The Business
Ownership
Index

Executive summary

Andrew Markou CEO, BusinessesForSale.com

Britain is undergoing a profound shift in its relationship with work.

Traditional career paths are becoming less certain, while changing technology and economic pressures are causing people to think differently about how they earn, progress and plan for the future. Increasingly, many of us are questioning whether traditional employment alone can provide the long-term security it once promised.

Against this backdrop, growing numbers are looking beyond conventional employment and towards entrepreneurship and business ownership.

The Business Ownership Index set out to understand this shift.

We surveyed a nationally representative sample of UK adults about their attitudes towards work, careers, entrepreneurship and business ownership.

The findings point to a country rethinking where long-term security comes from and becoming far more entrepreneurial than many of us realise.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is just how broad that ambition has become. It is no longer the preserve of experienced founders or business owners.

Women are emerging as one of the strongest drivers of entrepreneurial ambition. And more of us, particularly younger people, are already creating our own opportunities through side hustles, freelance work and new business ventures to supplement income.

Increasingly, people want greater control over their future rather than relying solely on an employer to provide it.

Yet the findings also reveal a significant disconnect. While entrepreneurial ambition is growing, understanding of how to achieve it has not kept pace.

Too many people still believe that starting a business is the only route to ownership. At the same time, relatively few understand that buying an established business or franchise can provide a more accessible, proven and lower-risk path.

Awareness, confidence and access to finance remain among the biggest barriers to action.

The Business Ownership Index shows that Britain stands at an important crossroads. The challenge now is to remove the barriers that prevent people from turning entrepreneurial ambition into business ownership.