Meet Simone. She’s bright, well-educated, honest and hard-working. She holds down a dream job, earns a fantastic salary, is virtually guaranteed of a healthy performance bonus each year, is frequently showered with accolades…. and she’s just handed in her resignation. Simone’s boss is unable to mask her shock when confronted with the bombshell, and rapidly sharpens her pencil and hauls out her calculator. Whatever the competition’s offering, the company will match it and some. Imagine her surprise when she discovers that Simone – her star employee – will be earning…. nothing. At least, not until her new business venture is off the ground and making money. What drives a person to leave a stable job and guaranteed salary for the instability of self-employment and zero guarantee of an income? Let’s face it. Starting your own business requires money, many (many!) hours of hard work, the patience of a saint and a positive attitude even in the face of adversity. Not to mention a healthy dose of realism, understanding that you may not be seeing much of an income for the first year or more, and may well face closure before then if the stats are anything to go by. According to Fin 24, small business failure rates are as high as 63% in the first two years of trading! Yet people still start their own businesses on a regular basis. Why do people choose to start up their own companies? What drives an entrepreneur to do what they do? Are they born, or are they a product of circumstance? Read More.....