Though six in 10 employed adults (59%) are interested in starting their own business or becoming an entrepreneur, their biggest barriers are feeling like they don’t have enough money (39%) or knowledge to start (29%), according to research from Justworks and The Harris Poll. Younger employees—Gen Z and millennials—are fueling these sparks of entrepreneurship, the report finds.
In addition to access to capital as the biggest challenge facing small business owners, around two in five consider HR-related concerns like complicated tax codes (41%) and managing payroll issues (36%) within the top three challenges worth solving as well.
The report finds that gaining a better understanding of the financial (34%), operational (32%), administrative (17%), and legal (31%) aspects of starting or running a business, having a mentor to help guide them (29%), acquiring capital investment (27%), and creating a business plan (27%) can help eliminate barriers to entrepreneurship.
While most small business owners (59%) say that it has been easier than they anticipated to run a small business, most small business owners who have dealth with certain HR-related aspects of business administration like managing health benefits (67%), legal documentation (64%), and filing taxes (61%) indicate it was more difficult than they expected. Meanwhile, many say that managing payroll (57%) and onboarding and offboarding employees (51%) was easier than they anticipated.
Four in five entrepreneurs wish they knew more about small business tax rules (83%) and in general wish there were better HR tools to help them manage their business (80%), with nearly nine in 10 (87%) agreeing that having better tools to manage HR and administrative aspects of the business would allow them more time to focus on the core business.
In fact, 62% of employed adults say they would be likely to start their own business if they could outsource the HR and other administrative aspects of the business—including 20% who strongly agree.
