MKT1005 Entrepreneurial

Skills Development
Self-employment: a
career option?
 Objectives
 Why self-employment
 Job by design?
 Examples
 Successful traits
 Very small businesses

 In 2010 there were over 3.3 million

micro-businesses in the UK (each
employing less than 10 people, with
less than 2 million Euro turnover),
employing 29.3% of the working
population, contributing around 9% of
UK’s ‘value added’ (a measure of labour
productivity)
 In 2013:
 There were an estimated 4.9 million businesses in the
UK which employed 24.3 million people, and had a
combined turnover of £3,300 billion
 SMEs* accounted for 99.9 per cent of all private sector
businesses in the UK, 59.3 per cent of private sector
employment and 48.1 per cent of private sector turnover
 SMEs employed 14.4 million people and had a combined
turnover of £1,600 billion
 Small businesses** alone accounted for 47 per cent of
private sector employment and 33.1 per cent of turnover
 Of all businesses, 62.6 per cent (3.7 million) were sole
proprietorships, 28.5 per cent (1.4 million) were
companies and 8.9 per cent (434,000) partnerships
 There were 891,000 businesses operating in the
construction sector - nearly a fifth of all businesses
 In the financial and insurance sector, only 27.5 per cent
of employment was in SMEs. However, in the
agriculture, forestry and fishing sector virtually all
employment (95.4 per cent) was in SMEs
 Only 22.5 per cent of private sector turnover was in the
arts, entertainment and recreation activities, while 92.7
per cent was in the agriculture, forestry and fishing
sector
 With 841,000 private sector business, London had more
firms than any other region in the UK. The south east
had the second largest number of businesses with
791,000. Together these regions account for almost a
third of all firms
 Northampton
 In 2006, South Northamptonshire had the
highest rate of employment of anywhere in
the UK … 85.9%
 In 2012 South Northamptonshire is in the
top ten for employment (South Northants council)

 Why would anyone consider starting their

own business when there are clearly jobs
available?
 Butwhat if there were very few jobs
available?

 Would your opinion change?

 What would your attitude now be?

 Design your ideal job!

 Money
 Working hours / flexibility
 Type of work
 Independence
 Achievement
 Power
 Lifestyle
What does it take to become self-
employed?
 Register with the tax authority …
that’s all!

 Perhaps,for most, it also requires a

confluence of …
 The opportunity
 The motivation
 The means
CASE 1
She was born in Littlehampton in 1942, one of four children of Italian
immigrants. Her parents settled in Littlehampton to run the Clifton
Café. Her father died when she was ten and the children then helped
to run the café. From school she went to Bath College of Education
where she took a Teacher Training course. She started teaching but
wanted to live abroad, so she got a job with the United Nations in
Geneva. She had never had a holiday as a child so with the tax-free
money she earned in Geneva, she decided to spend a year travelling
around the world. She visited Polynesia, New Caledonia, Australia and
Africa where her interest in the multiple uses of natural ingredients
was aroused.
Returning in England she met her husband to be, a graduate of the
Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester. He had farmed overseas and
in the UK before settling in Littlehampton. They married in 1970.
Originally, they planned to travel overland to Australia and buy a
pineapple plantation, but the arrival of first one and then two children
made them change their plans. Instead they bought and ran a
restaurant and later a small hotel in Littlehampton.
Of her later ventures she recalls: ‘I remember walking through Littlehampton
with the kids, one in a pushchair and one walking beside me. We went into the
sweet shop and the greengrocer and then to Boots. In both the sweet shop
and the greengrocers I had choice. I could buy as much, or as little, as I
wanted. I could buy half a pound of gob-stoppers or a kilo of apples, the
quantities were up to me. In Boots I suddenly thought “Why can’t I buy as
little as I like here too? Why am I stuck with only big sizes to choose from?
If I am trying something out and don’t like it, I am too intimidated to return
it, so I am stuck with it!” That one thought, that single reaction, was me
voicing a need, a disappointment with things as they were. But if that’s a need
I have, lots of other women must have the same need, I thought. Why can’t I
buy smaller sizes – like the greengrocers?’
When her husband went off to a long trip in South America she decided she
needed just little shop to provide her with a living in his absence. She had long
been irritated by the marketing of cosmetics which were sold on a message of
hope in expensive packaging.
The simple need that she identified had two main aspects. Firstly she
saw the need for cosmetics in cheap containers, with simple labels, which took
away the hyped images of fantasy. Secondly, she believed in products made
from natural ingredients rather than chemically produced cosmetics which
often relied on animal testing.
Successful self-employment takes…
 Sheer determination
 Hard-work
 Industry knowledge
 Business skills
 Intelligence and thoughtfulness
 Willingness to learn and change
 Support from people around you
 Being a really good ‘do-er’!
 Which of these best describes you?
 I’m game, let’s get started (activist)

 I need to think about it first (reflector)

 I need to read about it first, so I

understand it (theorist)

 Why bother? What’s in it for

me? (pragmatist)
CASE 2
Born in 1950 he had a somewhat unusual but privileged upbringing.
For example, determined to develop her son’s self-reliance, his
mother is reputed to have pushed her four-year-old son from the car
one day and told him to find his own way home. Some distance from
home, he got himself completely lost and had to knock on the door of
a stranger to ask the way. Again, while other parents banned their
children from climbing the tree on the village green where he was
brought-up, his mother made him climb right to the top. Such
experiences developed his self-confidence and self-belief, so
although he suffered from dyslexia and did not excel at the public
school he attended, he grew up confident in his own ability. His
mother’s exhortations created an obedient son convinced he could do
no wrong and that self-doubt was a sin. As a result he emerged as a
doer rather than an observer, excited by intellectual stimulation and
someone who has a healthy disdain for authority and is impervious to
criticism.
 Although he is reputed to have been frustrated by the rigidity
of the formal education system and did not excel at school, he
developed an interest in journalism and the possibility of publishing
a magazine for sixth-formers. The concept was quite simple: it
would be focused on students and would carry features written by
well-known personalities, including rock-stars, movie stars,
intellectuals and leading politicians. It would sell advertising to
major corporations. So he begun writing to celebrities requesting
interviews. Somewhat surprisingly, he received replies, many of
them positive. At the age of 16, with six O-levels, he persuaded his
father to let him leave school to start business with a school-friend.

With a £4 donation from his mother to help cover postage and

telephone expenses the business was launched from his office on
the top floor of his parents house. He persuaded a respected
magazine designer to work for no fee and his friends to work for
the magazine for £12. At the same time, he negotiated a printing
contract for 50,000 copies. The first edition of Youngster was
published in January 1968.
 However, the venture was not a success. Like so many start-up
businesses it had cash-flow problems. So in April 1970, together with
two colleagues he established his second business selling records by
mail order. Since the British Government had abolished Retail Price
Maintenance on records, it was possible to sell them at discount prices
and undercut the main retail outlets. An advertisement in what was the
last issue of Youngster produced an encouraging trickle of orders with
payment in advance of delivery.
This venture was highly successful. Shortly after it was started
with orders flooding from overseas he decided to drive a van to Dover
intending to export a consignment of records to France. This was
particularly lucrative as records sold overseas did not attract the 33%
purchase tax levied on goods sold in the UK. On arrival in Dover he
obtained a PT999 form, confirming that the records had left the
country and boarded the ferry. Because of a strike in France, however,
the sailing was cancelled and he returned to London with his records
officially cleared of purchase tax. He was not slow to realise that he
could sell them, via his mail order company, to British customers and
save the tax. When he discovered how easy it was this proved to be an
exercise repeated several times. When he was eventually caught, he
spent a night in jail and settled out of court with Customs and excise.
 So, are you the kind of person who … ?
 Wants to be their own boss
 Wants to run a business
 Likes to create things
 Loves solving problems
 Is motivated by achievement
 Has goals in life that challenge you
 Is confident of your own abilities
 Gets on and does things!
But, your role will change ….

delegate
cash
people

E
doing

Existence survival growth take-off maturity

Churchill & Lewis (1984) model

 Summary
 Personalitytraits?
 Success factors

 Activity – learning styles