Only 19 percent of office workers who went on to launch their own businesses have succeeded in doing so, and only one-third of those people have recovered their costs, according to a poll released by online job bank yes123.
The poll showed that 51 percent of office workers who launched a business have since ended operations, while 30 percent are still preparing to launch their business.
The reasons for closing businesses include a lack of funding (39.5 percent), a lack of customers (35.8 percent), continued losses (33.3 percent), high rental costs for office or retail space (27.2 percent) and lack of expertise (19.8 percent), according to the poll.
Yes123 spokesperson Yang Tsung-pin (楊宗斌) said respondents spend an average of 24.9 months preparing for the launch of their businesses, including evaluating the market, developing products and deciding on distribution channels and store locations.
According to the poll, entrepreneurs spend an average of 9.9 hours per day running their businesses and 66 percent of them said they work longer hours after starting their businesses.
Reasons to start businesses include perusing one’s interest, increased income, flexible work hours, fear of not being able to find a job or being laid off, and perceived unreasonable national wages, according to the poll.
The five most popular businesses are: coffee and tea shops (41.4 percent), restaurants (39.4 percent), bakery and pastry shops (26.1 percent), travel and accommodation-related businesses (24.8 percent) and clothing and accessory stores (17.3 percent), the poll showed.
Competition in these businesses can be strong and new ventures can find themselves in a low-profit environment, unless they are able to distinguish themselves from their competitors, Yang said.
The poll, conducted that between Sept. 1 and Tuesday, collected 1,306 valid questionnaires from respondents aged 20 or over. It had a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of 2.71 percentage points.
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