Whilst a number of motivations were identified, the majority of respondents say they were driven by the desire to control their own destiny, to pursue an idea, to take advantage of an opportunity in the market and to gain the financial rewards that entrepreneurship can bring.

We asked respondents, who owned their own business, what motivated them to start it. We invited them to choose from eight options and their top choices are:

1. 59% Be my own boss
2. 50% Desire to pursue a business idea
3. 50% Financial ambition

44% said they took advantage of an opportunity that emerged in the marketplace. Over a third, 36% said that they were frustrated with how big companies operate. 15% of these business owners said that their previous employer did not provide them with adequate opportunity. Only 1% of respondents inherited a family business.

The view from the UK is slightly different. 51% of business owners said that they were frustrated with how big companies operate. This is reflected in 70% of UK business owners saying that to be their own boss was a motivator for them to start their own business.

Financial ambition from the UK respondents was only cited by 24% of owners as a motivation to start their business. In the UK the desire to get away from the large company environment is mentioned by many on our panel as a major driver for them to go ahead and actually started their own business 70%.

Why start your own business? (Total figures)

59% Be my own boss
50% Desire to pursue a business idea
50% Financial ambition
44% Frustrated with how big companies operate
35% Took advantage of an opportunity that emerged in the marketplace
15% Lack of opportunity in previous employer
10% Other
9% Invited to run someone else's business
1% Inherited a family business

In the USA the order is:

1. 59% Be my own boss
2. 53% Financial ambition
3. 38% Frustration with how big companies operate

The one thing that is clear and common, up to this point, is that the desire to ‘be my own boss' is the most cited reason selected by these business owners for starting their own business. There is a clear driver amongst these entrepreneurs; namely to be independent and in charge of their own destiny.

Until we look at Australia where:

1. 62% Financial ambition
2. 52% Be my own boss
3. 49% Desire to pursue a business idea

Other reasons people gave as to why they started their own business include being made redundant and the desire "to make things, to improve the world". A number of business leaders cited a desire to live their own lifestyle, having space for ‘thinking time' and to run their lives and businesses using their own ethical values which they felt their employer didn't share. It would appear that where there is a mis-match between the values, goals and ambitions of these entrepreneurial spirits and their employers they find themselves motivated to go-it-alone and start their own organizations. Later in this report, we will see that the panel believes that aligning the company's culture and values with new staff and leaders is vital in retaining talent in their companies. They demonstrate the importance of this themselves in the reasons they give for leaving their employers to start their own firms. They were the talented people that their employers could not retain.

When we look at these motivations to start your own business on a demographic basis there is very little difference in the drivers chosen by our respondents. The Baby-boomers (aged 42 to 60) and the Silver-surfers (aged over 60) both prioritize first the desire to be their own boss, followed by the desire to pursue a business idea and then that of financial ambition. Generation-x (aged 25-41) prioritizes financial ambition slightly ahead of the desire to be their own boss then they prioritize the pursuance of a business idea.

The Baby-boomers are the most frustrated with how business operates with 15% citing this as a reason why they started their own business. To some extent this is not surprising as they have likely been in business longer and had greater experience of how the big companies operate. They have had the time to become frustrated. Interestingly 11% of Generation-x also cites this reason.

There were no major differences of opinion, expressed by the respondents' choices, between why men and women start their own businesses.