Q&A - What motivates someone to start a business?

A student asks:

What motivates someone to start a business?

The popular perception that the main motivation for starting a business is just to make money - i.e. to earn a return from making an investment and taking a risk.

There is certainly plenty of evidence to support this perception. However, research suggests that there are many more reasons why someone wants to start a business.

Here are some of the motives that are often quoted by entrepreneurs:

More control over working life – want to choose what kind of work is done
Need a more flexible work schedule, including being able to work from or close to home
Feel that skills are being wasted and that potential is not being fulfilled
Want to escape an uninteresting job or career
A desire to pursue an interest or hobby
Fed up with being told what to do – what to be the boss!
Want the feeling of satisfaction from building a business
Want more of the rewards from the effort being put in
Fed up with working in a business hierarchy or bureaucratic organisation
As a response to a shock in personal circumstances – e.g. redundancy, illness, bereavement