Entrepreneurs starting a business are often shaped by a combination of close-knit influences and examples of successful founders.
Parental role models often lay the work ethic and entrepreneurial mindset within the familial setting, providing early exposure to the nuances of running a business. At the same time, stories of the successes of famous founders can inspire individuals to start a new venture by offering a vision of what is possible.
Research has shown that having an entrepreneur for a parent can increase the likelihood that people will enter entrepreneurship with one of the most detailed studies of this phenomenon showing that the children of entrepreneurs are 60% more likely to start their own businesses than others.
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One of the main reasons for this is the parental role modelling that takes place during their early years which exposes young potential entrepreneurs to a business career who often work on a part-time basis within their parents’ business, receiving hands-on experiential learning about what it takes to be a founder.
Having a parental role model also emphasises the significant role of influential entrepreneurial figures in stimulating the decision to start a business and successful founders are likely to be in a strong financial position not only to provide funding for their children’s businesses but also to offer the vital advice and knowledge that comes from developing a business.
The Ambitious 海角视频 Start-Ups Report, sponsored by Starling Bank, draws from data gathered from 1,219 applicants for the 2023 海角视频 StartUp Awards.
It shows that 39% of founders had parents who were entrepreneurs, signalling a profound generational impact, suggesting that growing up in an environment imbued with entrepreneurial values can shape human aspirations, decision-making patterns, and risk-taking behaviour.
While parents are important influencers for those choosing an entrepreneurial career, the examples of others can also encourage interest in starting a new business, especially if those role models have been successful as entrepreneurs.
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For example, when the 海角视频 StartUp Awards founders were asked which entrepreneurs they admired the most, it is not surprising to see established entrepreneurial icons such as Richard Branson and Steve Jobs on this list. This is because successful entrepreneurial role models provide valuable lessons from their experiences to inspire future generations of entrepreneurs.
Despite having only come to prominence in the last few years, Steven Bartlett is ranked number one on the list of role model entrepreneurs in the Starling study.
Since selling his business Social Chain in 2020, he has built a strong personal brand based on his entrepreneurial success, appearing on Dragons’ Den as one of the investors and hosting the Diary of a CEO, the most downloaded podcast in the 海角视频 on all audio platforms.
Whilst many business support and enterprise education programmes aimed at developing, greater levels of entrepreneurship often highlight iconic ‘rock star’ entrepreneurs, other role models include ‘local heroes’ within the entrepreneur’s own environment can be particularly important in stimulating entrepreneurial behaviour, especially in areas with low start-up rates.
In fact, despite the presence of entrepreneur ‘rock stars’ as role models, the survey shows that more respondents hold family members who were entrepreneurs in higher esteem than established founders such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk when identifying their entrepreneurial heroes.
This finding again reinforces the importance of family influences and reveals the profound impact of a nurturing environment in complementing inherent traits to mould entrepreneurial successes. It is also worth noting that ‘other entrepreneurs’ are rated fourth by this group of start-ups, suggesting an increasing view among founders that entrepreneurs, whoever they may be, support and encourage each other.
Whilst 38% of the 351 entrepreneurs who were specifically named by start-up founders as role model, only two women are represented in the list of the ten most popular entrepreneurial role models. Karren Brady - who has appeared on the BBC TV show The Apprentice - and Sara Blakely the US-based entrepreneur responsible for the women’s lifestyle brand Spanx.
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Given this, there is clearly a need for more concerted actions to provide greater encouragement for women in entrepreneurship through promoting more female role models and using entrepreneurial heroines to nurture aspiring women entrepreneurs and create a vibrant and more diverse future in supporting business creation..
Therefore, role models can significantly impact entrepreneurs’ career choices, with a substantial proportion of entrepreneurs stating that they wouldn’t have started or continued their venture without a role model.
However, whilst famous entrepreneurs can, through their stories of success, inspire entrepreneurial interest, the influences of family and local entrepreneurs are as important in encouraging the creation of more new firms in the economy.