The will to succeed is in entrepreneurs' DNA

While life remains challenging, the sixth annual international Hiscox DNA of an Entrepreneur Report shows a greater confidence for the future.   The study is based on responses from 3,500 small business owners in the US, UK and parts of Europe – including 1,000 from the UK alone.  UK firms are also most likely of all those polled to have had a request for funding agreed by a bank or other lender in the past five years, and are least likely (22%) to say that lack of Government support is a concern – good news for policy-makers.   However, this year also saw a big increase in the number of respondents citing cyber-crime as one of their biggest fears, with the UK most likely to be concerned about it (17%).   Overall, small business owners estimated they worked a shorter week this year, with British (38.7) respondents reporting the shortest hours worked. One in three (36%) of British respondents also want to work less. But what counts as work can be subjective. In the UK, 45% of those polled say eating lunch at their desk counts as work, while 71% include responding to emails and voicemails after work. UK respondents are also taking less annual leave – 20.3 days, down from 21.4 in 2013.   Bronek Masojada, CEO at Hiscox, said:  “The findings indicate that the grit and determination small business owners have shown in previous years' studies is paying off. This is immensely encouraging, not only for small business owners, but for anyone with an interest in the small business sector – from policy-makers to academics.”   The report clearly reveals that while there is still work to do, one thing none of the small businesses lack is their determination to succeed. It's in their DNA. ____________________________________________