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Hello and welcome to another informative weekly article! This week the topic is ‘start-ups’. I found this topic specifically interesting because I was able to observe that people have a different idea of what a start-up business is. Over the decades that I have mentored and worked closely with many different ‘start-ups’ here in Australia as well as overseas.

First, we have to clarify what a ‘start-up’ business is before we can look into some data. When researching what a ‘start-up’ is considered, I diagnose many deliberations. One source sees a ‘start-up’ as a different form of a traditional business, primarily because they are designed to grow fast. In their opinion, the word ‘start-up’ goes beyond a company just getting off the ground and is associated with a business that is typically technology oriented and has a high growth potential. Another source sees a ‘start-up’ as an entrepreneurial venture which is typically a new business that provides a service or product. However, another source describes a start-up as a new business which managed to secure funding or a grant to establish a company to provide a specific service or product. It is clear that there are many ways that one can see a ‘start-up’. Let us have a look at the Australian and U.S. market to compare gender and age of one of the above mentioned ‘start-ups’.

A typical U.S. ‘start-up’ age is still likely to be a 20 plus year old white male and highly likely in a tech industry based in Silicon Valley. However, this stereotype does not fit into the research done by TechCrunch who found out that when the top 0.1 percent of highest growth start-ups assessed, the average age was up to 45 years.

In Australia, there is a lack of comprehensive data on actual successful ‘start-ups’. A Startup Muster survey showed that the average age of Australian founders with 1-5 employees is 40 years of age. The Department of Industry report states that the average age of start-up founders in Australia who have either received funding or gone through an accelerator program is 34.3 years old.

In my experience working closely with Australian ‘start-ups’, the main age group of new business start-ups is around the 35 years of age, female, with the aim to bring some extra income into the household. The second group of ‘start-ups’ is the 55 plus age group, female, who would like to start an extra income source for the retirement years. The percentage of young entrepreneurs (18 – 30 year of age) is very low. However, those start-ups are created as a secondary income to employment in the hope that one day the business will be their main income source.

In entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution, self-employment is getting more and more the desired path for people. The increased job insecurity and fear of survival plus the government incentives to become self-employed drives people to start-up a business. However, operating a business and understanding the legal responsibilities which go hand in hand with an enterprise is barely known. This is where education comes in!

In my experience, I can highly recommend in getting a Certificate or Diploma in Small Business before choosing the path of self-employment. Businesses usually don’t fail because of a lack of passion but because of a lack of business knowledge.

Are you thinking of starting up your own business? Synergy Consulting Australia provides a large range of business consulting services which includes 4IR, Legal, Accounting, Marketing, Project Management, Migration services and many more tailored business solutions. This also includes a full market research and feasibility report before investing. www.synergyaustralia.com.au

Synergy Consulting Australia is led by Ilona Solinska. Ilona has over 18 years’ international business consulting experience.  She is a successful Business Growth Strategist, Educator, Keynote speaker and Writer. She has coached hundreds of businesses in the area of Marketing, Finance, Legal, Compliance, Operation, Change & Project Management and is a highly sought-after presenter on a wide variety of business topics.