Up to 70 percent of Taiwanese say they would consider starting their own businesses to pursue their fortunes and develop a sense of achievement, a poll released yesterday showed.
The survey was conducted jointly by the National Youth Commission, the Chinese-language Business Next (數位時代) biweekly and National Chengchi University's Center for Creativity and Innovation Studies. It polled a total of 1,628 people through the Internet from March 17 to Match 31 and obtained 1,579 effective responses.
The poll showed that 73.1 percent of respondents, who mainly consisted of officer workers and students, were considering starting their own businesses.
About 49.5 percent of those polled were under the age of 29, the survey found.
"It may be because most Internet surfers are usually younger," said Erica Lu (
The survey suggested more young people want to be their own boss or open online stores, Lu said.
Becoming an entrepreneur was seen as a way to make money and a path toward career fulfillment by over 40 percent of respondents, according to the survey.
"A sense of crisis is also a driving force to push people to start their own business," said Sheng Wei (
The nation's jobless rate soared to a record high 5.17 percent in 2002 from an average of more than 2 percent in previous years, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS). The unemployment figure for February was 4.61 percent, with 468,000 people out of work.
The DGBAS is slated to announce the figure for last month next Thursday.
According to the survey, 42.7 percent of respondents thought that it was a good time to start a business or join franchises, such as convenience stores, comic rental businesses or food and beverage services. Businesses requiring an investment of less than NT$1.5 million appealed most to these potential entrepreneurs, the survey said.
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