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The barriers come despite Australia being the “perfect breeding ground” for starting a business, according to a recent survey.
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Fear of failure, skills gap stifle aspiring business owners
17 June 2024
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A fear of failure, economic uncertainty, and a lack of marketing skills are the most common barriers holding Australians back from starting their own business, according to a recent survey.
Almost 40 per cent of respondents surveyed by e-commerce company VistaPrint said they feared failure and 54 per cent said the current landscape was too uncertain to start a business.
A further 55 per cent said they were “not skilled at all” or only “slightly skilled” when it came to knowing where to start with branding, marketing and design for a small business.
“Our research [highlights] a design and marketing skills gap and other barriers that are getting in the way of people feeling confident to start a new business,” VistaPrint Australia CEO Marcus Marchant said.
The findings come despite Australia being the “perfect breeding ground” for starting a business, VistaPrint said.
Its research, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,010 Australians last month, found only 4 per cent of workers had a clause in their employment contract preventing them from starting a side hustle.
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It added that “Australian society and workplaces appear to be conducive to business ideation”, with one in seven respondents with a business coming up with the idea at their previous job, and over a quarter (28 per cent) doing so through talking to family and friends.
In a bid to boost entrepreneurship, the e-commerce company said it would be launching a “Hobby to Hustle” competition this month where participants could submit their business ideas for a chance to win up to $15,000 store credit.
Some advocates, however, have also urged the government to do more to improve the challenging conditions faced by small businesses.
In response to the federal budget in May, the IPA noted how small and medium businesses were missing from its centrepiece – the Future Made in Australia plan.
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman has also estimated that roughly 43 per cent of small businesses failed to make a profit and 75 per cent of small business owners took home less than the average wage.
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