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Entrepreneurial traits according to a credible study... and my perspective too
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The Kauffman Foundation for
Entrepreneurship (www.kauffman.org) recently released a report entitled “The Anatomy of an Entrepreneur”. It’s based on a survey of 549 company founders across a variety of industries and identifies the most common traits across all of the survey participants.
Here are 12 interesting facts about entrepreneurs - and how I reinforce or dispute these findings:
1. The average and median age of company
founders when they started their current companies was 40. I started my business when I was 27.
2. 95.1 percent of respondents themselves had
earned bachelor’s degrees, and 47 percent had more advanced degrees. I had earned my Master's Degree by the time I started my business.
3. Less than 1 percent came from extremely rich or extremely poor backgrounds. I came from a solid, middle-class background.
4. 15.2% of founders had a sibling that previously started a business. One brother is a physician; the other an attorney. I don't know if they are considered "entrepreneurs" even though they have their own practices.
5. 69.9 percent of respondents indicated they were married when they launched their first business. An additional 5.2 percent were divorced, separated, or widowed. Yes, I was (and still am) married. My husband is a key component of the business now.
6. 59.7 percent of respondents indicated they had at least one child when they launched their first business, and 43.5 percent had two or more children. We had no children when we launched. We now have two.
7. The majority of the entrepreneurs in the sample were serial entrepreneurs. The average number of businesses launched by respondents was approximately 2.3. This is my first (but probably not my last) business.
8. 74.8 percent indicated desire to build wealth was an important motivation in becoming an entrepreneur. That was one reason but not the primary reason.
9. Only 4.5 percent said the inability to find traditional employment was an important factor in starting a business. Not applicable. I quit my job to start my business.
10. Entrepreneurs are usually better educated than their parents. No. Both of my parents have advanced degrees. I consider myself the "under-achiever" of the family.
11. Entrepreneurship doesn’t always run in the family. More than half (51.9 percent) of respondents were the first in their families to launch a business. No. We have had businesses in our family.
12. The majority of respondents (75.4 percent) had worked as employees at other companies for more than six years before launching their own companies. No. I was only in the work force for about 5 years before starting my firm.
So my take-away for all of you is that just because a study indicates a trend, it doesn't preclude you from doing something different. A study is just a study. It doesn't dictate what you should or should not be doing. It is simply a benchmark. And besides, it is always fun to go against the grain, contradict convention, and blaze your own trail!
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