Enterprise Nation, the small business support platform and membership community, has announced it has reached 250,000 members for the first time since its founding in 2005. The milestone follows record membership growth in 2026, with 11,411 founders joining in the first ten months of the year looking for free-to-access advice, resources and support for starting and growing a business.
The rise of the side hustle and bootstrapped business
The company attributes the growth to a structural shift in how UK businesses begin. Across Enterprise Nation’s Small Business Barometer, which has tracked UK small businesses since 2023, 43% of respondents said their business started as a side hustle. The figure has remained consistent across four years of data, at 44% in 2023, 41% in 2024, 44% in 2025 and 41% in 2026.
Product-based businesses are most likely to begin this way, with homewares (61%), fashion (57%) and beauty (53%) topping the list. Business services (31%), technology (36%) and engineering (28%) are the least likely to start as side hustles. Geographically, London has the highest share of side hustle starts at 53%, while the East of England has the lowest at 34%.
Appetite for starting a business remains high across the UK. Enterprise Nation’s 2026 Start Up Ambition Report found that 41% of UK adults are now considering starting a business as part of their career path, rising to 62% among 18 to 24-year-olds. Economics has become the leading motivation, with 36% of aspiring entrepreneurs citing financial reasons as their main driver – a shift from four years ago when passion came first.
What founders are looking for
Aaron Asadi, CEO of Enterprise Nation, said: “Business support and advocacy has fundamentally changed. Anyone can find the basics on YouTube now, so what founders want from us is different.”
“In this difficult economic climate, with three in four owners paying themselves less than £20,000, they cannot afford to get things wrong, and they want to belong to an organisation they trust. That means quality support, fresh, pragmatic advice that reflects what is happening right now, and access to big name providers like NatWest and Google. They also want someone standing up for micro businesses with government, because the smallest firms are often left out of the conversation. More than 11,000 people have joined us this year, and I think that is why. People do not just want information; they want a community that is on their side.”
Bootstrapping and the NatWest partnership
Enterprise Nation’s own data underlines the financial pressures facing its community. The Q2 2026 Small Business Barometer found that 76% of owners pay themselves less than £20,000 a year, up from 63% in 2025, and that appetite for outside funding is at a record low. For these founders, free, accessible advice matters most in the early stages.
Enterprise Nation announced a strategic enterprise partnership with NatWest earlier in 2026. The collaboration is designed to create a more streamlined path to growth for early-stage businesses, integrating the services of both organisations into a comprehensive growth network that includes access to accelerators.
Enterprise Nation membership is free to join and offers practical start-up support, followed by help with growth milestones such as taking on staff or raising investment. The platform also operates the SME Index, a proprietary tool that connects public, commercial and Enterprise Nation data to create an agile picture of how 5.6 million UK businesses perform, grow and access finance.
Key takeaways
- Enterprise Nation has reached 250,000 members for the first time in its 21-year history, with 11,411 founders joining in the first ten months of 2026 alone – the fastest growth in the platform’s history.
- 43% of businesses in Enterprise Nation’s Small Business Barometer started as a side hustle, a figure that has held steady across four consecutive years of data, suggesting side hustle starts are a structural feature of UK small business formation rather than a trend.
- Enterprise Nation’s 2026 Start Up Ambition Report found that 41% of UK adults are considering starting a business, rising to 62% among 18 to 24-year-olds, with financial reasons now the leading motivation – a shift from four years ago, when passion came first.
- 76% of Enterprise Nation’s community pay themselves less than £20,000 a year – up from 63% in 2025 – and appetite for outside funding is at a record low, making free, accessible support more important than ever for bootstrapped founders.
- Enterprise Nation’s strategic partnership with NatWest, announced earlier in 2026, is designed to integrate the services of both organisations into a comprehensive growth network for early-stage businesses, including access to accelerators.
