Home Comforts

MOST people think of home start as a service provided by the AA and RAC when your car takes exception to those icy winter mornings and yet it applies to business too. Government figures suggest more and more graduates and school leavers have chosen to start up on their own. Running costs are lower from the family abode while it is estimated that almost three quarters of businesses run by the over 50s are operated from home sweet home.

For those leaving education there is plenty of help out there and also a university course helping the young to harness their creative talents. The entrepreneurial youth of today are inherently good at spotting opportunities, are risk takers and follow things through once they are fully involved in an issue. Could you take advantage in a similar way?

Interestingly there are growing numbers of older workers using their redundancy packages to branch out in the business world on their own, with figures showing that more than quarter of all business start-ups in the first six months of this year were aged 50 and over.

Almost half of these said they found it easier to obtain bank funding and two thirds believed age was a deciding factor in that. So this could be a good time to strike while the iron’s hot – and not just for those who fancy themselves as a welder!

With a third of Britain’s brightest young business women expecting to see their revenues grow, even though only 15% of small businesses are said to be run by women, there appears to be something out there for everyone. So why don’t you take your opportunity – now?