We have been doing a lot of research and asking a lot of questions about what stops young people from taking the leap and starting their own business. We asked our audience about college debt and we saw The Kauffman Foundation publish a survey of the young entrepreneur space. Last week we asked our Facebook fans the question to see what was stopping our readers from starting a business. We have compiled their answers below:
Question: What do you think is the biggest barrier to starting a business for young people?
1. Knowledge, I would say fear is big too. Ignorance handicaps you and fear paralyzes you. – Jason Baudendistel
2. Credibility & trust. – As Shashee
3. Market changes. – Med Larbi Bahou
4. Yourself first and foremost. Cultivate a little of the “I don’t care” attitude then be wary of friends and associates. Sad (but true) that those closest to us are often kryptonite. “What you resist persists, what you embrace dissolves with grace” – Maria Joyner
5. Finance is a major barrier for most young people, start up seed is a stumbling block. – Okeh Oj
6. Pressure from parents and family members, telling you, you can’t achieve it!! And you need a full time job, being a slave worker n trying to climb the corporate ladder. – Rush Bhana
7. The paperwork, social pressure, no mentor, fear of failure, contentness with the status quo! – Michael Michalowski
8. Funding and legal matters. – Vinay Balan
9. Courage. – Shiv Kumar Agrawal
10. Confidence and the knowledge that often you won’t get it right first time but that it makes you a better business person. – Gemma Regalado-Hawkey
11. Lack of vision, or a vision that is not compelling. – Gel Puyat
12. People be looking down on you because of “lack of experience” when their “experienced” asses keep on failing in business too. i’d have to say in order to succeed it only takes 20% experience at the most. the rest is mentality, sense, wit, confidence, connections, personality, and open mindedness. Grrrrrrr! – Juno Han
13. Start up capital. – Kim Garback
14. Confidence is the least of young people’s barriers, you won’t find a group of more confident entrepreneurs than in the young ranks. The issues faced and the vary from person to person in this category are competence, commitment, and capital. Many of the above answers are excellent, there’s certainly some issue with outside pressure to get a job instead or go the more traditional routes. – Millionaire Concepts
15. Listening to all the doubters and not yourself. – Impactiv8
16. Experience and people just don’t want to listen to a young person. – Chris Tylenda
17. Just plain ol’ bad vibes. – Beaudy Camacho
18. The motivation to actually act upon an idea. – Robert Jandura-Cessna
19. Time management, fear, and lack of follow through. – Adam Klein
20. Having the lack of financial resources along with the support is my biggest hurdle. Continued motivation is the key… – Unique Hutchinson
21. Finances, uncertainty and sometimes unsure of where to start in the whole process; that’s what I hear from my friends with start-ups. – Josh Beaty
22. Too many government regulations. – The CEO TV Show
23. Capital!!! – Travis Baird
24. Fear, lack of knowledge, self-doubt, and lack of financial resources. – Dana Leavy
What are your barriers?
