Fear of failure is the biggest barrier to starting a business among 18-24 year-olds, cited by 29 per cent of that age group, according to new analysis of Funding Circle and Premiership Rugby’s Beyond The Pitch research.

Across all respondents, building the right team was the single biggest challenge facing new business owners, named by 22 per cent. The age breakdown shows that headline figure masks a split between younger and older respondents.

Among 18-24 year-olds, building the right team ranked lowest of the barriers tested, on 18 per cent. The order reverses among 45-54 year-olds, for whom building the right team was the number one challenge on 25 per cent, ahead of fear of failure on 19 per cent.

The research also found that adaptability, rather than a “winning mentality”, was the mindset UK adults rated most important for success in both sport and business, on 28 per cent.

That preference differed by gender. Women were more likely to select discipline and consistency as the mindset that matters most, on 28 per cent against 23 per cent of men. Men were more likely to select a winning mentality, on 17 per cent against 10 per cent of women.

The study found 85 per cent of respondents believe that experiencing failure, whether on the pitch or in life, helps prepare someone to run a business. The stigma attached to business failure in the UK has been a recurring theme in debate over the country’s start-up culture.

Views on business and failure vary by age

Just 40 per cent of 18-24 year-olds described running a business as a balance of people skills and financial decision-making, compared with 66 per cent of over-55s, a gap of 26 percentage points.

Younger respondents were more likely to describe business as mostly about leading and managing people, on 24 per cent against 11 per cent of over-55s.

A similar pattern appeared in views on failure. Those aged 18 to 24 were the age group most likely to say failure builds confidence to take risks, on 41 per cent, but the least likely to say it teaches perseverance over the long term, on 17 per cent against 35 per cent of over-55s.

Over-55s were also more likely to credit workplace experience, rather than sport, as the best preparation for performing under pressure, on 52 per cent against 28 per cent of 18-24 year-olds.

Hiring pressure

The finding that older business owners rank team-building above other concerns sits alongside separate Department for Education research covering 1,500 employers, which found nine in ten English businesses reported difficulty filling skills gaps. That study put 32 per cent of skills gaps at small and medium-sized enterprises in entry-level positions, with specialist roles accounting for a further 29 per cent.

On the other side of the age divide, research published in December by Block and Public First reported that two-thirds of 18-34 year-olds were considering or actively interested in starting a business, against a national average of 40 per cent. That report identified access to finance as the leading barrier, cited by 37 per cent of respondents.

The Beyond The Pitch analysis was based on a survey of 2,023 UK adults.