Classroom entrepreneurs almost twice as likely to run own business, study suggests

Running a business while still at school or university almost doubles your chances of being your own boss later in life, according to new research carried out by Kingston University's Business School.

The report shows that teenagers who get the chance to set up and run a real business in the classroom are almost twice as likely (42 per cent) to become company owners than those who have not (26 per cent).

Dr Rosemary Athayde from Kingston Business School discovered the findings after conducting a series of in-depth surveys and interviews with 371 people who attended Young Enterprise programmes between 1962, when the charity was founded, and now.

The Young Enterprise programme enables 30,000 fifteen to nineteen year olds each year to run their own real companies for twelve months with help from expert business mentors. Students have to set up business bank accounts and work with industry insiders, with Young Enterprise insurance minimising any financial risk.