Office workers cross a street during lunch hour at the central business district in Singapore April 27, 2016.
Office workers cross a street during lunch hour at the central business district in Singapore April 27, 2016. Reuters/Edgar Su

The desire to found and run their own business is a passion deep-seated in the millennial generation, but a closer look at the statistics reveals that they would need more than their creativity and motivation to succeed as entrepreneurs.

A sobering study by the McGill Reporter shows that expression of their entrepreneurial dreams has not necessarily led to a millennial taking the actual plunge and getting into business. About 40 percent of young people, ages 18 to 45 and living in Quebec, admit that they want to start their own company. However, only six percent actually put that plan into action. Of those six percent, 30 percent shut down their start-up only after a year.

Interestingly, it is the Gen X Generation who does succeed in setting ideas into motion to establish a start-up. These new entrepreneurs are from ages 35 to 54 years old.

The McGill study goes beyond its boundaries to examine the startup phenomenon in its neighbouring country, the United States. It cites the Kaufman Index stating that only one, out of four new entrepreneurs, is below 35 years old.

The Business Journals takes a look at its own American pond and mainly confirms the Canadian research. The Young Invincibles and Small Business Majority took its own poll of Americans from ages 18 to 34. Twenty-seven percent desire to have their own business, 16 percent are actively planning one, but only eight percent actually run and manage their own.

This survey names student loans as one major deterrent that stops millennial would-be entrepreneurs from taking the huge leap. Forty percent of the young people surveyed admit that huge student debts, taken to pay their way to college, place a stranglehold on their finances and prevent them from investing in potentially profitable projects. Another consequence of these student debts is the necessity of staying in an unproductive, unrewarding job, consuming their hours and energy, in order to pay them off.

The Huffington Post Canada gives this advice to fledgling entrepreneurs, especially the millennials who appear to be more courageous risk-takers and creative in the digital landscape than their elders. First, it advised millenials to take advantage of their digital skills to create more productivity in theirr work hours. Mobile payments, software invoices, and online project management tools can make the nitty-gritty of work faster, more organised and more efficient. Second, they should watch their cash flow. As every businessman worth his salt knows, revenue for the day must always match, if not surpass, the expenses that are leaving their coffers.

Third, hiring professionals for certain tasks, such as accounting, will get the job done while freeing them to watch the overall view of the company and its direction. It will also give them more time to generate more innovative ideas, perfect their product, and get the word out through marketing.

The McGill report takes this suggestion a step further by advocating entrepreneurial classes and mentoring programs that are taught by more seasoned, experienced, skilled businessmen who pass on their knowledge and guidance to the younger generation.

This learning can also be augmented by a continual search for information, a habit that smartphone-wired millennials are good at. Apps like Born2Invest, the Wall Street Journal and the Entrepreneur can provide them the data they need to make decisions about hot stocks they can buy, profitable industries they can invest in, and the crucial business skills they have to develop.

Ultimately, desire is not sufficient to make a would-be millennial entrepreneur into a millionaire. Skills must be developed, more professional help must be obtained, and guidance must be sought after. And yes, pay off ASAP those pesky student loans.