Small Business Entrepreneurs Are Getting Younger
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Indianapolis Business Journal:
At 23, Rob Gough (photo) is a veteran entrepreneur. From selling shark tooth necklaces to his neighbors during summer vacations in Florida to running an online auction site that benefits charities, he’s no stranger to the hard work that comes with starting a business.
‘I’m interested in new things and looking into new things,’ said Gough, who is among a burgeoning group of young entrepreneurs not content to work for others.
They’d rather strike out on their own. In fact, nearly 71 percent of the 1,474 youth who participated in a 2006 Junior Achievement survey said they wanted to be self-employed sometime in their lives – up by 6.9 percentage points since 2004.
Credit the opportunities that come from growing up in a technological society, experts said.
That trend is not expected to stop any time soon, said Donald F. Kuratko, executive director of Indiana University’s Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
‘In 1990, I was called about the fad of [young] entrepreneurs stopping and I said, No, it’ll escalate and gain greater speed,’ he said. ‘17 years later, I was correct and I think I’m correct in saying it won’t stop or be a fad, but be a fabric of the economy and continue on to excellence.’
That’s not to say there haven’t been downtrends throughout the years. Reasons for the trend:
About 3.9% of adults ages 20-34 started a business in 2005 and 2006, according to the Missouri-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s 2006 Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, up slightly from the 3.7% who took the plunge in 2000-2001—but down from 4.3% in 1996-1997. More.
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