Amway released its 2015 Amway Global Entrepreneurship Report (AGER) today with a Global Entrepreneurship Week event at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.
The report found that 43 percent of respondents around the world could imagine starting a business. Men (47 percent) were more willing than women (38 percent). University degree holders and those under 35 years old (each 51 percent) showed the most potential. All this said, however, just 10 percent were currently self-employed, sustaining the entrepreneurial gap of 33 percent from 2014.
Globally, 55 percent of respondents expressed the desire to become an entrepreneur and 47 percent felt prepared for entrepreneurship. Beyond the potential lack of preparation, the fear of failure remained a significant hurdle (70 percent). Men and women were equally fearful and, in most countries, younger people were most afraid. “Financial burdens” (41 percent) and “threat of the economic crisis” (29 percent) were the factors feeding this fearfulness most.
“Entrepreneurs are shaping the global economy,” said Doug DeVos, president of Amway. “Through AGER, we’re exploring their motivations and mindset to ultimately create a more supportive world for entrepreneurs to start up, succeed and sustain their own businesses.”
The event featured remarks from DeVos, as well as John Schnatter, founder and CEO of Papa John’s, Jonathan Ortmans, founder and president of the Global Entrepreneurship Network and Donna Harris, founder of 1776 and a GEN board member.
The discussion, led by pollster Frank Luntz, included several questions about cultures overcoming failure. Ortmans stressed the importance of developing new firms as an experiment in validating ideas. He mentioned the need to focus less on the failure of enterprises, and more on the people founding them – as well as their knowledge, experience, sharpened ideas and networking connections.
“You never know at what point you will try or succeed as an entrepreneur,” Ortmans said, in response to whether young people should attend university or join big companies. “Not everyone will be an entrepreneur. Sure, go to university or take that job – just listen and observe and be open to testing ideas at work or on campus.”
Now in its sixth year, the Amway Global Entrepreneurship Report takes the public pulse of the state of self-employment around the world. The 2015 AGER delves into the key characteristics of entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial spirit and introduces the Amway Entrepreneurial Spirit Index (AESI).