PRIME clients still going ahead despite tough times

Olderpreneurs are not being put off by the recesion. A higher proportion are going ahead and giving self-employment a go than five years ago.

These are among the preliminary results of a follow-up study PRIME is currently conducting. We are ringing a sample of 500 clients who contacted us at least 12 months ago to find out what has happened to them. The timing makes these people clients of the recession, which is generally held to have started in the second quarter of 2008.

2010 preliminary results

We did a very similar follow-up study asking many of the same questions at the end of 2005. The results showed slightly fewer over-50s starting than now, and many more giving up.

2005 results

We plan to analyse the results more once we have completed the fieldwork. But one contrast between 2005 and now is that more of those giving up then cited getting offered a regular job as the reason – 29 per cent in 2005 versus 21 per cent now. So though the recession does not seem to be dampening enthusiasm for self-employment, it is still diminishing the chance of getting offered a conventional job from an employer.

There is a big element of necessity behind older entrepreneurship – at least among PRIME clients (as a charity we concentrate our efforts on the unemployed and those facing redundancy).

UPDATE: Oct 2010

Completed report

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