2007年3月7日 英国人热衷创业

Enthusiasm for entrepreneurship last year helped the UK to buck the trend for falls in the number of start-ups in the world's richest countries, an international survey has found.

《全球创业观察》(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor)发现，在美国，创业者占成年人口的比例从12.4%降至10%，加拿大从9.3%降至7.1%，法国则从5.4%降至4.4%。《全球创业观察》是全球最全面的有关早期创业活动的研究报告。

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, the most comprehensive study of early-stage start-up activity, found the proportion of adults creating businesses dropped from 12.4 per cent to 10 per cent in the US, 9.3 per cent to 7.1 per cent in Canada and 5.4 per cent to 4.4 per cent in France.

而在英国，该比例仅从6.2%降至5.8%。这一降幅在统计上可谓微乎其微。

In the UK, however, the decline - from 6.2 per cent to 5.8 per cent - was considered statistically insignificant.

《全球创业观察》报告作者、伦敦商学院(London Business School)的丽贝卡o哈丁(Rebecca Harding)表示，在英国有一股创业热潮，人们甚至将其称为"新型摇滚"。

There is a buzz about entrepreneurship in the UK that has led some to call it the new rock'n'roll, according to Rebecca Harding, the GEM report's author at London Business School.


尽管英国创业者占成年人口的比例低于北美或中国和印度等新兴经济体，但仍高于欧洲其它国家。

The proportion of adults starting businesses in the UK is higher than other European countries al- though it remains less than in north America or emerging economies, such as China and India.


哈丁表示："我认为我们现在还不够'摇滚'，但相比很多国家，我们已经很'摇滚'了。"

"I don't think we are rocking and rolling as much as we need to, but we have more rocking and rolling going on than many other countries," Ms Harding said.


年轻人的创业热情很高。尽管多数初创企业都是由35岁至44岁的人创办的，但在18岁至24岁的年轻人中，逾64%的人认为创业是一个不错的职业选择，80%的人认为企业家拥有较高的社会地位。

Young people are enthusiastic about entrepreneurship. Although most start-ups are created by people aged between 35 and 44, more than 64 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds think entrepreneurship is a good career choice and 80 per cent think that entrepreneurs have a high status in society.

哈丁表示，英国潜在的创业者们长期以来一直因为惧怕失败而止步不前。但《全球创业观察》发现，这种担心可能毫无根据。

Fear of failure has long held back would-be British entrepreneurs, according to Ms Harding. But GEM found such concerns could be unfounded.

在英国，93%的初创企业发展成为知名企业。这表明，多数初创企业都存活了下来。

The proportion of people running established businesses in the UK is 93 per cent of the start-up rate, showing that most ventures survive.

在美国，仅有一半的知名企业为初创企业。

In the US, there are barely half as many established companies as there are start-up businesses.

英国小企业联合会(Federation of Small Businesses)的西蒙o布里奥特(Simon Briault)表示，阻碍创业活动的主要障碍是政府繁杂的手续，而非市场不确定性。他表示："由于需要另外考虑薪资、税收、医疗、安全和聘用规定等问题，人们害怕聘用人才。"

Simon Briault, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said red tape rather than market uncertainties was the main barrier to enterprise. "There is a fear of employing people because of the extra considerations about payroll, tax, health and safety and employment rules," he said.


英国创业者似乎不惧怕创新。《全球创业观察》发现，英国创业者对问世不到一年的新技术的利用率与美国大致相同。

UK entrepreneurs do not seem to fear innovation. GEM found that they were about as likely to use a technology that was less than a year old as people in the US.

在英国，女性创业率是男性的一半。这一性别差距比美国和德国都要大。

Women are half as likely as men to be involved in start-ups in the UK - a wider gender gap than in the US and Germany.

然而，《全球创业观察》发现，过去一年，英国多数地区的女性创业活动都相当稳定。

But GEM found female entrepreneurship was reasonably constant in most UK regions during the past year.

Aurora首席执行官格伦达o斯通(Glenda Stone)表示，女性创业通常较为容易，因为她们之中有更多人呆在家中，或者做兼职工作。Aurora是一个由2万多女性创业者组成的网络。

Glenda Stone, chief executive of Aurora, a network of more than 20,000 female entrepreneurs, said it was often easier for women to start a business because more of them were based at home or worked part-time.


然而，最近的利率上调和人事政策变动（大公司正试图让工作女性更为舒适），意味着2007年选择创业的女性数量将减少。

However, recent rises in interest rates and changes in the personnel policies that would see large companies trying to be more accommodating to working mothers would mean that fewer women chose to start up a business during 2007.

她表示："我想，人们现在更加有点儿犹豫不决了。"

"I think people are a bit more nervous right now," she said.