New research shows 20% of businesses begin after the founder losses their job, the second biggest trigger for new start-ups.

Barclays says the main driver for starts is people wanting to be their own boss, cited by 54% of 213 respondents to its survey of business owners.

There was a significant gender split between those citing redundancy as a trigger, with 23% of men saying so compared with only 11% of women.

Other sources of inspiration included friends and family, childhood ambition and simply enjoying the business as a hobby.

Busting the myth that men are more naturally suited to business than women was the finding that 11% of female entrepreneurs started because of a lifelong passion, compared with just 6% of their male counterparts.

Rebecca McNeil, managing director for Business Lending and Enterprise at Barclays, said: “It is important that business owners are passionate about what they do…so it’s good to see that one in six SME owners have turned their hobby into a source of income.

“For some, their childhood dream has not been forgotten and explored later in life.

“The fact there is a higher number of women starting a business after having children compared to men is interesting and shows a move away from the security of traditional employment and a brave step into working for themselves.”

Barclays also released top five tips for creating a business plan:

1. State clearly what your business will do and what products or services it will provide

2. Evaluate how customers will access your products or services be it online or in a shop

3. Look to your future consumers’ needs and work out what they will want from your business

4. Make sure the question of how will you tell consumers about your business is answered and answered thoroughly

5. Agree that the product or service you are planning on providing cannot be bought or supplied by anyone else