It was noted above that a NatWest Bank survey showed how many new business owners also sought to combine a business with a hobby activity, a desire to remain active and the opportunity for friendly encounters with customers.
The survey also showed that although moderate growth was the aim of most companies, a majority of the smallest firms aimed to remain at their present size or had no growth' targets (NatWest Bank 2006) While small businesses have seen a resurgence in recent years, it should also be recognized that they have a very high failure rate.
Conclusive evidence of the failure rate of small businesses is difficult to obtain, especially in view of the problem of identifying new businesses that do not need to register in the first place.
However, one indication of failure rates comes from an analysis of VAT (value added tax) registrations, which show that during the 1990s, only about one-third of businesses set up ten years previously were still registered.
Further evidence of the high failure rate is provided by Barclays Bank, which noted that in 2003, there were 423,100 new business start-ups in England and Wales.
Based on its records of business customers, it estim ated that over half of all new firms fail in the first three years (Barclays 2004).