A third of us are unhappy with our jobs by Sir Richard Branson on 20-Feb-2014

Just over one in ten (13%) of us state the fear of failure as being a reason stopping us from following our dreams of being our own boss. Topping the list of reasons preventing us from starting a business were a lack of money (29%) and a lack of knowledge of how to go about starting a business (18%), emphasising the fact that entrepreneurs don't just need courage and determination, but also start-up finance, sound business advice and the support of a mentor.

"I believe 2014 will be the year of the entrepreneur and the results of our survey certainly show this," said Sir Richard Branson. "The appetite is there, across all parts of the country, to take the plunge and start a business. There are some great entrepreneurs out there who, with a little help from us, have the ability to turn their business idea into something brilliant."

"We launched Virgin StartUp to provide finance, events and advice to young people who will develop new products and services and help build a thriving economy. They are job creators, leaders, disruptors, innovators and we need more of them."

"As part of this, we are running a series of free regional 'HotHouse' events across the country to offer entrepreneurs support and guidance through the startup loan proces. This will include help developing business plans, access to mentors and talks from successful start-up entrepreneurs such as Richard Reed of Innocent, John Vincent, founder of Leon and Peter Williams of Jack Wills who will be sharing their very own inspirational stories and hopefully sparking the next wave of young entrepreneurs."

"Access to mentors and the opportunity to network with other successful entrepreneurs is invaluable if you're looking to get your business idea off the ground. I'm looking forward to following the success of the new businesses that will be founded as a result of these events!"

At each event, experienced advisors will be on-hand to help develop would-be entrepreneurs' business plans and guide them through the application process. There will also be opportunities to meet and chat with Virgin StartUp's network of mentors and attend panel sessions with successful entrepreneurs and a number of existing start-up entrepreneurs.

return to BW briefs