Entrepreneurs want more support from government, Ernst & Young G20 survey shows

The Government should be doing more to encourage entrepreneurs to start building new businesses so they can eventually become long-term investors and continue funding start-ups, Ernst & Young has said alongside the launch of a new report.

The G20 Entrepreneur Report was launched alongside the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Summit in France, and surveyed 1,000 respondents from the 20 nations including at least 50 from Australia.

The survey found that only 44% believe Australia is the most favourable G20 nation in which to start a business, but it also found that 64% believe the Government should do more to help entrepreneurs seek access to funding.

Strategic growth markets division leader Peter McIver says lack of access to funding is a theme that runs through the entire survey.

“Obviously the market dried up through the GFC and it’s getting better, but it’s still very difficult. Many entrepreneurs are finding the bank’s credit department is essentially taking over.”

“Of course banks have to ensure money is sent in the right places, but it’s very frustrating.”

McIver says the Government needs to keep encouraging people to become entrepreneurs, saying business owners and founders can deliver significant benefits to the economy in the long-term.

“What you see with business founders is that they go and start a business, but then after a lifetime you’ll see they’ve started up three or four,” he says.

“Once they’ve started one business, they go and work with other start-ups down the track, and have been reasonably good at getting involved in the business community.”

The survey shows 70% of respondents don’t believe there are enough tax benefits to becoming an entrepreneur, and many don’t believe the Government is doing enough to encourage entrepreneurship.

“It’s almost like the market needs that encouragement to show that it’s okay to be an entrepreneur, that it’s okay to take a calculated risk and put it into something.”

“What we often see is that although private equity has waned, entrepreneurs become angel investors in future businesses so they become a very important source of funding. If we don’t create these entrepreneurs, others who take the first step may not get funding.”

The survey found 46% of entrepreneurs believe business regulations had become more difficult over the past five years, and 70% said there wasn’t enough coordination between governments and education systems for training.

“It’s not as if you need a training course to become an entrepreneur,” says McIver, “but they do want to be coached and mentored.”

“There are quite a few of these organisations, but the message is that entrepreneurs want to work with a mentor who coaches them along. It’s much better than having an academic.”