OMD UK and the Telegraph Media Group launch Entrepreneurial Britain research

OMD UK and the Telegraph Media Group have revealed their ground-breaking new research initiative, Entrepreneurial Britain, which sets out to understand the motivations, personality traits, media habits and challenges of the UK’s Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise (SME) owners. These findings will help those looking to work with SMEs understand and support them more effectively.

With SMEs contributing over £1.8 trillion annually to the UK economy and employing an estimated 15.6 million people in the country, individuals who take the leap to set up their own business are clearly instrumental to the British economy.

Developed by OMD UK and The Telegraph Media Group’s Insight teams, the study looks at entrepreneurs as individuals rather than as businesses. Common misconceptions are that entrepreneurs are extroverted, risk-takers who are often workaholics but the research found very definite personality traits leaning towards introversion, reason, perfection and empathy and over 75% are driven by achieving a good work-life balance. And while we may assume that becoming an entrepreneur is strongly linked to the accumulation of wealth, we discovered that the motivations behind setting up and running businesses are much more multidimensional and complex than this, with an average of six motivators cited as reasons for establishing a business.

The research was large scale and extensive, including in-depth interviews with ten entrepreneurs, followed by an online survey with over 1,000 small business owners, recruited via Telegraph.co.uk. Learnings were then segmented, with four key entrepreneurial groups being identified: the Young Innovators, the Revitalised Tycoons, the Natural Entrepreneurs and the Time-Honoured Traditionalist.

Sarah Gale, Head of Insight at OMD UK, said: “We’re delighted to have worked with the Telegraph Media Group to unveil this innovative new research. While there is already a wealth of knowledge around the size, shape and profile of the market, we recognised that there is far less insight into who entrepreneurs are and what motivates this fascinating group of people. I hope this study helps our clients and their brands produce communications and marketing that really resonates with SME owners”.

Michael Hepburn, Head of Telegraph Connect, said: “The Entrepreneurial Britain research provides some really valuable insights into the attitudes of small business owners for those looking to work with them. It fits perfectly with the aims of Telegraph Small Business Connect – to provide quality insight, information and inspiration to the small business community. We hope it will help this community prosper and grow.”

A copy of the white paper can be downloaded here.

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