A STRICT background where chores and homework were essential appears more likely to create a successful entrepreneur than having parents with their own business.

Even being an academic high flyer would seem to be no more useful when starting and running a business than having a disciplined childhood, according to a study of those who have set up their own successful enterprises in the North East. The results come from an attempt to discover the origins and make-up of an entrepreneur and find out what triggers made them decide to start their own businesses.

More than seven out of 10 questioned for the Entrepreneurs’ Forum study said they had to do chores at home and ensure their homework was completed on time.

This was the single stand-out statistic in the research, which also discovered around half of those questioned said no one in their family had ever run a business, while the same number found their loved ones reacted with shock when they announced they were going it alone. More than half rated themselves as average academically and just about everyone surveyed had worked for someone else before starting their own enterprise.

There appeared no single defined path to becoming an entrepreneur or any particular mindset that made them want to become their own boss.

Carole Beverley, the chief executive of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, said: “Ultimately the aim of this research is to challenge pre-conceptions of what it takes and means to be an entrepreneur and increase the number of people within the region thinking about taking the next steps with their business ideas.” Chris Quickfall, who started Gateshead-based technological support company Invate two years ago, said his family were shocked when he announced he was giving up the security of his job to start his own firm.

He said: “I had a well paid job offer with Shell which I’d spent seven years trying to get. So when I turned it down, my family wasn’t very happy to say the least. My mum actually worked for us for a while so I guess she came round!”

The research was part of the ‘if we can, you can’ campaign to encourage people to start businesses.