More Than Half of Adults Think They Have What It Takes to Start Their Own Business A new report examines how people view entrepreneurship around the world.
By Nina Zipkin
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Are you confident you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur?
You aren't the only one.
More than half of working-age adults believe they have the ability to start their own company, according to a new report from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, which surveyed people working in 60 countries around the world. What's more, 21 percent of those polled said they intend to start a business within the next three years, 66 percent think entrepreneurship is a solid career move and 68 percent say that they view business owners as having a "high status" in society.
Related: Why Single Women Are Quicker to Jump Into Entrepreneurship
Of the respondents who are already business owners and live in highly-developed economies, 78 percent said they choose to launch their ventures because they saw opportunities, not because they were forced to by economic necessity. For entrepreneurs living in less-developed economies, 69 percent reported the same.
"It is often a misperception that most entrepreneurs in less-developed economies are necessity-motivated," Donna Kelley, a professor of entrepreneurship at Babson College and the report's lead author, said in a statement. "The reality is that entrepreneurial opportunities of all types exist in every part of the world, and there are ambitious entrepreneurs everywhere with the aspirations to pursue them."
Related: Becoming an Entrepreneur Might Not Be as Risky As You Thought
The report found people at the beginning and middle of their careers, aged 25 to 35 and 35 to 44, have the highest participation rates when it comes to entrepreneurship. The average total entrepreneurial activity among women was highest in less-developed economies, which often heavily rely on agriculture and natural resources. In Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, women had "equal or higher entrepreneurship rates than men."
The United States, meanwhile, fell in the middle of the pack in terms of gender parity in entrepreneurship rates, ranking 31 out of the 60 countries that were surveyed.
