SELF determination, independence and freedom of choice are the motivating factors behind the decision of people in Wiltshire to start a business, according to the latest NatWest Small Business Research Trust quarterly

survey.

When it comes to setting up and running a business in Wiltshire, the desire to make the decisions far outweighs the aspiration to make money by three to one.

However, the younger the business owner the greater the role financial security and making money has.

Sole traders are more than twice as likely to say their main motivation for starting up their business was to work on their own and to avoid being told what to do.

Small business appears to be a vocation of choice, as only five per cent said they had no alternative.

Once in business, the main objective for 34 per cent of Wiltshire entrepreneurs is to support a certain standard of living.

Seventeen per cent of respondents said their main objective was to grow the profits of their business and 52 per cent admitted that they either had a clear size in mind or would like to grow without defined limits.

Younger businesses in particular were much more likely to have positive growth targets.

The survey also proved that although growth is high on the agenda of more than half of Wiltshire respondents, one sixth were happy to remain at their current size and 15 per cent thought that they would sell on their business.

More than half had made some significant innovations in the past year, the introduction of new products and services being the most common.

Other significant innovations included new uses of technology and increased staff training.

Paul Watters, NatWest's area business manager for Wiltshire, said: "There is a terrific amount of ambition and drive in the local small business sector with entrepreneurs not only seeking to grow their business, but also to create a secure future for themselves and their employees.

"Entrepreneurs in Wiltshire are clearly going it alone for all the right reasons."