Despite almost two years of economic downturn, one in three Canadians is interested in starting their own business in the next two years, a recent survey shows. Thirty-five per cent of this group say they are likely to follow through with their plans.

Respondents cited control, independence and income - typical motivators of would-be entrepreneurs-as key reasons for wanting to go it alone.

Those who won't be plunging into small business anytime soon mentioned lack of money and support networks as well as difficulty in obtaining a loan as reasons.

The survey also probed about entrepreneurial self-confidence. The majority of those likely to start a business believe that it's easy to come up with a successful business idea and are confident they can market it. Furthermore, they showed confidence in their ability to:

• hire suitable staff (94 per cent);
• provide client service (85 per cent);
• find investors (68 per cent);
• promote their business (56 per cent).

Conversely, their confidence in managing business finances is not so strong. Seven in 10 believe that sorting through taxes and financing requirements would be a difficult part of running a business, while 58 per cent would rather have someone else handle accounting tasks.

Clearly, the impending Harmonized Sales Tax in Ontario and British Columbia is a key concern. Eighty-one per cent of respondents said the new tax will make consumers more price-conscious and 75 per cent believe that it will lead to spending cutbacks.

The survey of 1,010 adults was conducted for Intuit Inc., a provider of business, financial and tax management software.

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