Since the recession began the media has been full of doom and gloom tales of companies going into administration, rising unemployment and declining consumer confidence. It got to a stage where you could not read a newspaper without hearing about the decline of a high street giant or be confronted with the headline ‘Head of XXX announces record losses.”
However, what does all this scaremongering actually do to help the economic situation? Of course we have a right to know the truth, but what impact do all the headlines and tales of economic woe have on the nation’s entrepreneurs and company formation owners?
Well, according to a recent report conducted by the Forum of Small Business and Enterprise, absolutely none.
The report, which questioned over three hundred CEOs and company founders, found that over seventy per cent of those surveyed commented that remaining optimistic is one of the most important elements of surviving an economic downturn.
Yvette May, spokesperson for the Forum of Small Business and Enterprise, comments: “Many studies have been commissioned to look into the characteristics of what makes a successful entrepreneur and having an optimistic attitude comes top of almost every list. Company formation owners are focused on driving new business and getting the best possible outcome from any opportunity the market offers. Pessimism just isn’t the default setting for most entrepreneurs.”
While most entrepreneurs claimed to be optimistic about the future, they admitted that they would remain cautious for the remainder of 2010.