What makes an Entrepreneur?

[brendan]

What Makes an Entrepreneur?
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/faculty/oswald/entrepre.pdf

"The factors that affect the supply of entrepreneurs are important but poorly understood. We study a sample of individuals who choose either to be employees or to run their own businesses. Four conclusions emerge. First, consistent with the existence of borrowing constraints on potential entrepreneurs, we find that the probability of self-employment depends markedly upon whether the individual ever received an inheritance or gift. Second, when directly questioned in interview surveys, potential entrepreneurs say that raising capital is their principal problem. Third, consistent with our theoretical framework's predictions, the self-employed have higher levels of job and life satisfaction than employees. Fourth, childhood personality measurements and psychological test scores are of almost no help in predicting who runs their own business later in life. It is access to start-up capital that matters."

[excal]

I totally agree.

I've recently started an IT business and have found the lack of start-up capital has seriously hindered growth, particularly in terms of marketing (which is necessary to even begin making money).