The entrepreneur within

If you think that the biggest threat to your key staff is poaching by a competitor, then think again.

A new survey of 500 would-be entrepreneurs from StartupSmart suggests employers need to be on the lookout for smart staff who are desperate for a new challenge (91% of respondents) and think they can do a better job than their boss (75% of respondents) and have always harboured a desire to start up (90%).

While the idea of beating the boss has always been a key driver for start-up entrepreneurs, the survey suggests these would-be business owners are better prepared than ever to make the jump from salaried employee to entrepreneur.

Just under half believe they have the savings to support their business, 53% say they’ve got the marketing skills to get their business off the ground and almost 60% say they know how the launch a website (which puts them a fair way ahead of the pack, based on yesterday’s news that 65% of companies don’t have a site).

Now, I can almost hear the seasoned entrepreneur out there saying “those wannabes don’t know what they are getting into”. And it’s true – entrepreneurs in the stages of planning a business to tend to underestimate things like the amount of capital needed to get a business of the ground, the enormity of the marketing effort required and the complexity of web strategy.

But employers should realise this is not a movement of young start-up entrepreneurs setting out with no more than a business plan and some dreams – these are seasoned professionals with high levels of industry knowledge, a strong understanding of what it takes to get a business of the ground and an appreciation that savings are required to sustain a entrepreneur in the early days.

Indeed, it could be that we are primed for a new age of entrepreneurialism. As the economy in Australia recovers and global economies improve, there will clearly be opportunities for smart people to start businesses. In fact, you could argue there hasn’t been a better time in the past five years to start-up.

The only deterrent is the labour market. With conditions likely to remain tight, would-be entrepreneurs may opt to stay in well-paid jobs rather than take a risk.

But employers should remain wary. Your star employees aren’t just keen to go out on their own – they’re better prepared than ever to do so.