News

February 19, 2010

TV entrepreneurs don’t reflect reality for small firms

Celebrity entrepreneurs such as Lord Alan Sugar and Sir Richard Branson do not reflect the reality of running a business for most small firms, research from Nottingham University has found.

In its quarterly Business Barometer survey of 350 small firms and business advisers, just 11 per cent believed that the media painted a true picture of what it was like to run a business. In addition, eight out of ten felt that the portrayal of celebrity entrepreneurs on TV distorted the public perception of business owners.

Nottingham Business School's Professor Martin Binks said that the results raised concerns about how budding business owners were able to find accurate information on entrepreneurship.

"At a time when so much emphasis is placed on the crucial importance of entrepreneurship, this perception may have significant implications for informed decision making," he said.

According to a spokesman for the Forum of Private Business, television programmes such as Dragons' Den and the Apprentice were "useful" when it came to engaging the public with the business world.

"However, there is a danger that celebrity entrepreneurs are too far removed from the reality of running a business," he said. "Well-known figures like Alan Sugar are nowhere near the coalface anymore, and haven't been for some time, so they are likely to forget about different challenges of running a small firm.

"But most people are aware that these shows aren't real," he added. "Nobody really knows what it's like to run a business until they get stuck in themselves."