South: Bedroom entrepreneurs on the rise, claims Freelancer.co.uk
More Britons are setting up in businesses in their spare time and from their bedrooms, according to a survey released by Freelancer.co.uk, the world’s largest marketplace for businesses.
There has been an increase of 34% of businesses setting up in their spare time in the past 12 months, and all of them revealed they did so because starting a business today is easier, saying that costs are lower thanks to being able to start up online.
The survey found the average cost of staring up a business online was just £325 if the business outsourced the cost of starting up via the internet.
Of those that started the business in their spare time:
- 56% started in their bedroom
- 23% in their kitchen
- 12% in their home office or study
- 9% started in their garden shed.
The reasons they thought starting up was easier now than ever include:
- 19% virtual trading online reduced costs of renting office space
- 18% cheaper technology skills
- 15% easier to sell products online
- 22% said they hired a freelancer to create an e-commerce site.
These figure are backed up by Freelancer.co.uk's own figures, with the number of businesses registering on its site up by more than 250%.
Freelancer.co.uk figures also show a 64% rise in earnings from the businesses using the site in the past two months, compared with the same period of 2012.
Another rising trend revealed is that more than a third of those registering will start employing other people to work for them.
According to Matt Barrie, CEO of Freelancer.co.uk, it has never been a better time to start up on your own. “The numbers of people staring their own small businesses is increasing because of technological advances that reduce set up costs, and sites such as Freelancer.co.uk that provide thousands of jobs and clients in one marketplace.
“People joining Freelancer are beating the jobs market by setting up on their own. They are taking advantage of technological changes that make setting up on your own easier.
“What’s more, as these new businesses begin to grow they can access a network of skilled freelancers from around the world to support their business. Freelancer.co.uk’s latest figures show UK small businesses' spending on freelancers from around the world increased by 134% in the past year.”
