999). Seeds of Success: Entrepreneurship and Youth
Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 9
 motivation for wanting to start a business, it does not shed
any light on the relative importance of the various
motivations. Where relativities concerning motivations for
starting a business are measured, these relate to young
peoples’ perceptions of why other people set up businesses,
rather than what they see as personally motivating.
Agreement statements containing two components
Such statements are difficult to interpret fully. A statement
6
in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor is “In my country,
one sees more good opportunities than people able to take
advantage of them”. It can be argued that this yields
information about the relationship between entrepreneurial
opportunity and capacity, but without obtaining baseline
information about the individual components, responses to
this question are ambiguous and hence difficult to interpret.
For example, expressed disagreement with the statement
may be because a respondent disagrees with the fact that
there are opportunities for entrepreneurial behaviour (or
that none of the opportunities could be classed as ‘good’ or
that one tends not to see them), yet agree that there are
people able to take advantage of opportunities, and vice
versa.
Imprecise questionnaire items
In general, a number of questionnaire items in some of the
overseas studies are unlikely to yield reliable or useful
information. For example, a US study7 includes a question
that appears to be trying to tap into social norms regarding
starting one’s own business:“What advice would you give a
person who wanted to start a business? Would you
ENCOURAGE them to start a business now, tell them to WAIT
a few years and get more work experience, or DISCOURAGE
them from starting a business and work for someone else”. It
is unlikely that anyone would offer the same advice
concerning starting a business to everyone that they knew.
It is more probable that people would consider the
circumstances of the individual who wanted to start a
business, rather than apply some general principle with
respect to the nature of their advice.
The US studies use the term ‘small business’, which is
somewhat restrictive, as opposed to ‘business’. While it is
quite valid to conduct research that examines attitudes
towards small business, it is limiting in the context of
understanding entrepreneurship.
10 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
Agenda driven research
One particular piece of international research seems to have
been motivated by a specific political agenda, in that the
knowledge tests contained within it appear to have been
constructed in a way that deliberately attempts to provide
evidence of poor levels of business knowledge among US
school students. This study was funded by a foundation that
aims to promote entrepreneurial education in schools.
The extent to which comparisons can be made between this
research and studies carried out in other countries has been
restricted by attempts to avoid some of the above
inadequacies.
Pilot interviews
Pilot interviews using the questionnaire were conducted in
order to resolve any technical or logistical features of the
questionnaire. The pilot interviews were used to test:
• whether there were any questions that seem confusing
to the respondent, or were open to misinterpretation;
• whether the response scales were readily understood;
• whether any response codes had been overlooked;
• if the words/terms were clearly understood by all target
groups; and
• whether the length of the interview was as planned.
Eureka consultants observed these pilot interviews as they
were conducted. As a result of the piloting phase, the
wording of the introduction was rephrased to minimise the
refusal rate. The questionnaire is included in Appendix A.
Survey methodology
A telephone survey methodology was selected as the most
efficient means for collecting the quantitative data for this
project. The advantages in employing this methodology
include cost, timing, national coverage and honesty of
responses.
6
Reynolds, P. D., Hay, M. & Camp, S. M. (1999). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 1999
Executive Summary.
7
Walstad,W. B. (1994). Entrepreneurship and Small Business in the United States. . University
of Nebraska-Lincoln & The Gallup Organization.
Walstad, W. B. & Kourilsky, M. L. (1999). Seeds of Success: Entrepreneurship and Youth
Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
The research was conducted using Computer Assisted 3.3 Research among indigenous Australians
Telephone Interviewing (CATI) technology. CATI uses a
computerised questionnaire administered to respondents A dedicated, culturally appropriate component of research
over the telephone, and helps to rule out human error in was conducted among people who identify as Aboriginal or
administering skips, rotations and other questionnaire as Torres Strait Islanders. The main reasons the views of
design features. these Australians were examined in a separate research
component are:
Sample size
• due to their low incidence in the population, the views
A sample size of 784 was chosen to deliver the requisite of this group are difficult, if not impossible, to capture in
8
levels of statistical accuracy. This selection was made with a national telephone survey; and
consideration of the need to be able to compare the results
• the research needed to be conducted in a way that
obtained in this survey with those obtained from future
encouraged open and honest discussion amongst
tracking studies.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth, through the
Consideration was also given to the size of the sub-sample use of moderators from the same cultural background.
of participants completing an apprenticeship or traineeship, For these reasons, it was seen to be methodologically
such that valid analyses could be performed when this group inappropriate to evaluate the attitudes and views of
was disaggregated from the total sample. Indigenous Australians as part of the national telephone
survey. Therefore, a specialist agency, Cultural Perspectives,
Statistical analysis was sub-contracted to gather the views of indigenous
Australian youth. The research involved four mini-group
Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS Version 9.0.
discussions conducted in Alice Springs, Sydney and Cairns.
Depending upon the level of measurement, a variety of tests
was employed, including Chi-squared, Kendall’s Tau-B,
Student’s t, Pearson’s r, ANOVA and Fisher’s exact tests.
A large number of statistical tests were carried out. Not all
have been reported. To be included in the report, a result
had to be statistically significant, non-trivial and of some
potential interest to the reader.

In general, non-significant results have not been reported,

except where there was adequate statistical power and the
failure to find a relationship is itself of interest. Because only
21 people in the sample self-identified as being of Aboriginal
or Torres Strait Islander background, tests of differences
between this group and the general community lacked
statistical power and have not been reported. A separate
qualitative exercise was conducted with people of Aboriginal
or Torres Strait Islander background (see Sub-section 3.3
below).

In addition to the inferential test described above, SPSS’s

bivariate logistic regression and univariate general linear
model procedures were used to develop and evaluate
predictive models.

8
Sample size of 784 yields a 95% confidence interval, on a comparison of proportions,
of ±5%.

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 11
 4 Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship This Section reports on the perceived characteristics of
entrepreneurs, how young Australians rate their own
personal qualities, their attitudes towards entrepreneurship
and their views on the entrepreneurial climate in Australia.

4.1 Personal qualities of entrepreneurs

At the outset of the questionnaire, the following description
of an entrepreneur was read, to help ensure that all
participants were using the same frame of reference. This
description, necessarily brief in the context of a telephone
interview, was based on the qualitative research and the
international literature.

An “entrepreneur” is a person who recognises opportunities,

has ideas and uses them to create or develop a business.

According to a broader definition of entrepreneurship, it is

argued that entrepreneurial qualities may be manifested in
areas of endeavour other than business. At the outset of
this research, it was countenanced that this research could
be conducted within this broader framework. However, the
qualitative research found that there was a great deal of
variation in young Australians’:

• familiarity with the concept of entrepreneurship; and

• ability to define the concept, and the sophistication of

the definitions they came up with.

Furthermore, young Australians’ notion of entrepreneurship

(such as it was), was firmly anchored in a business setting
and the commercialisation of ideas, precluding valid research
from being conducted within the broader notion of
entrepreneurship. Hence, the definition provided above was
consistent with this context.

In the quantitative phase, participants were asked to rate

nine characteristics, on a scale of 0-10, in terms of:

• how important they thought each characteristic would

be in helping entrepreneurs to be successful9; and

• how they rate themselves on that characteristic.

9
Note that this is akin to asking the extent to which it is necessary for entrepreneurs to
possess this characteristic. The answers can also be used to provide a picture of the
attributes that are perceived to be held by a “typical” entrepreneur.

12 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
Perceived importance of entrepreneurial attributes

Figure 4.1 shows the mean ratings for the perceived importance of each characteristic.10

Figure 4.1 Perceived importance of entrepreneurial attributes

10.0
9.1 9.0 8.9 8.9
9.0 8.5
8.0 8.0
8.0 7.7

7.0
6.4
6.0

5.0

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0
Determination Confidence Being good Enthusiasm Creativity and Accepting Intelligence Honesty Ruthlessness
and with people and energy the ability to possibility
persistence be innovative of loss

It is unsurprising that these ratings are all towards the high • accepting of the possibility of loss in order to have a
end of the scale, given that these qualities have been chance of succeeding; and
identified as important in the literature, and emerged from
• intelligence.
the exploratory qualitative phase as being seen as
important. The relative perceived importance is thus of There was considerable disagreement about the importance
greater interest than the absolute levels. The results indicate of ‘honesty’ as a characteristic that helps entrepreneurs to
that the following four personal qualities are seen to be be successful (SD= 2.30), with some regarding it as essential
essential to the success of an entrepreneur: and others seeing it as incidental. Honesty was seen as less
important by older respondents [r=-.128, p<.001].
• determination and persistence;
Perceptions of the importance of honesty also appeared to
• confidence;
be influenced by the occupation status of the respondent’s
• being good with people; and parents. Those with fathers in blue-collar occupations see
honesty as more important to entrepreneurs than those
• enthusiasm and energy.
from professional backgrounds [p<.05]. A similar result was
Slightly less critical, but still gaining high mean importance found when considering mother’s occupation status [p<.01].
ratings, were the following characteristics: Participants who had ever started an apprenticeship or
traineeship (again, more likely to be drawn from blue-collar
• creativity and the ability to be innovative;
occupations) also rated honesty as more important [p<.05].

Likewise, those citing their parents or other family members

10
Some of the labels on these graphs have been abbreviated. In particular, ‘accepting the
possibility of loss in order to have a chance of succeeding’ appears as ‘accepting possibility
of loss’. The full characteristics can be found at 1.1 of the questionnaire, Appendix A.
as a source of positive influence on their views about
starting up a business were more likely to see honesty as a
highly important trait of entrepreneurs [p<.01, p<.05].

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 13
 There was a significant difference between respondents on
different household income levels’ ratings of the importance
of honesty for an entrepreneur [p<.001], with those in lower
to middle ($10-49K) income brackets rating honesty as more
important than those in the higher brackets. Likewise, those
with lower education levels saw honesty as being more
important [p<.001]. In contrast, people on higher incomes
gave more prominence to determination and persistence
[p<.01].
Other statistically significant differences between sub-
groups in the sample are outlined below.
• being good with people [p<.05];
• honesty [p<.01]; and
• accepting possibility of loss in order to have a chance of
succeeding [p<.05].
Neither the type of school attended, participation in work
experience programs while at school nor studying business
subjects had any significant influence on perceptions of the
characteristics of entrepreneurs.

People outside the mainland capital cities place more

importance on ‘being good with people’ and ‘honesty’ as
characteristics of entrepreneurs [p<.05, p<.001]. Those who
were or had been an apprentice or trainee or who had
studied for a TAFE certificate rated ‘being good with people’
as a more important characteristic of entrepreneurs [p<.01,
p<.01].

Females rate a number of attributes as being more

important characteristics of entrepreneurs than do males:

• being good with people [p<.001];

• determination and persistence [p<.01];

• confidence [p<.05];

• honesty [p<.001];

• intelligence [p<.05];

• enthusiasm [p<.001]; and

• acceptance of loss [p<.05].

Interestingly, those who had already started their own

business rated ‘intelligence’ as being less important than
those who had not done so [p< .05]. Reflecting this pattern,
the more business owners that were known to the
respondent, the more likely they were to see intelligence as
less important [r=-.081, p<.05]. Those who were self-
employed rated ‘determination’ [p<.05] and ‘creativity’ as
more important than did those who were not self-employed
[p<.05]. Conversely, having parents who were business
owners had no effect on any of the perceptions about
entrepreneurial characteristics.

Those who expressed a desire to start their own business in

the future rated the following three attributes as being more
important than those who had no desire to start a business:

14 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
Self-rating of entrepreneurial attributes

Respondents were asked to rate the extent to which they

possessed each of these attributes. Figure 4.2 shows the
mean self-ratings for each characteristic.

Figure 4.2 Self-rating of entrepreneurial attributes

10.0

9.0
8.4
8.1
8.0 7.7 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.4
7.0 6.8

6.0
4.9
5.0

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.0
Honesty Being good Enthusiasm Determination Confidence Intelligence Creativity and Accepting Ruthlessness
with people and energy and the ability to possibility of
persistence be innovative loss

The characteristics ‘honesty’ and ‘being good with people’ • being good with people [p<.01];
had the highest mean self-ratings. Participants were less
• determination [p<.05];
likely to see themselves as a ‘ruthless’ person, or as someone
who ‘accepts the possibility of loss in order to have a chance • confidence [p<.01];
of succeeding’. The issue of risk-taking is discussed in more • enthusiasm [p<.05];
depth in Section 6. Statistically significant findings are noted
below. • accepting the possibility of loss [p<.05]; and

Residents of mainland capital cities rated themselves as
being less honest than young people from regional areas
did [p<.001].
Females rate themselves as being better with people
[p<.001], more honest [p<.001] and more enthusiastic than
males did [p<.01]. In contrast, males rated themselves as
more confident than females did [p<.01].
Those who had started their own business in the past rated
themselves more highly than those who had not done so on
a number of attributes:
• creativity [p<.05].
Those who had a desire to start their own business at some
stage in the future rated themselves more highly than those
who did not want to start a business on almost the same
attributes as those who had already started a business:
• being good with people [p<.05];
• confidence [p<.01];
• enthusiasm [p<.05];
• accepting the possibility of loss [p<.01]; and
• creativity [p<.05].

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 15
 Self-employed people rated themselves as being more A similar pattern of results was found for those who saw
ruthless than did people who were not self-employed [p<.01]. other family members as a strong positive influence.

Those who had undertaken or were currently in an
apprenticeship or traineeship rated themselves as more
ruthless [p<.05] and more confident [p<.05] than those who
had never been an apprentice or trainee did. However, they
tended to rate themselves as less intelligent [p<.05].
Those who found their parents to be a strong positive
influence on their views on starting a business rated
themselves higher on a number of attributes than did those
who did not see their parents as having such an influence:
• being good with people [p<.01];
• determination [p<.001];
• confidence [p<.05];
• honesty [p<.01];
• enthusiasm [p<.05]; and
• accepting the possibility of loss [p<.01].
Educational experiences generally had no significant effect
on self-perceptions of these attributes.
Comparison with perception of entrepreneurs
In general, mean self-ratings were lower than importance
ratings on each characteristic. In other words, young people
typically felt that characteristics were important to
entrepreneurs to a greater extent than they themselves
possessed these characteristics. Across a large sample of
young people, this is to be expected. Our interest is more in
those relatively few young people who defy this general
trend and rate themselves as being equal to or ahead of
entrepreneurs on these characteristics. An analysis was
done to establish, for each characteristic, what proportion of
young people feel that they possess as much or more of that
characteristic as entrepreneurs do. The results are shown in
Figure 4.3.

Figure 4.3 Proportion of young people who rate themselves equal to or higher than entrepreneurs

Honesty 73.7%

Intelligence 48.5%

Being good with people 46.2%

Accepting possibility of loss 40.7%

Enthusiasm and energy 35.5%

Ruthlessness 34.0%

Creativity and the ability

to be innovative 33.7%

Determination and persitence 27.7%

Confidence 27.1%

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0% 70.0% 80.0%

16 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
The results suggest that most young Australians (73.7%) see
themselves as possessing honesty to the same, or greater,
extent than entrepreneurs. Only slightly more than a
quarter of participants saw themselves as equally or more
confident, or determined and persistent.
Almost all respondents (97.4%) rated themselves as equal
to or greater than entrepreneurs on at least one
characteristic. Very few, however, (1.5%) claimed to be equal
or above entrepreneurs on all nine characteristics. The most
frequent pattern was for respondents to claim to be equal
or above on only three characteristics of the nine. Of course,
honesty was often one of these.
Possessing and acquiring entrepreneurial qualities
In addition to rating themselves on the specific
characteristics reported above, participants were asked
whether they felt that, overall, they had the necessary
characteristics to be an entrepreneur. Almost two-thirds of
participants (62.8%) said they felt that they did. This shows
that most young people perceive that they do not need all
Figure 4.4 Possessing and acquiring entrepreneurial characteristics
20.3%
Already have the characteristics needed
Would like to become this sort of person
Would not like to become this sort of person
Unsure
12.6%
nine characteristics (or even the most important ones) to
become an entrepreneur.
Indeed, for eight of the characteristics above, the proportion
that saw themselves as having an equal or greater degree
of that characteristic as entrepreneurs was below 50%. They
may believe they possess the necessary characteristics to a
sufficient degree to be an entrepreneur, and that, if they
were to become entrepreneurs, these qualities would
develop.
Those who indicated that they did not see themselves as
generally having the characteristics of an entrepreneur were
asked,‘Would you like to become this sort of person?’. More
than half of these participants (54.5%) indicated ‘no’, 33.9%
indicated ‘yes’, and the remainder (11.6%) said they were
unsure.
Combining the answers to these two questions, the
proportion of young Australians who feel they already have
the necessary characteristics and the aspirations of those
who feel they do not are illustrated in Figure 4.4.
4.3%
62.8%
EMERGING INDUSTRIES 17
 These results were consistent in all parts of Australia. Males impact on others and on society generally. The data were
were more likely to rate themselves as having these coded as a Likert scale:
characteristics than were females [p<.05]. Unsurprisingly,
5 = strongly agree
so were those who had already started a business [p<.01] or
who had a desire to start their own business [p<.001]. 4 = agree

Other than as noted above, socio-demographic 3 = unsure

characteristics had little impact on the likelihood that 2 = disagree
respondents would say they possessed the characteristics
needed to be an entrepreneur. Educational experience also 1 = strongly disagree11
had little significant impact, except in the case of those who The mean ratings are shown in Figure 4.5.
had studied computer science at school, who were more
likely to rate themselves as having these characteristics than In general, the results suggest that young Australians view
were people who had never taken this subject [p<.05]. This entrepreneurial activity in a favourable light, as evidenced by
may be because such people choose computer science and the mean high levels of agreement with the following
thus is not necessarily an effect of having taken this subject. positive statements:

• they create jobs;

4.2 Attitudes • they help Australia compete in the world; and

• they provide goods and services that people need.

Attitudes towards entrepreneurs
... and, on average, disagreement with the following
Participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement
statements:
with a series of statements about entrepreneurs and their

Figure 4.5 Attitudes to entrepreneurs

Create jobs 4.1

Help Australia compete in the world 4.0

Provide goods & services people need 3.9

Australia needs more entrepreneurs 3.8

Are people others look up to 3.7

Are just out to make money 3.1

Spend too little time with family and friends 3.0

Are selfish people 2.4

Destroy more jobs than they create 2.3

Do more harm than good 2.2

1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0

11
This coding was also used to analyse all other agree/disagree items in the questionnaire.

18 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
• they do more harm than good;
• they destroy more jobs than they create; and
• they are selfish people.
A large proportion (44.8%) of participants agreed (including
strong agreement) with the statement,‘They are just out to
make money’, and 36.1% disagreed (including strong
disagreement) with this statement. Whether being driven
by a desire to make money has a negative social stigma
among young Australians is somewhat contentious,
particularly since 65.6% of participants agreed with the
statement ‘people who have built great personal wealth are
admired’.
Views on whether entrepreneurs ‘spend too little time with
family and friends’ were also mixed, with 33.4% of
participants agreeing (including strong agreement) and
31.8% disagreeing (including strong disagreement) with this
statement.
It should be noted that, for many of the statements, the
proportion of participants who said they were unsure
whether they were in agreement or disagreement was quite
high (see Figure 4.6). This finding is consistent with the
exploratory qualitative investigation, which suggested that
many young Australians had not given a great deal of
thought to these matters and lacked a concept of
entrepreneurship. The relatively high level of ‘unsure’
responses is also evident in the responses to other statement
series in the questionnaire.
Some of the significant relationships in the data are
explained below.
Those who reside outside the mainland capital cities regard
entrepreneurs as people others look up to more so than do
capital city residents [p<.05]. Females believe that
entrepreneurs provide goods and services that people need
more so than do males [p<.01]. Females also believe that
entrepreneurs are people that others look up to more so
than do males [p<.001]. This may be because males are more
likely to believe that entrepreneurs are selfish people, and are
just out to make money [p<.01, p<.001].
No doubt reflecting their experience in these matters, those
who had started a business of their own agreed more
strongly with the statement that entrepreneurs spend too
little time with family and friends than did those who had
never owned a business [p<.05].

Figure 4.6 Attitudes to entrepreneurs as proportions

Strongly Agree Agree Unsure Disagree Strongly Disagree

Do more harm than good

Destroy more jobs then they create

Are selfish people

Spend too little time with

family and friends

Are just out to make money

Are people others look up to

Australia needs more

entrepreneurs
Provide goods & services
people need

Help Australia compete

in the world

Create jobs

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 19
 Those who expressed a desire to start their own business
agreed more than those who did not with two positive
statements about entrepreneurs:
• help Australia compete in the world [p<.05]; and
• Australia needs more entrepreneurs [p<.001].
Those who had no desire to start up a business agreed more
with negative statements about entrepreneurs than those
that did want to start a business:
• they destroy more jobs than they create [p<.01];
• they are just out to make money [p<.05];
• they do more harm than good [p<.05];
• they are selfish people [p<.05]; and
• they spend too little time with family and friends
[p<.05].
Having parents as business owners had no bearing on
attitudes toward entrepreneurs.
Those who reported speaking a language other than English
at home agreed more with the statement ‘they help
Australia compete in the world’ than did those who only
spoke English at home [p<.05].
The Government’s “Promoting Young Entrepreneurs”
initiative (ISR) provides for the identification of
“Entrepreneurial Heroes” - case studies of successful young
Australian entrepreneurs to serve as inspirational role
models to intending entrepreneurs and other young people
considering their future career paths.
In this context, it is interesting to note that those who rated
‘hearing about people in the media becoming successful’ as
a strong positive influence agreed more with all the positive
statements about entrepreneurs:12
• provide goods/services [p<.05];
• help Australia compete in world [p<.01];
• Australia needs more entrepreneurs [p<.01]; and
• others look up to them [p<.01].
12
Except that they create jobs, where there was no significant effect.
13
Reynolds, P. D., Hay, M. & Camp, S. M. (1999). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 1999
Executive Summary.
20 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
With respect to the statement that entrepreneurs ‘do more
harm than good’, those who did not think hearing about
people in the media was particularly influential agreed more
with this statement than those who did [p<.01].
Educational experiences generally had little impact on
perceptions of entrepreneurs. One of the few exceptions
was that those who had taken the subject business studies
at school agreed more than those who had not done this
subject that entrepreneurs create jobs [p<.01], provide goods
and services that people need [p<.001] and that Australia
needs more entrepreneurs [p<.05]. In contrast, those who
had never done business studies agreed more that
entrepreneurs destroy more jobs than they create [p<.01]
and are only out to make money [p<.05].
None of these attitudes to entrepreneurial activity is related
to the number of business owners known to the respondent.
Capacity, opportunity and social context
Sub-section 1.5 of the questionnaire was also based on a
series of statements about the opportunity and capacity for
entrepreneurship in Australia. In developing a model of
entrepreneurial processes, Reynolds, Hay and Camp (1999)13
postulate that:
... the level of entrepreneurial activity is a function of the
degree to which individuals recognise the entrepreneurial
opportunities available and that they have the capacity -
motivation and skills - to exploit them.
This model is being tested by the Global Entrepreneurship
Monitor (GEM), which is a multi-national enterprise,
designed to obtain comparable data on issues of
entrepreneurship across 21 countries. GEM findings suggest
that skill in opportunity recognition, capacity to act on
opportunities and respect for entrepreneurship as a
career option are necessary conditions to promote
entrepreneurship, but are not sufficient to generate high
levels of entrepreneurial activity in a society.
The section addressing these issues was designed to gauge
perceptions of:
• the capacity of Australians for entrepreneurial activity
( in Figure 4.7);
• opportunities in Australia for entrepreneurial activity
( in Figure 4.7); and
• the cultural climate and degree of acceptance of
entrepreneurial behaviour ( in Figure 4.7)
Using the same Likert scale discussed above, the mean levels
14
of agreement are shown in Figure 4.7.

Figure 4.7 Opportunity, capacity and social context

Friends would respect someone

who started own business 4.0

Plenty with ability to start 3.9

successful businesses

Starting a new business is a 3.9

respected occupation

People who have built 3.6

wealth are admired

Plenty of opportunites to start 3.5

successful businesses

Australians tend to be more 3.4

innovative

Younger people believe they 3.4

should not rely on government

Australians good at turning 3.3

ideas into businesses

People who have built 2.9

wealth are resented

1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0

The results indicate that, on average, young Australians
perceive a favourable cultural climate for entrepreneurial
activity, with the highest mean level of agreement on ‘my
friends would respect someone who started their own
business’. Likewise, ‘starting a new business is a respected
occupation in the Australian community’ received a high
mean level of agreement (3.9).
15
Reynolds, Hay and Camp (1999) argue that:
Tolerance of income disparity [and] respect for those who
accumulate wealth through entrepreneurial endeavours ...
are the hallmarks of a strong entrepreneurial culture.
Given this suggestion that these attitudes contribute to a
nation’s level of entrepreneurship, it was seen as worthwhile
to measure some of these in the current study.
14
The labels on the graph have been abbreviated. The statements can be found at 1.5 of
the questionnaire, Appendix A.
15
Reynolds, P. D., Hay, M. & Camp, S. M. (1999). Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: 1999
Executive Summary.
Most participants agreed with the claim that ‘in Australia,
people who have built great personal wealth are admired’.
At the same time, a sizeable proportion (35.5%) agreed with
the statement, ‘in Australia, people who have built great
personal wealth are resented’, but 42.6% disagreed.
In general, Australia was seen to have the capacity for
entrepreneurial activity, with the mean level of agreement
with the statement ‘there are plenty of Australians with the
ability to start successful businesses’ being 3.9. With respect
to the creative capacity of Australians, a large proportion of
participants were unsure whether they agreed or disagreed
with the statements:
• compared with people in other countries, Australians
tend to be more innovative; and
• compared with people in other countries, Australians
are good at turning their ideas into profitable
businesses.
Nonetheless, the proportion who agreed with these
statements outweighed the proportion who disagreed, as
shown in Figure 4.8.

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 21
 Figure 4.8 Opportunity, capacity and social context as proportions

Strongly Agree Agree Unsure Disagree Strongly Disagree

Friends would respect someone

who started own business

Plenty with ability to

start businesses

Starting a new business is a

respected occupation

People who have built

wealth are admired

Plenty of opportunities to start

successful businesses

Australians tend to be
more innovative

Younger people believe they

should not rely on government

Australians good at turning

ideas into businesses

People who have built

wealth are resented

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

There was considerable variation between subgroups in the
levels of agreement with these statements. Residents of
mainland capital cities agreed more than those from
regional areas that young people think they should not rely
too heavily on government [p<.05] and that people with
great wealth are resented [p<.01].
Females agreed more than males with statements that there
are plenty of people with the ability to start successful
businesses [p<.05], that their friends would respect these
people [p<.01] and that young people should not rely too
heavily on the government [p<.05]. Those on higher incomes
also tended to agree more strongly with this latter
statement [p<.05].
Those who had started their own business agreed more than
those who had not done so that people who had built great
personal wealth are resented [p<.05].
As might be expected, those who expressed a desire to start
their own business agreed more with certain positive
statements about starting a business than did those who
had no such desire:
• there are plenty of opportunities for Australians to start
successful businesses [p<.001];
• there are plenty of Australians with the ability to start
successful businesses [p<.001];
• starting a new business is a respected occupation in the
Australian community [p<.001];
• my friends would respect someone who started their
own business [p<.05]; and
• in Australia, people who have built great personal
wealth are admired [p<.05].

22 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
Those who have parents who are business owners agree
more with the propositions that there are plenty of people
with the ability to start a business [p<.01] and that this is a
respected occupation [p<.01].

Respondents with different levels of educational attainment

differed significantly on strength of agreement that
Australians are good at turning ideas to profit, with those
with less education agreeing more [p<.01]. This was the only
statement whose results were affected by education level.

Of interest from a communications standpoint, those for

whom ‘hearing in the media about people becoming
successful’ was a strong positive influence agreed more than
those who were not so influenced that there are plenty of
opportunities for starting businesses [p<.01], that Australians
are good at turning ideas to businesses [p<.01] and that
those with great personal wealth are admired [p<.05].

Interestingly, the mean result on the statement ‘In Australia,

most younger people believe that they should not rely too
heavily on the government’ (Mean=3.4) was similar to that
found in the GEM Australia study among adults (Mean≈3.3)
but below the average level for all GEM countries
16
(Mean≈3.4). In the US, the corresponding mean is much
higher (Mean ≈ 4.2) reflecting a stronger sense of self-
reliance.

16
Hindle, K. & Rushworth, S. (2000) The Yellow Pages Global Entrepreneurship Monitor,
Australia Swinburne University of Technology & Pacific Access Pty Ltd

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 23
 5 Starting a business
Starting a This Section reports the findings from part 2 of the

business questionnaire, including respondents’ desire to start a

business and the perceived benefits and barriers to their
starting a business.

5.1 Starting a business

Of the research participants, 10.3% said that they had set up
a business in the past. In response to the question, ‘do you
want to start a business of your own at some time in the
future?’, 68.2% of all participants agreed. This compares with
a figure of 65% found in a recent study of young people in
17
the United States.

Those who indicated they would like to start a business of

their own at some time in the future were asked:

• how long have you been thinking about starting a

business of your own?; and

• and when in the future do you think you will start a

business of your own?.

The median response to the first question was two years,

while the median estimate in response to the second
question was six years.

Having set up a business was unrelated to demographic

factors such as household income, gender, language spoken
at home and location. Older respondents were more likely
to have started their own businesses, [p<.01] but this is
probably a reflection of the fact that, being older, they have
had more opportunity to do so.

Among adults, the GEM for Australia18 found, with respect

to start-ups, that the participation of males is much higher
than that of females. Among young people, there appears
to be no such gender effect, with males and females equally
likely to have started a business of their own.

17
Walstad, W. B. & Kourilsky, M. L. (1999). Seeds of Success: Entrepreneurship and Youth
Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company.
18
Hindle, K. & Rushworth, S. (2000). The Yellow Pages Global Entrepreneurship Monitor,
Australia. Swinburne University of Technology & Pacific Access Pty Ltd

24 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
Those who were or had been an apprentice or trainee were
more likely to have started a business than those who had
never been an apprentice or trainee [p<.01], as were the
children of business owners [p<.01].
Looking at parental background, the mother’s occupation
status exerted a significant influence on having started a
business of one’s own, with 56.7% of these people having
mothers who were in managerial, professional or para-
professional positions [p<.05]. The father’s occupation status
exerted no significant influence.
Although there was no gender difference with respect to
having already set up a business, males were more likely to
express a desire to start up a business of their own at some
time in the future (p<.01).
Younger respondents (15-18 year olds) were more likely to
want to start their own businesses than older respondents
(19-24 year olds) (p<.05), as were respondents who spoke a
language other than English at home (p<.01).
Having set up a business at some stage in the past exerted
no significant influence on the desire to start-up a business
in the future.
Those who had studied business courses were more likely to
want to start a business of their own (p<.05), although this
link may be an artefact, rather than a cause. Furthermore,
81% of those expecting to reach (or who had reached) the
level of a TAFE certificate/diploma wanted to start a business
compared with only 63% of those expecting to finish
university. There was a significant negative correlation
between the desire to start a business and educational
attainment (r = -.140, p<.001), and also with parental
educational attainment (r = -.067, p<.05). However, those
who were currently studying were more likely to want to
start up their own business (p<.05), as well as those who
had ever been or were currently apprentices or trainees
(p<.05).
Young people whose parents were business owners were
more likely to want to start a business of their own (p<.01).
Otherwise, parental occupation did not influence aspirations
for starting one’s own business. Household income was also
unrelated to desire to start a business. Nor was there any
difference between metropolitan and regional areas with
respect to wanting to start up a business.
To gain a more thorough understanding of the rationale
behind these responses concerning wanting or not wanting
to set up a business, participants were asked, ‘Why do you
say that? Is there any particular reason?’. The responses are
summarised under the following sub-headings.
Stated reasons for wanting to set up a business
The most commonly stated motivation for starting a
business was “to be your own boss”. Some claimed that they
disliked “being told what to do”, or felt that they were not
good at taking orders from others. Participants perceived
that owning one’s own business afforded independence,
freedom and flexibility, giving one the freedom to make
decisions about their salary, working hours (and location),
their career and the direction of their business. Being one’s
own boss was seen to allow someone to be self-reliant and
in control.
The sense of self-satisfaction derived from fulfilling an
ambition was another strong motivator. Many anticipated
feeling a strong sense of pride, knowing that they had
created something of their own, using their own ideas and
skills. Setting challenges for oneself, and succeeding, was
seen as a way of achieving personal growth.
Similarly, owning a business was seen as a way of garnering
respect and admiration. Some participants were attracted
to the idea of making a name for themselves, being treated
with respect, or even becoming famous by developing their
own business.
Apart from the personal rewards, an equally common reason
cited for starting a business was reaping financial rewards.
Many believed that owning one’s business was either the
easiest, the most guaranteed, or the sole way of making a
lot of money. A few said they felt exploited working for
others, and wished to derive the benefits of profits. Others
were attracted to the idea of having other people working
for them. Evidently, there is a strong desire for financial
security, and many were under the impression that, as the
owner of a business, they could set their own salary. There
was a perception among some that working for oneself, in
contrast to working for others, offered financial and job
security. A few also mentioned the tax benefits associated
with owning one’s own business, which were seen as
desirable.
EMERGING INDUSTRIES 25
 Consistent with the desire to be one’s own boss, a number
of participants expressed resentment of “working for other
companies. I want to work in my own business and do it my
way”. Some were of the view that it is particularly difficult
to suggest or implement one’s own ideas while working in
a large company, and it is difficult to see the direct results
of one’s work. Furthermore, by owning a business, one could
escape the imposed hierarchy in (particularly, large)
companies, and determine their own career path. Some
were also motivated by a perception that they could surpass
the business performance of their current employers.
The reasons given by some participants for wanting to start
a business were more altruistic. These people envisaged
owning their own business as a way of giving something
back to the community by creating jobs, providing much
needed services and products, and contributing to Australia’s
wealth.19 Some anticipated a sense of satisfaction from
doing something that could “help people”, although this did
not appear to stem solely from the idea of running one’s
own business per se, but (particularly for those aspiring to
set up their own practice as a health professional) seemed
to be intrinsically linked to the services that could be
provided by the business.
The views or behaviours of their parents seemed to
be influential for a number of participants. Parental
expectations, or a sense of duty, seemed to be a motivating
factor, with some expressing a desire to take over the family
business, to “keep it going”, or to live up to the success
attained by their parents.
Stated reasons for not wanting to set up a business
Among those who stated they did not want to start their
own business, many participants indicated that they had
already chosen a career path that offered little or no
opportunity of going into business for oneself. These careers
included teaching, nursing, social work, and the defence
forces. It was interesting to note that some participants
appeared to interpret any form of self-employment as
‘starting up a business’, while others did not. Those who
aspired to be dancers, musicians or freelance professionals
also felt that their choice was divorced from the concept of
having one’s own business.
19
These responses may have been influenced to some extent by the content of attitudinal
statements appearing earlier in the questionnaire. It is unlikely that any such effects
would be large.
26 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
Many expressed a complete lack of interest in business, or
considered that they were not suited to starting a business.
A key barrier for many was not wanting the responsibility of
running a business, or that they saw themselves as
insufficiently responsible people. Owning a business was
seen to involve long hours, stress, the burden of supervising
employees and, generally, “too much work”. In this way, the
responsibility of running a business was seen to require too
many sacrifices, such as limited time to spend with one’s
family, or not having the freedom to travel. Many were
happy in their current situation and felt they were the kind
of people that liked working for others. These people had
no desire to be their own boss and were comfortable being
given orders and not having to make important decisions.
Others felt they lacked the knowledge, the skills or creativity
to start up their own company, with some saying they would
not know what sort of business they would start.
A number of respondents identified the risks involved in
starting up and running a business as reasons for not
wanting to start their own business. Some of these
comments were non-specific (such as “too risky”), while
others mentioned raising the initial capital and a lack of
financial backing as reasons for not wanting to start a
business. Some reported seeing people they knew fail in
business, have financial difficulties or have to struggle to
sustain their businesses. One participant simply cited the
“possibility of being unsuccessful” as a barrier.
In contrast, a professional career was seen to be a “safer
option”, conferring more job security. A few participants
expressed a preference for working for a large, respected
firm and perceived that there was often more prestige in
being a professional than in being a small business owner.
Some also considered that it would take a substantial period
of hard work running a business before they were rewarded
for their efforts.
A large proportion of respondents were unsure of their
futures. They had no plans as yet, and had not given much
thought to starting up a business. Many of these
respondents were still at school and felt it would be too
premature to commit to decisions about their future. Others
felt it would be wise to gather more information and advice
about starting a business, and develop more experience in
the workforce before making any decisions concerning
starting their own business. This group represent a target
for raising awareness about the benefits of starting one’s
own business.
Influence of personality factors
A correlation analysis was conducted to determine the
extent to which the various (self-rated) character attributes
discussed in Sub-section 4.1 influenced respondents’ desire
to set up a business of their own. In descending order, they
are:
• confidence [r=0.120];
• accepting loss to have chance of succeeding [r=0.096];
• enthusiasm and energy [r=0.089];
• creativity and the ability to be innovative [r=0.085]; and
• being good with people [r=0.079].
Importance of attitudes and beliefs, rather than
personality factors
On the basis of this series of analyses, it seems appropriate
to conclude that self-rated personality factors are not reliable
predictors of entrepreneurial activity. In fact, as discussed
below in Sub-section 5.4, attitudes to starting a business
and to the benefits and barriers to doing so are far more
useful than attributes in predicting actual and planned
business activity. From a policy point of view, this is a
pleasing result, in that entrepreneurial activity appears to
be linked more closely to attitudes and beliefs (which are
open to influence) than to relatively immutable personality
20
traits.

All these were significant at the p<.05 level, although they

could all be classed as very weak relationships. None of the
measured attributes were negatively correlated with a desire
to set up one’s own business.

Both the literature and the results of this research suggest

that entrepreneurship is not reducible to an individual’s
possessing a single characteristic or even a small number of
characteristics. Therefore, bivariate correlations (such as
those reported above) of individual attributes with a desire
to set up a business are a relatively crude tool. Even weaker
relationships were found between each of these attributes
and whether or not the person had actually set up a
business.

A potentially more useful approach is to use the whole array

of personality dimensions in a single analysis. To this end,
a derived variable was created to represent the number of
personality attributes on which each respondent felt they
equalled or exceeded entrepreneurs. However, using age as
a covariate and selecting whether or not the respondent had
actually set up a business as the dependent variable, this
derived variable proved to be a weak predictor of
entrepreneurial behaviour [R2=0.036] and an even weaker
predictor of entrepreneurial intentions.

More success was found in using the sum of the raw self-
rating scores on those attributes identified in the literature
as being important determinants of entrepreneurship (i.e. all
those measured apart from honesty). A similarly-specified
linear model, with age as a co-factor, predicted whether or
not the respondent had actually set up a business slightly
more reliably, but still not well enough to be useful predictor 20
The limitations of using self-assessment of personality traits is discussed
of behaviour [R2=0.089]. Nor was it possible to produce a in Sub-section 5.4.

reliable predictor of the desire to set up a business.

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 27
 5.2 Benefits of starting a business Importance of benefits and values

In terms of perceived importance, the mean levels of

Sub-section 4.6 of the questionnaire investigated the
possible benefits of starting one’s own business.
Participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement
with a series of statement pairs to determine:
• the perceived importance of various benefits and values;
and
• whether starting one’s business represents a way of
achieving these benefits.
As in previous questions, a five point Likert scale was used
to measure the level of stated agreement or disagreement.
agreement with each statement are shown in Figure 5.1.21
Clearly,‘earning a living doing something I enjoy’ and ‘having
a career that uses my skills and abilities fully’ are of key
importance to young Australians. On average, issues of
control, including ‘working the hours I want’ and ‘being my
own boss’ were seen as important, yet less critical to young
Australians. Even though the mean level of agreement with
the statement ‘It’s important to me to make lots of money’
was middling at 3.2, 48.5% of participants agreed with the
statement, compared to 36.2% disagreeing, as illustrated in
Figure 5.2.

Figure 5.1 Perceived importance of benefits

5.0
4.6
4.5 4.4
4.2
4.0
4.0 3.8 3.7

3.5 3.2
3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0
Earn a living doing Have a career that Put my ideas Build up Be able to work Have control from Make lots of
something I enjoy uses my into practice something for the hours I want being own boss money
skills/abilities fully my family

21
The labels on the graph have been abbreviated. All of these statements began with the
phrase,‘It’s important to me to..’. The statements can be found at 2.6 of the questionnaire,
Appendix A.

28 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
Figure 5.2 Perceived importance of benefits as proportions

Strongly Agree Agree Unsure Disagree Strongly Disagree

Earn a living doing

something I enjoy

Have a career that uses

my skills/abilities fully

Put my ideas into practice

Build up something
for my family

Be able to work the

hours I want

Have control from

being own boss

Make lots of money

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Perhaps reflecting their generally longer working hours, it is
more important for those residing in mainland capital cities
to be able to work the hours they want than for those
residing in other parts of the country [p<.05].
Both control from being your own boss [p<.01] and making
lots of money [p<.001] are more important to males than
females.
Being able to put their ideas into practice was more
important to those who had ever started their own business
[p<.01]. Those who had a desire to start their own business
found all of these statements (except use my skills and
abilities fully) to be more important to them than did those
who had no desire to be business founders:
• the control that comes from being my own boss
[p<.001];
• build up something for my family [p<.01];
• make lots of money [p<.001];
• earn a living doing something I enjoy [p<.001]; and
• work the hours I want [p<.01].
Those who had ever been an apprentice or trainee found
being able to build something up for their family [p<.05] and
making lots of money [p<.05] to be more important to them
than did respondents who had never been an apprentice or
trainee.
Children of business owners found making money [p<.05],
putting ideas into practice [p<.01] and being able to use their
skills fully [p<.05] to be more important personally than
those whose parents had never owned a business.
Those who spoke a language other than English at home
found being their own boss [p<.001], build something up for
their family [p<.01], making money [p<.001] and working the
hours they want [p<.001] to be more important to them than
did those who only spoke English at home.
Those who rated their parents as a strong positive influence
found the following to be more important to them than did
those whose parents were not such an influence:
• the control that comes from being my own boss [p<.05];
• build up something for my family [p<.01];
• make lots of money [p<.05]; and

• put my ideas into practice [p<.01].

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 29
 The control from being one’s own boss was more important
to those working as an apprentice or trainee than for those
who are not currently apprentices or trainees [p<.01]. Neither
the type of school attended nor any of the high school
programs exerted a significant influence on the benefits and
values sought by respondents.
Participants were most likely to see starting one’s own
business as a way of earning a living doing something that
one enjoys. Indeed, starting one’s own business was seen as
a way of achieving the three benefits perceived to be most
important to participants:
• earning a living doing something I enjoy;

Perceived benefits of starting a business • putting my ideas into practice; and

Having revealed the extent to which each of these benefits
were important to them, respondents were asked to rate the
extent to which starting one’s own business would deliver
these benefits. The mean levels of agreement on a five-point
22
scale are shown in Figure 5.3.
• having a career that uses my skills and abilities fully.
While starting one’s own business was also seen to deliver
‘the control that comes from being my own boss’
(mean=4.0), participants were less likely to see having one’s
own business as a way of ‘being able to work the hours
that I want’ (mean=3.4).

The responses as proportions are shown in Figure 5.4.

Figure 5.3 Benefits delivered by starting a business

5.0

4.5
4.2
4.1 4.1
4.0 3.9
4.0

3.5 3.4 3.4

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0
Earn a living doing Put my ideas Have a career Have control from Build up Be able to work the Make lots of
something I enjoy into practice that uses my being own boss something for hours I want money
skills/abilities my family

22
The labels on the graph have been abbreviated. All of these statements began with the
phrase,‘Starting my own business would mean I could ...’. The statements can be found
at 2.6 of the questionnaire, Appendix A.

30 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
Figure 5.4 Benefits delivered by starting a business as proportions

Strongly Agree Agree Unsure Disagree Strongly Disagree

Earn a living doing

something I enjoy

Put my ideas into practice

Have a career that uses my

skills/abilities fully

Have control from

being own boss

Build up something for

my family

Be able to work the

hours I want

Make lots of money

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Males believe that starting a business will allow them to
make more money, more so than do females [p<.01]. Those
expressing a desire to start their own business agreed more
than those who do not want to start a business with all of
these statements [p<.001]. So, a desire to start one’s own
business is strongly driven by the extent to which one has
a positive perception of the benefits that are to be won by
doing so.
Those who had been or were apprentices and trainees
believed that starting a business would enable them to
make more money [p<.01], earn a living doing something
they enjoy [p<.05], and put their ideas into practice [p<.05]
more than those who had never been apprentices or
trainees. Likewise, those who were currently employed as
apprentices or trainees agreed more than those who were
not that starting a business would allow them to build up
something for their families [p<.05], make lots of money
[p<.05], earn a living doing something they enjoyed [p<.05],
put their ideas into practice [p<.05] and use their skills fully
[p<.001].
Those respondents who had parents who were business
owners agree more than those whose parents have never
owned a business that starting their own business would
afford control from being one’s own boss [p<.05], allow them
to put their ideas into practice [p<.01] and utilise their skills
and abilities fully [p<.05]. Although having parents in
business affected peoples’ responses, the number of other
business owners known did not correlate significantly with
any of the statements.
Starting a business of one’s own also had a favourable image
among those speaking a language other than English at
home. These respondents were more likely to feel that it
would give them control [p<.01], allow them to make more
money [p<.05] and work their own hours [p<.01].
Those who rate their parents as a strong positive influence
agree more than those for whom parents were not seen as
strongly influential with all of the statements, except the
one concerning control [largest p<.05].
Those who report that hearing in the media about people
who have become successful has been a strong positive
influence agree more than others with all of the statements,
[largest p<.05].
That starting a business would allow one to put one’s ideas
into practice [p<.01] and use one’s skills and abilities fully
[p<.001] was believed more by those who had taken business
studies at school than by those who had not.

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 31
 Figure 5.5 Importance and delivery of benefits

Perceived importance
5.0
Achieved by having own business
4.6
4.5 4.4
4.2 4.2
4.1 4.1 4.0 3.9 4.0
4.0
3.8 3.7

3.5 3.4 3.4

3.2

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0
Earn a living doing Have a career that Put my ideas Build up Be able to work Have control from Make lots
something I enjoy uses my into practice something for the hours I want being own boss of money
skills/abilities fully my family

Comparison of benefits sought and delivered

To illustrate the perceived importance of each benefit and

whether starting one’s own business would provide that
benefit, both sets of means are shown in Figure 5.5.

In general, it appears that starting a business is perceived to

deliver benefits to approximately the extent to which young
people seek them.

32 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
5.3 Barriers to starting own business
Sub-section 4.7 of the questionnaire gauged perceptions of
the requisites for starting a business, and the extent to
which those requisites represented a barrier to starting one’s
own business.
Perceptions of barriers
The results suggest that participants are most likely to
perceive that one needs good communication skills to start
a business, and participants also agree that starting a
business involves taking a risk. The statement about which
there was most disagreement was ‘I would need a lot of
money to start my own business’ (as shown in Figure 5.7),
although most participants acknowledged this necessity.

Participants were asked to rate their level of agreement with

a series of statements, such as ‘I would need a lot of money
to start my own business’. Mean levels of agreement with
these statements (based on the same five point scale used
above) are shown in Figure 5.6.

Figure 5.6 Perceived prerequisites for starting a business

5.0

4.5 4.4
4.3
4.1
4.0 3.8

3.5
3.5

3.0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0
Need good Involves taking Need management Have to work Need lot of money
communication skills a risk skills long hours

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 33
 Figure 5.7 Perceived prerequisites for starting a business as proportions

Strongly Agree Agree Unsure Disagree Strongly Disagree

Need good communication skills

Involves taking a risk

Need management skills

Have to work long hours

Need lot of money

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

A number of interesting patterns in the results are examined
below.
Those who had started their own business were less likely
to agree that starting a business would require a lot of
money [p<.05]. Conversely, the belief that it would take a
lot of money to start a business was more strongly agreed
with by those whose parents were or had been business
owners than by those whose parents had never owned a
business [p<.05]. This perception was shared by those from
non-English speaking households [p<.05].
Those residing in metropolitan areas believed they would
need good communication skills [p<.05], would have to work
long hours [p<.05] and would have to take a risk [p<.01] if
they started a business more so than did people who lived
in other parts of Australia. Females believed they would
need lots of money [p<.05], management skills [p<.05] and
communication skills [p<.001] to start a business more than
did males.
Neither parental occupation status, nor participation in any
of the school programs examined in the questionnaire, was
significantly related to attitudes towards potential barriers
to starting one’s own business.
Respondents closer to the upper end of the 15-24 age range
were more likely to agree that starting business would
require working long hours, [r=.206, p<.001] and that it
would require risk taking [r=.074, p<.05].

34 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
Figure 5.8 Extent to which prerequisites act as barriers

5.0

4.5

4.0

3.5

3.0 2.9
2.6 2.6
2.5
2.2
2.0
2.0

1.5

1.0
Reluctant to take on Reluctant to work Doubt ever have Doubt ever have Doubt ever have
the risk the long hours enough money sufficient management enough communication
skills skills

Existence of barriers A reluctance to take the risk of starting one’s own business
appears to be the principal barrier to doing so, rather than
Mean levels of agreement with statements such as ‘I doubt
a perceived inability to acquire the necessary skills. The issue
I will ever have enough money to start my own business’ are
of risk-taking is discussed in greater detail in Section 6.
shown in Figure 5.8. The content of these statements
parallels those discussed above. They were rated on the As for previous questions of this type, the distribution of
same five-point scale, to facilitate comparison between responses is shown in Figure 5.9.
perceived barriers to setting up a business and their
relevance to the individual respondents.

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 35
 Figure 5.9 Extent to which prerequisites act as barriers as proportions
Strongly Agree
Reluctant to take on the risk
Reluctant to work the long hours
Doubt ever have enough money
Doubt ever have sufficient
management skills
Doubt ever have enough
communication skills
0% 10% 20% 30%
None of these variables was strongly related to parental
occupation status or to whether English was the only
language spoken at home. Nor were they related to whether
or not the person was or had been an apprentice or trainee,
or to the type of school they had attended. However, there
was a relationship with household income. Those on lower
incomes were more likely to cite the following barriers:
• I doubt I will ever have enough money to start my own
business [p<.05];
• I doubt I will ever have sufficient management skills to
start my own business [p<.01]; and
• I doubt I will ever have good enough communication
skills to start my own business [p<.05].
An identical pattern was found in relation to the actual or
expected level of educational attainment of respondents,
with those with less education (or lower expectations) being
more likely to cite the above three barriers [p<.05, p<.01,
p<.01].
36 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
Agree Unsure Disagree Strongly Disagree
40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Those who reside in mainland capital cities were less likely
than those from regional areas to believe that they would
never have the money or management skills required to
start a business [p<.05, p<.01].
Females believed more than males that they would never
have the money required to start a business and that they
would be too reluctant to take the risk [p<.001, p<.05].
Those whose parents had never been business owners
believed more than those whose parents had or did own a
business that they would never have the required money
[p<.01], management skills [p<.05], communication skills
[p<.01] and willingness to take risks [p<.001] for starting a
business.
Those who had never participated in a work experience
program at school doubted more than those who had done
work experience that they would ever have the
management skills necessary to start a business, [p<.05].
Participation in such programs may remove or lessen some
of the perceived barriers to starting a business.
Those who knew more business owners tended to agree less • I doubt I will ever have sufficient management skills to
strongly with each of the statements: start my own business [r=-.182, p<.001];

• I doubt I will ever have enough money to start my own • I doubt I will ever have good enough communication
business [r=-.151, p<.001]; skills to start my own business [r=-.120, p<.01]; and

• I doubt that I will ever have sufficient management • I’m reluctant to work the long hours involved in starting
skills to start my own business [r=-.124, p<.001]; my own business [r=-.100, p<.01].

• I doubt I will ever have good enough communication
skills to start my own business [r=-.083, p<.05];
• I’m reluctant to work the long hours involved in starting
my own business [r=-.114, p<.01]; and
As young people get older, many of the supposed barriers to
starting up a business become less salient. Only perceptions
regarding risk taking resist this general trend, being constant
across the age range of the sample.

• I’m reluctant to take on the risk of starting my own
business [r=-.079, p<.05].
Knowing business owners appears to have a strong effect in
reducing the effect of each of these potential barriers. So
does life experience. Those who were at the older end of
the age range tended to agree less with each of the
statements except the one concerning risk-taking (where
there was no significant difference):
• I doubt I will ever have enough money to start my own
business [r=-.080, p<.05];
Perception and relevance of barriers
To illustrate the perceptions of the requisites to starting a
business and whether these requisites act as barriers to
starting one’s own business, both sets of means are shown
in Figure 5.10.
While young people appear to perceive these five factors as
necessary to start one’s own business, in general, these
requisites do not seem to act as substantial barriers to
starting one’s own business.

Figure 5.10 Prerequisites and whether these act as barriers

5.0
Perceived requisites
4.5 4.4 Whether requisites act as barriers
4.3
4.1
4.0 3.8
3.5
3.5

3.0 2.9
2.6 2.6
2.5
2.2
2.0
2.0

1.5

1.0
Need good Involves taking a risk Need management skills Have to work long hours Need lot of money
communication skills

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 37
 5.4 Predicting entrepreneurial activity
Another way of looking at the phenomenon of wanting to
start one’s own business is to consider the effect of
perceptions of benefits and barriers. To this end, a correlation
analysis was carried out to determine which attitudes and
beliefs best predicted responses to the question about
starting one’s own business. Almost all the measured
attitudes and beliefs showed statistically significant
relationships with the desire to start a business. Those that
were most strongly correlated are listed below, in descending
order:
• starting my own business would mean I could earn a
living doing something I enjoy [r=0.370];
• it’s important to me to have the control that comes
from being my own boss [r=0.363];
• starting my own business would mean I could put my
ideas into practice [r=0.317];
• starting my own business would mean I could have a
career that uses my skills and abilities fully [r=0.294];
• I’m reluctant to take on the risk of starting my own
business [r=-0.249];
• starting my own business would mean I could build up
something for my family [r=0.236];
Figure 5.11 Predicting entrepreneurial behaviour
Self-rated
personality
characteristics
Stated intention to start a business
38 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
• it’s important to me to put my ideas into practice
[r=0.208];
• starting my own business would mean I could make lots
of money [r=0.203]; and
• starting my own business would mean I could have the
control that comes from being my own boss [r=0.194].
As foreshadowed in Sub-section 5.1, the above attitudes,
values and beliefs appear to play a much more direct role in
influencing entrepreneurship than do self-rated personality
attributes. In comparison with the relatively poor results
obtained using self-rated personality characteristics alone,
a linear model using both self-rated attribute data and
attitudes, beliefs and values (with age as a co-factor)
produces a useful model for predicting the intention to set
up a business [R2=.405]. Most of this explanatory power is
the result of the contribution made by attitudes, beliefs and
values about starting a business, with relatively little being
explained by the self-rated personality factors measured in
this study.
This is shown in Figure 5.11, with the thicker arrow
representing the stronger link. In the diagram, the order in
which the variables in the right hand box are listed
corresponds to descending importance. Beliefs about the
extent to which starting a business will deliver the benefits
that young people seek in a career are thus the single most
influential predictor.
Belief that business will
deliver benefits
Importance of benefits
Perceptions of barriers
This analysis strongly supports the contention that play a role in converting intention into action,
entrepreneurs are to a significant extent made, not simply something that could not be measured other than
born. This means that interventions directed towards in a longitudinal study.
changing attitudes and beliefs can have an impact on young
Even so, the results provide definitive evidence that
peoples’ interest in starting a business. The results allow
interventions that target young peoples’ attitudes to
policy makers to be confident that attitudes and beliefs
starting a business are soundly based. Sub-section 5.6
matter enough to warrant targeted action. It appears that
examines the reported contribution of various role models
the level of entrepreneurial activity is moderated by
and influencers in determining young peoples’ attitudes to
attitudinal factors and is therefore open to influence by
starting their own business.
policy and communication initiatives designed to create
favourable attitudes.
5.5 Possessing and acquiring necessary
That said, the results should not be seen as a rejection of
skills
any strong role for personality traits and characteristics in
determining whether young people start a business. There
Business skills
are several reasons for this:
Participants were asked whether they felt they had
• the questionnaire, relying as it did on self-ratings, may
the practical skills needed to start a business of their own.
not have measured entrepreneurial characteristics
Over two thirds (68.8%) indicated that they did. This is
particularly well. More accurately and validly measured,
comparable with the proportion claiming to possess the
they may prove to be influential, notwithstanding the
personal attributes needed to be an entrepreneur (see Sub-
findings of the current study.
section 4.1). Those who indicated that they did not, or were
• this investigation looked at young peoples’ stated unsure whether they had, the necessary skills were asked if
intention to start a business. It is likely that many will they felt that, if they wished to, they could learn these skills.
not follow through on this intention and will therefore Most participants indicated that they believed they could.
not start a business. It may be that personality factors These proportions are shown in Figure 5.12.

Figure 5.12 Possessing and acquiring practical skills

1.0%
1.1%

29.1%

Already have skills

Could learn skills

Could not learn skills

Unsure whether could learn

68.8%

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 39
 This pattern was consistent across different regions of
Australia. Females were more likely to say they lack the
practical skills needed to start a business than were males
[p<.05]. Those whose parents (had) owned a business were
more likely to believe that they have the skills needed to
start one than were those whose parents never owned a
business [p<.001].
The only significant influencers were parents and school
subjects studied. Those who found either of these to be a
strong positive influence in their lives were more likely to
think they had the practical skills needed to start a business
than those who did not report these influences [p<.05,
p<.05].
Acquiring business skills
Participants who indicated that they already had the
practical skills needed to start a business were asked what
they thought was the main way they had learnt these
practical skills. Those who felt they did not already have the
necessary skills were asked what would be the best way for
them to learn these skills. The results of both of these
questions are shown in Figure 5.13.
These results suggest that practical experience is the
principal means by which business skills are (and are
perceived to be) learnt. Formal courses, apprenticeships and
traineeships play an important but secondary role. These
results were consistent across most demographic variables
23
such as age, gender, income and geographic location.
Interestingly, a greater proportion of those who say they
intend to start a business say they acquired their skills
through a course. Those not wanting to start a business are
more likely to say that they have acquired their skills on the
job [each p<.05]. Even so, on the job skill acquisition remains
the most important method for all groups. This is especially
the case for those with parents who are or were business
owners [p<.01].
Also, as expected, those who were or had been apprentices
or trainees were more likely to cite their apprenticeship or
traineeship as a source of skills and those with higher levels
of actual or expected educational attainment were more
likely to nominate courses [p<.001, p<.001].

Figure 5.13 Where skills were/could be acquired

60.0
Were acquired
50.5
50.0 Could be acquired
44.8

40.0

29.7
%

30.0
25.2

20.0 18.8
12.1
9.8
10.0
4.7
2.4 2.1
0.0
On the job, by working in Enrolling in a course Other Apprenticeship or Unsure
someone else’s business traineeship

23
it should be noted that the distinction between formal apprenticeships and traineeships
and other forms of on the job experience may not have been clear to all respondents.

40 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
5.6 Role of influencers The results are presented in Figure 5.14.

It should be remembered that it is difficult to measure

Sources of positive influence
accurately what factors actually influence and shape
Participants were asked to reflect on their views about attitudes. These data provide an understanding of what
starting a business and the things that have possibly factors young Australians consider have strongly and
influenced those views. They were then asked to indicate positively influenced their views on starting a business.24
whether and to what extent each of the following things
These findings indicate that young Australians consider that
had influenced their views:
hearing the success stories of people they know have had a
• your parents; strong, positive influence on their view about starting a
business. It is interesting to note that, by comparison, the
• other family members;
proportion of participants indicating that hearing in the
• your friends; media about people becoming successful was lower. The
findings suggest that the Government’s Promoting Young
• hearing about people you know becoming successful;
Entrepreneurs initiative (ISR), aimed at promoting a broader
• hearing in the media about people becoming culture of entrepreneurship in the community through
successful; various activities, including the use of case studies, is
• teachers; appropriate, providing a sense of personal connection is
created between the audience and the role model.
• careers advisers; and

• the subjects you have studied.

Figure 5.14 Strong, positive influencers

40.0 37.8

35.0 34.2

30.7
30.0

24.9
25.0
%

20.0 18.8
15.6
15.0 14.2
12.6

10.0

5.0

0.0
Hearing about The subjects Your parents Hearing in Other family Careers Your friends Teachers
people you you have the media members advisers
know studied about people
becoming becoming
successful successful

24
It appears from the data that some respondents had difficulty with the concept of effectively captured whether or not the respondent saw a particular source as
negative influences on their views on starting a business. However, the questions representing a strong, positive influence. The opportunity to improve this section of
the questionnaire is discussed in more detail in Section 8.

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 41
 While young Australians consider that the subjects that they
have studied represent a strong, positive influence on their
views, only a small proportion cited teachers and careers
advisers as strongly, positively influential. Parents were also
seen as a strong, positive influence on their views on starting
a business. Previous research has noted the importance of
25
parental influence in the career decisions of children.
Those who express a desire to start their own business are
more likely to cite almost every one of the influence sources
as being a strong positive influence:
• your parents [p<.001];
• other family members [p<.001];
• your friends [p<.001];
• hearing about people you know becoming successful
[p<.001];
• hearing in the media about people becoming successful
[p<.05];
• careers advisers [p<.05]; and
• the subjects you have studied [p<.001].
Only teachers were not cited as being more influential for
those wanting to set up a business of their own. It appears
that those who are interested in this career path typically
receive positive influences from multiple sources.
Knowing people who have started their own business
Given that role models have been identified in the literature
as an important source of influence on young peoples’
decisions about starting their own business, data were
collected in the questionnaire about the number of people
known to the respondent who had set up their own
business. Almost all (90.4%) of those interviewed claimed
to know at least one family member or friend who had
started their own business. The median number known to
respondents was three, while the most frequent response
was two. This compares favourably with both international
studies and with the Australian adult population. A Gallup
Survey in the USA,26 posing the question ‘Do you personally
know a person who runs a small business?’ found that 57%
of youths and 77% of the general public knew at least one
small business manager.27 A recent Australian study of the
adult population found that 50% personally knew someone
who had started a business (GEM Australia). By contrast, in
Norway, a country identified as having a high level of
knowledge of people who had started a business, 58% of
adults claimed to know a business initiator. Thus, young
Australians, if their responses are to be believed, have a
higher level of acquaintance with business initiators than
adults in a highly entrepreneurial society such as Norway.
Thus, it could be expected the development of an
entrepreneurial culture among young Australians would not
be hindered by a lack of role models.

Parents are seen as a particularly strong positive influence

by those whose parents own or have owned a business or
who speak a language other than English at home [p<.001,
p<.05]. Those for whom a language other than English is
spoken at home are also more likely to nominate the
example of someone they know becoming successful
[p<.001].

There is also a relationship between age and whether

teachers, career advisers, subjects studied at school and
hearing in the media about successful people were seen
as strong positive influences. In each case, younger
respondents were more likely to nominate these sources of
influence [p<.05, p<.01, p<.001, p<.05].

25
Small Business Careers Information Project Report, prepared for the Department of
Industry, Science and Resources and the Office of AusIndustry.
26
Walstad,W. B. (1994). Entrepreneurship and Small Business in the United States. University
of Nebraska-Lincoln & The Gallup Organization.
27
Referring to someone who “runs” a “small” business does not exactly equate with the
definition used in the current study, which focuses on starting a business, and makes
no reference to its size. Nor are the samples directly comparable.

42 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
 6 Risk-taking
Risk-taking Perceptions of risk-taking were examined in two separate
sections in the questionnaire, and findings from both
sections have been reported above (in Sub-sections 4.1
and 5.3). So that the concept of risk-taking can be
comprehensively examined, results from these two sections
are drawn together and discussed here, along with their
implications.

Importance of accepting risk

Participants were asked how important accepting the

possibility of loss in order to have a chance of succeeding
was to the success of entrepreneurs. The perceived
importance of this risk acceptance was high, with a mean
rating of 8.0. However, relative to several other personal
characteristics, such as ...

• determination and persistence;

• confidence;

• being good with people; and

• enthusiasm and energy.

... risk-taking was seen as slightly less critical to the success

of an entrepreneur.

Self-rating of risk acceptance

The data suggest that most young Australians do not see

themselves as possessing the characteristic of risk-taking to
the same extent as most of the other attributes measured
in this question. Out of nine personal attributes relevant to
entrepreneurship, risk acceptance gained the second lowest
self-rating mean (6.8). Risk taking is, like many other
attributes, one on which relatively few young people (40.7%)
rate themselves as possessing to an equal or greater extent
than entrepreneurs.

Risk as a barrier to starting a business

In terms of the perceived requisites for starting one’s own

business, there was a high level of agreement with the
statement ‘starting my own business involves taking a risk’
(4.3, which was the equal highest mean, along with ‘needing
good communication skills’). In terms of whether the
requisites for starting a business act as barriers, the mean

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 43
 rating for ‘I’m reluctant to take on the risk of starting my
own business’ was the highest (2.9).

It should be noted that no single factor (including the need

to take a risk) was seen as a particularly great impediment
to starting one’s own business. Further, perceptions about
barriers were not strong negative predictors of a desire to
start a business. Rather, as seen in Sub-section 5.3, it was
the beliefs about the positive benefits of starting a business
that were the best predictors. This makes sense, because
risk has to be seen in the context of rewards, rather than in
isolation.

Should risk be addressed directly?

Given that, despite being the most significant barrier, risk is

not a particularly strong impediment to starting a business,
it would seem wise to address this barrier indirectly, by
accentuating and reinforcing the perceived benefits of
starting a business, namely:

• earning a living doing something one enjoys;

• putting one’s ideas into practice;

• have a career that uses one’s skills and abilities fully;

and

• having the control that comes from being one’s own

boss.

By reinforcing these positive outcomes of starting a

business, young people may be encouraged to weigh up risks
against the available benefits, rather than simply reacting
negatively to the presence of risk. If risk is to be addressed
directly, it would be best done through programs that enable
young people to manage risk and cope with the possibility
of loss, rather than through communication.

Further, the data shows (see Sub-section 5.3) that all barriers
except risk become less strong as young people get older,
with those nearer to 25 being more positive about their
ability to meet the other requisite conditions for starting a
business. The barrier of risk thus appears to be a constant,
to be weighed against other factors, rather than something
amenable to direct communication.

Section 8 discusses some areas that may prove fruitful for

the development of policies and communication initiatives
to encourage entrepreneurial activities and intentions
among young people.

44 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
 7 New apprentices
New With regard to awareness of the New Apprenticeships

apprentices program, 54.9% of participants said they had heard of the

program. Awareness was higher (60.8%) outside the
mainland capitals [p<.05].

Awareness was related to the actual or expected level of

educational attainment. Those with a higher education level
or whose parents had a higher education level were more
likely to have heard of New Apprenticeships [r=.077, p<.05,
r=.296, p<.001].

The questionnaire collected information on:

• whether participants had, at any stage, been an

apprentice or trainee (N=156); and

• whether participants were currently working as an

apprentice or trainee (N=45).

Those who were identified as having at least started an

apprenticeship or traineeship were asked ‘What was the
main reason you chose to do this?’.

Main reasons given for undertaking an apprenticeship or

traineeship

For many, undertaking an apprenticeship or traineeship was

seen as a necessary step to working in their chosen field,
such as being a hairdresser, chef, metal worker, mechanic or
plumber. These people were attracted to aspects of the trade
that the apprenticeship qualified them for, such as dealing
with people.

Apprenticeships and traineeships were generally perceived

as a good way to earn money while learning. They were also
seen as a good way to learn about a trade, and
simultaneously gain practical,“hands on” experience. As one
participant said, it represents “job training and schooling all
rolled into one”. By learning from others, one can get a feel
for the job. Some claimed that they wanted to continue
learning, but were not interested in going to university, and
an apprenticeship represented a feasible alternative. The
idea of learning something new or challenging was
appealing to some.

There was a general perception that the skills acquired

during an apprenticeship or traineeship equip one to be able
to find employment. Trade certificates were also seen as
having permanence, and many perceived their qualifications

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 45
 would help to confer job security for the future. Some
participants had unsuccessfully attempted to find
employment in the past, or had left school early, and so
perceived a need to acquire skills and experience that would
enhance their employment prospects. Others simply offered
the rationale that an apprenticeship would help to increase
their confidence. Only a few explicitly stated that they had
undertaken an apprenticeship with a view to starting their
own business.
A large proportion of participants claimed they had not really
elected to do the apprenticeship or traineeship. Some of
these participants claimed they had been forced by their
employer to start an apprenticeship, that it “came with the
job”, or simply that they needed to do something and “there
was nothing else around”. Others stated that they hated
school, and saw doing an apprenticeship or traineeship as a
way out, or admitted that they wanted or needed the money.
The majority (62.2%) of those currently working as an
apprentice or trainee plan to remain in the same line of work,
with 15.6% planning to start their own business in the same
line of work. A fifth stated they were intending to enter a
different line of work, and 17.8% were unsure of their plans
post completion of their apprenticeship or traineeship.
Acquisition of business skills
Those who had ever been, or were currently, working as an
apprentice or trainee were asked whether they feel that they
had learnt (or were learning) skills during their
apprenticeship or traineeship that would be useful for a
person interested in starting their own business. Most
participants, 86.5%, said they felt they were. Those with a
desire to start a business of their own were especially likely
to think that the business skills learnt through their
apprenticeship or traineeship would be useful [p<.01].

Plans post completion

Those participants who indicated that they were

currently working as an apprentice or trainee were asked
what they plan to do at the completion of their
apprenticeship or traineeship. The responses are shown in
Figure 7.1.28

Figure 7.1 Plans post-apprenticeship or traineeship

17.8%

Be employed in same line of work

46.7%
Start own business in same line of work

Enter a different line of work

20.0%
Unsure / no plan

28
15.6%
This graph should be interpreted with caution, given that it is based on only 45 responses,
from those currently working as an apprentice or trainee.

46 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
 8 Possible areas for action
Areas for This Section identifies some areas where there may be

action scope for interventions to support the development of

entrepreneurial intentions and behaviours among young
Australians. It focuses on a number of opportunities for
action, either by governments or by other stakeholders, given
some of the new information that this study has revealed.
Necessarily, it is more interpretive than earlier sections and
draws conclusions that should thus be examined critically.

What factors influence entrepreneurial activity?

Two thirds of young Australians feel that they have the

personal qualities needed to be an entrepreneur and a
similar number believe that they have the practical skills
needed to start a business. The proportion of young
Australians who say that they want to start a business
compares favourably even with the United States. Thus, a
high level of confidence already exists.

Not everyone starts a business, however. Looking at those

in the sample who had done so, it was found that beliefs
about the benefits of starting one’s own business are the
best predictors of entrepreneurial activity. These, in turn, are
closely related to a number of sources of positive influence
in the lives of young people, in particular hearing about the
success of people one knows. The research shows that,
rather than being solely based on innate characteristics or
traits,29 entrepreneurial activity among young Australians
appears to be very much open to influence. Interventions
that directly reinforce or strengthen positive beliefs about
the rewards of starting one’s own business are likely to be
successful in building a more entrepreneurial culture.

Further, young people perceive that they do not need the

full array of entrepreneurial characteristics in order to
become an entrepreneur. Fortunately, creating greater levels
of entrepreneurship depends not upon the near impossible
task of imbuing young people with certain personality
characteristics but with giving them confidence that a career
of entrepreneurship will produce the benefits they seek.

29
Such characteristics may still play a role in bringing about entrepreneurial behaviour,
although no evidence was found in this study (based on self-ratings) that it is a
strong one.

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 47
 How can entrepreneurship be encouraged?
The “Promoting Young Entrepreneurs” initiative by ISR, using
case studies of successful entrepreneurs, would appear to
be an appropriate response given the evidence presented
above in this report. It is important to ensure that a sense
of personal connection is created between the audience and
the role model. This is because hearing about people one
knows becoming successful is a stronger source of positive
influence than hearing in the media about such people.
Knowing people who have started their own business leads
young people to be more confident in their ability to
overcome the barriers to starting their own business. For
this reason, any communication should aim to give the
target audience the feeling that the entrepreneur is
someone from within their world of experience, someone
they know.
The use of case studies (rather than actors) makes it vital
that great attention is paid to the impressions created by
the choice of case study. Entrepreneurship has a very good
image among young people and there are no significant
negative aspects to this image. Nevertheless, there is a need
to ensure that the case studies do not create any potential
for negative stereotyping.
In particular, there should be nothing to suggest that the
people chosen as role models are selfish or that they would
act dishonestly in order to pursue their business goals. The
survey did not find any evidence that entrepreneurs were
seen as dishonest. Even so, the fact that it did not emerge
as a defining characteristic, coupled with the fact that young
people are confident about their own honesty, makes it
advisable to avoid any suggestion that the person featured
is anything less than perfectly honest in their business life.
Other possible negatives such as (minority) perceptions that
entrepreneurs work long hours that take them away from
their families or are motivated solely by money are probably
best addressed by omission. It would seem, based on the
evidence, that it would be considerably more beneficial to
focus on the four key benefits of starting one’s own business:
• earning a living doing something one enjoys;
• putting one’s ideas into practice;
• have a career that uses one’s skills and abilities fully;
and
• having the control that comes from being one’s own
boss.
48 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
Young people already see these things as important in their
choice of career and, to a large extent, they believe that
starting a business will help them achieve these objectives.
Building on and reinforcing these perceptions is an easier
and, ultimately, more productive communication task than
challenging negative perceptions directly.
The qualitative component of this research found that there
was variation in young Australians’ familiarity with the term
‘entrepreneur’. This should not be of concern, in that
promoting entrepreneurship does not necessitate the use
of unfamiliar terminology and can focus on the benefits of
starting a business, rather than appealing to the concept of
an entrepreneur.
Acquiring business skills
Young people believe they have acquired (or that they could
acquire) practical business skills by working in an existing
business. Similarly, apprentices and trainees believe that
they acquired their skills as a result of working for someone
else. Formal courses are an important supplement to on the
job skill acquisition, but their role is secondary. One policy
area that may be worthy of investigation is the possibility
that the various forms of practical work experience, either
in high school or in conjunction with TAFE or even university
could place a more explicit focus on the acquisition of
business skills.
On the job skills transfer and learning appear to be
happening already to a great extent, but this process may
be able to be made more efficient by recognising the
development of entrepreneurship and the associated beliefs
and skills as a specific objective of on the job training. Given
that the median stated lead-time for those thinking about
a new venture is six years, there is little downside to an
employer in encouraging entrepreneurship and, probably,
much to be gained.
Further research
If government and others seek to encourage greater levels
of entrepreneurial activity among young people, then it will
be important to have mechanisms in place to monitor the
success of these initiatives. Thus, it is likely that, in some
form, elements of the current study may usefully be
repeated in the future, possibly annually or biennially, to
determine changes in the entrepreneurial environment and
to monitor the effect of policy, program and communication
initiatives on young Australians’ attitudes towards
entrepreneurship. Given this, two findings relevant to future
research are set out below.

Given that 10.3% of the sample claimed that they had

already set up a business, it would be desirable in any future
research to ask more detailed questions of this group, to
establish the nature and scale of these businesses, as well
as whether they were continuing at the time of the survey.

It appears from the data that some respondents had

difficulty with the concept of negative influences on their
views on starting a business. While the questions addressing
influence sources effectively captured whether or not the
respondent saw a particular source as representing a strong,
positive influence, they did not adequately capture negative
influences or the relative strength of various influence
sources. This set of questions may be able to be improved
30
upon, were the study to be replicated.

Lastly, the process of conducting this study has revealed a

number of deficiencies in the methods used in the limited
number of international studies used to investigate
31
entrepreneurship. Efforts to avoid some of these
deficiencies in this study have limited the extent to which
comparisons can be made between Australia and other
countries. While this study is not completely free of
shortcomings, its circulation to equivalent bodies in
comparable countries may assist in creating more
widespread agreement about how youth entrepreneurship
can best be understood and measured internationally.

Co-operative approach

The views of young Australians regarding entrepreneurship

are likely to be impacted on by a number of government
and non-government agencies. Given this, fostering
an entrepreneurial environment is likely to require a
coordinated approach, drawing on the resources and
expertise of a number of agencies. This research stands as
evidence of the value of combining the resources of various
government departments. Indeed, acting on some of the
findings stemming from this research would require
interagency cooperation and cross-systemic linkage.

30
Rather than asking respondents first to identify influence sources and then to state
whether they were positive or negative, it might be preferable to ask separate questions
about sources of positive and negative influence.
31
See discussion in Sub-section 3.2.

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 49
 Appendix A
Appendix A Questionnaire
Youth entrepreneurship
Eureka project 2405
RECORD LOCATION
ACT 01 TAS 08
BRISBANE 02 ADELAIDE 09
OTHER QLD 03 OTHER SA 10
SYDNEY 04 PERTH 11
OTHER NSW 05 OTHER WA 12
MELBOURNE 06 NT 13
OTHER VIC 07

Introduction
Hello, my name is [INTERVIEWER] from Eureka Strategic
Research. We are speaking to people aged 15-24 about
what they want to achieve in their working lives. Is there
anyone in your household between these ages?
[ARRANGE CALLBACK IF NECESSARY]
[IF MORE THAN ONE, ASK TO SPEAK WITH THE ONE
WHOSE BIRTHDAY IS NEXT]
Please be assured that it’s a genuine research project, not
an attempt to sell you anything. It’s completely
confidential and should take no more than 15 minutes.
[IF QUERIED: The research is being carried out on behalf
of the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Science &
Resources and the Department of Education, Training &
Youth Affairs.]

Screen/classification
S1 RECORD GENDER
MALE
FEMALE
NOT YET ESTABLISHED - [RECORD AT COMPLETION]
[QUOTA: NO MORE THAN 55% MALE. NO MORE THAN 55%
FEMALE.]
S2 To begin with, I need to ask a few questions about your
current situation. First, could you please tell me your age?
[RECORD]
NN years
[QUOTA: NO MORE THAN 55% AGED 15-19. NO MORE
THAN 55% AGED 20-24.]

50 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
S3 And at any stage, have you ever been an apprentice or 1.2 Overall, do you feel that you have the characteristics
trainee? needed to be an entrepreneur? [IF NECESSARY, OFFER TO
YES REPEAT DEFINITION]
NO 1. YES - Skip to 1.4
2. NO
S4 Could you describe your (main/most recent) paid
occupation? 1.3 Would you like to be become this sort of person?
RECORD FOR LATER CODING 1. YES
2. NO
1 Entrepreneurs 99. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT
The first part of the questionnaire is about entrepreneurs. 1.4 I’m going to read out some views about
Because this is a word that you may or not have heard entrepreneurs. Please tell me how strongly you agree or
of, I’ll tell you what I mean by “entrepreneur”. An disagree with each one.
“entrepreneur” is a person who recognises opportunities,
OK, here’s the first statement. [READ OUT FIRST
has ideas and uses them to create or develop a business.
STATEMENT, RANDOMISE]. “Do you agree or disagree?
I’ll repeat that, because I want to be sure we’re talking Is that strongly or just a little?”
about the same thing. An “entrepreneur” is a person who
They create jobs
recognises opportunities, has ideas and uses them to
They provide goods and services that people need
create or develop a business.
They destroy more jobs than they create
1.1 This next question is about the personal qualities or They help Australia compete in the world
characteristics that some entrepreneurs may have. They are just out to make money
I am going to read out some personal qualities or Australia needs more entrepreneurs
characteristics. For each one, I want to know two things: They do more harm than good
They are selfish people
how important it would be in helping them to be
They are people others look up to
successful, and how you rate yourself on this
They spend too little time with their family and friends
characteristic.
5. STRONGLY AGREE
Let’s do the first one. The first characteristic is 4. AGREE
[RANDOMISE]. How important is [CHARACTERISTIC] in 2. DISAGREE
helping entrepreneurs to be successful? Please give me 1. STRONGLY DISAGREE
a score from zero to ten, where ten means extremely 3. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT
important. And how do you rate yourself out of ten on
1.5 OK, here’s a few more statements. Again, I’d like you to
this characteristic?
tell me how strongly you agree or disagree.
a. How important is this characteristic in helping them
[READ OUT FIRST STATEMENT, RANDOMISE]. Do you agree
to be successful?
or disagree? Is that strongly or just a little?
b. How do you rate yourself out of 10 on this
characteristic? There are plenty of opportunities for Australians to start
successful businesses
1 Being good with people /10 /10
There are plenty of Australians with the ability to start
2 Ruthlessness /10 /10
successful businesses
3 Determination and
Compared to people in other countries, Australians tend to
persistence /10 /10
be more innovative
4 Confidence /10 /10
Compared to people in other countries, Australians are
5 Honesty /10 /10
good at turning their ideas into profitable businesses
6 Intelligence /10 /10
Starting a new business is a respected occupation in the
7 Enthusiasm and energy /10 /10
Australian community
8 Accepting the possibility
My friends would respect someone who started their own
of loss in order to have
business
a chance of succeeding /10 /10
In Australia, most younger people believe that they should
9 Creativity and the ability
not rely too heavily on the government
to be innovative /10 /10
In Australia, people who have built great personal wealth
are admired

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 51
 In Australia, people who have built great personal wealth It’s important to me to make lots of money
are resented Starting my own business would mean I could make lots
of money
5. STRONGLY AGREE
It’s important to me to earn a living doing something I
4. AGREE
enjoy
2. DISAGREE
Starting my own business would mean I could earn a
1. STRONGLY DISAGREE
living doing something I enjoy
3. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT
It’s important to me to put my ideas into practice
2 Starting a business Starting my own business would mean I could put my
ideas into practice
2.1
‘Great. We’re about half way through now.’ The next It’s important to me to be able to work the hours I want
set of questions explores your views on starting up a Starting my own business would mean I could work the
business. To begin with, have you ever set up a business hours I want
in the past?
It’s important to me to have a career that uses my skills
1. YES
and abilities fully
2. NO
Starting my own business would mean I could have a
2.2 Do you want to start a business of your own at some career that uses my skills and abilities fully
time in the future?
5. STRONGLY AGREE
1. YES
4. AGREE
2. NO
2. DISAGREE
2.3 Why do you say that? Is there any particular reason? 1. STRONGLY DISAGREE
PROBE FULLY 3. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT
[RECORD]
2.7 We’re close to the end of this question now. The last
2.4 [IF YES @ 2.2] How long have you been thinking about five pairs of statements are a bit different. Again, can you
starting a business of your own? tell me how strongly you agree or disagree with each one?
NN YEARS
I would need a lot of money to start my own business
NN MONTHS
I doubt I will ever have enough money to start my own
UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT
business
2.5 [IF YES @ 2.2] And when in the future do you think you
I would need management skills to start my own business
will start a business of your own?
I doubt I will ever have sufficient management skills to
NN YEARS
start my own business
NN MONTHS
UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT I would need good communication skills to start my own
business
2.6 I’m going to read out a series of things people might
I doubt I will ever have good enough communication skills
consider in deciding whether or not to start their own
to start my own business
business. Please tell me how strongly you agree or
disagree with each statement. Starting my own business would mean I had to work long
hours
The statements are in pairs. OK, here’s the first one [READ
I’m reluctant to work the long hours involved in starting
OUT FIRST STATEMENT, RANDOMISE ORDER OF PAIRS].
my own business
Do you agree or disagree? Is that strongly or just a little?
Starting my own business involves taking a risk
It’s important to me to have the control that comes from
I’m reluctant to take on the risk of starting my own
being my own boss
business
Starting my own business would mean I could have the
5. STRONGLY AGREE
control that comes from being my own boss
4. AGREE
It’s important to me to build up something for my family 2. DISAGREE
Starting my own business would mean I could build up 1. STRONGLY DISAGREE
something for my family 3. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT

52 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
2.8 Overall, do you feel that you have the practical skills 3.2 [IF ANY MENTIONED AS STRONGLY INFLUENTIAL] I
needed to start a business of your own? notice that you said that [ALL MENTIONS] (was/were)
1. YES - Skip to 2.10 strongly influential. This question is about how (it/they)
2. NO influenced you. Did [FIRST MENTION] make you more or
99. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT less interested in starting your own business? [REPEAT
FOR EACH MENTION]
2.9 Do you feel that, if you wanted to, you could learn
1. MORE
these skills?
2. LESS
1. YES
3. NEITHER MORE NOR LESS
2. NO - Skip to Section 3
99. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT
99. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT
2.10 4 Work status, New apprenticeships
[IF YES AT 2.8] Which of the following do you think was
Just a few questions now about work and study.
the main way you learnt these practical skills? [READ
OUT] 4.1 Are you currently a student?
[IF NO AT 2.8] For you, would it be best to learn these 1. YES
skills [READ OUT] 2. NO - Skip to 4.4
[READ OUT]
4.2 Is that full time or part time?
1. BY ENROLLING IN A COURSE
1. FULL TIME
2. BY DOING AN APPRENTICESHIP OR TRAINEESHIP; OR
2. PART TIME
3. ON THE JOB, BY WORKING IN SOMEONE ELSE’S
BUSINESS 4.3 Are you studying at [READ OUT]
4. OTHER Please specify ( ) 1. HIGH SCHOOL: YEARS 9-10
99. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT 2. HIGH SCHOOL: YEARS 11-12
3. TAFE/TECHNICAL COLLEGE
3 Role of influencers 4. UNIVERSITY, OR
5. ANOTHER TERTIARY INSTUTION
3.1 Think back over your answers and your views about
6. OTHER Please specify ( )
starting a business. Which things do you feel have been
most influential in shaping your views? I am going to 4.4 Are you currently doing paid work?
read a list of things that may have influenced your views 1. YES - Skip to 4.6
one way or the other. [NOTE THAT THIS QUESTION IS 2. NO
INTERESTED IN BOTH POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE
4.5 Have you ever done paid work?
INFLUENCERS]
1. YES
For each one, please tell me first whether you feel it has 2. NO - Skip to 4.8
influenced your views on starting a business strongly,
4.6 (Is/was) that full time or part time?
slightly or not at all. [RANDOMISE ORDER]
1. FULL TIME
Your parents 2. PART TIME (INCL CASUAL)
Other family members
4.7 Which of the following (apply/applied) to you?
Your friends
(Are/Were) you [READ OUT ALL OPTIONS - MULTI]
Hearing about people you know becoming successful
1. WORKING IN A BUSINESS WITH FEWER THAN 20
Hearing in the media about people becoming successful
EMPLOYEES
Teachers
2. WORKING IN A BUSINESS WITH MORE THAN 20
Careers advisers
EMPLOYEES
The subjects you have studied
3. WORKING IN THE GOVERNMENT OR COMMUNITY
1. STRONGLY INFLUENTIAL SECTOR
2. SLIGHTLY INFLUENTIAL 4. SELF-EMPLOYED
3. NOT INFLUENTIAL 5. WORKING AS AN APPRENTICE OR TRAINEE
99. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 53
 4.8 Have you ever heard of the New Apprenticeships 8. OTHER Please specify ( )
programme? 99. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT
1. YES
D3 [NOTE SKIP INSTRUCTION IN D1] What type of high
2. NO
school (do/did) you attend? (Was/Is) it [READ OUT]
99. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT
[IF MORE THAN ONE, ASK FOR MOST RECENT]
4.9 [IF HAS BEEN AN APPRENTICE/TRAINEE AT S3] I notice 1. A GOVERNMENT SCHOOL, OR A
that you said earlier in our interview that you had started 2. A NON-GOVERNMENT SCHOOL
an apprenticeship or traineeship. What was the main 3. OTHER Please specify ( )
reason you chose to do this? PROBE FULLY
D4 [NOTE SKIP INSTRUCTION IN D1] At high school,
[RECORD] (do/did) you do any of the following things? [READ OUT -
MULTI]
4.10 [IF WORKING AS AN APPRENTICE/TRAINEE AT 4.7]
1. PARTICIPATE IN A WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAM
What do you plan to do after completing the
2. STUDY FOR A TAFE OR TECHNICAL COLLEGE CERTIFICATE
apprenticeship/traineeship? Will you [READ OUT]
- Ask D5
1. BE EMPLOYED IN THE SAME LINE OF WORK
3. DO THE SUBJECT BUSINESS STUDIES (OR EQUIVALENT)
2. START MY OWN BUSINESS IN THE SAME LINE OF WORK
4. DO THE SUBJECT COMPUTER SCIENCE (OR
3. ENTER A DIFFERENT LINE OF WORK
EQUIVALENT)
99. UNSURE/NO PLAN DO NOT READ OUT
5. DISCUSS YOUR FUTURE WITH A CAREERS ADVISOR
4.11 [IF WORKING AS AN APPRENTICE/TRAINEE AT 4.7 or 6. NONE OF THESE
YES AT S3] Do you think that you (are learning/have 99. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT
learnt) skills during your apprenticeship/traineeship that
D5 [IF STUDIED FOR A TAFE OR TECHNICAL COLLEGE
would be useful for a person interested in starting their
CERTIFICATE - Code 2 at D4] I notice that you said that
own business?
you (are studying/studied) for a TAFE or technical college
1. YES
certificate. What occupation (does/did) it relate to?
2. NO
99. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT [RECORD]
Remaining demographics D6 These next few questions are about your parents.
Lastly, I need to ask a few questions to ensure that we Could you tell me the highest level of education attained
have spoken to a good cross-section of young Australians. by your father, whether or not he finished? [PROBE
ESTIMATE]
D1 [IF NOT A STUDENT @ 4.1] Could you tell me the
1. NO FORMAL SCHOOLING
highest level of education you have attained, whether or
2. PRIMARY SCHOOL
not you finished?
3. SOME HIGH SCHOOL
1. NO FORMAL SCHOOLING - Do not ask D3 or D4
4. SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL (YEARS 11-12)
2. PRIMARY SCHOOL - Do not ask D3 or D4
5. TAFE/TECHNICAL COLLEGE
3. SOME HIGH SCHOOL
6. UNIVERSITY, OR
4. SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL (YEARS 11-12)
7. ANOTHER TERTIARY INSTUTION
5. TAFE/TECHNICAL COLLEGE
8. OTHER Please specify ( )
6. UNIVERSITY, OR
99. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT
7 ANOTHER TERTIARY INSTUTION
8. OTHER Please specify ( ) D7 And what is your father’s occupation?
D2 And could you tell me the highest level of education [RECORD]
you expect to attempt?
D8 And could you tell me the highest level of education
1. NO FORMAL SCHOOLING
attained by your mother, whether or not she finished?
2. PRIMARY SCHOOL
[PROBE ESTIMATE]
3. SOME HIGH SCHOOL
1. NO FORMAL SCHOOLING
4. SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL (YEARS 11-12)
2. PRIMARY SCHOOL
5. TAFE/TECHNICAL COLLEGE
3. SOME HIGH SCHOOL
6. UNIVERSITY, OR
4. SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL (YEARS 11-12)
7. ANOTHER TERTIARY INSTUTION
5. TAFE/TECHNICAL COLLEGE
6. UNIVERSITY, OR

54 EMERGING INDUSTRIES
7. ANOTHER TERTIARY INSTUTION
8. OTHER Please specify ( )
99. UNSURE
DO NOT READ OUT
D9 And what is your mother’s occupation?
[RECORD]
D10 Roughly speaking, is your annual household income
before tax more or less than $50,000?
Which of the following ranges would include your annual
household income? [READ OUT RELEVANT RANGES]
1. LESS THAN $10,000 ($200 PW)
2. $10,000-$29,999 ($200-$600 PW)
3. $30,000-49,999 ($600-$1,000 PW)
4. $50,000-$79,999 ($1,000-$1,600 PW)
5. OVER $80,000 ($1,600+ PW)
REFUSED DO NOT READ OUT
D11 Have either of your parents been business owners,
either now or in the past?
1. YES
2. NO
99. UNSURE DO NOT READ OUT
D12 Thinking about your family and friends, roughly how
many people do you know who have started their own
business? [PROBE ESTIMATE]
NN
D13 What language is spoken in your home?
1. ENGLISH ONLY
2. ANY MENTION OF OTHER LANGUAGE
D14 Do you identify as a person of aboriginal or Torres
Strait Islander descent?
1. YES
2. NO
D15 Finally, what is your postcode?
NNNN

Sign off
Thanks. I have finished all my questions. (As I mentioned),
This research is being carried out for the Commonwealth
Department of Industry, Science & Resources and the
Department of Education, Training & Youth Affairs. The
aim is to build up a complete picture of the career plans of
young Australians and the factors that influence them.
Your participation is much appreciated. Just in case my
supervisor has to check any of the details, could I please
have your first name?

EMERGING INDUSTRIES 55
56 EMERGING INDUSTRIES