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The number of new businesses being set up around the world has fallen as a result of the recession, according to new figures from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM).

The report shows that the number of start-ups was down by 10 per cent last year in 20 of the world’s wealthiest nations.

The UK came off relatively well with only a 6 per cent fall in new businesses being registered while the US saw a huge 24 per cent drop.

The GEM reports are based on interviews with 180,000 people in 54 countries. One of the founders of GEM, Professor Bill Bygrave of Babson College in the US, said entrepreneurs were finding it more difficult to get financial support for their start-ups: "Throughout the world, would-be entrepreneurs reported greater difficulty in obtaining financial backing for their start-up activities, especially from informal investors – families, friends, and strangers.”

He explained that the pool of money available to start-ups has fallen from $400 billion to $350 billion – representing a 12.5 per cent drop across the globe.

Funding for people looking to start a firm or indeed buy a business is expected to increase as countries slowly emerge from the recession.

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It is important for entrepreneurs to keep a vision of the bigger picture as they progress with growing a business they have bought or started up.

That’s not to say they need grand designs on hitting £100 million turnover after two years, rather having realistic goals and a plan to achieve those goals.

Think big, but start small and move like the wind when you need to.

Once you have a plan in place, clearly demarcate the milestones along the way, and work ceaselessly towards each, one at a time.

My karate instructor was once in the SAS and was a lead member of the elite anti-terrorist squad that rescued the 26 Iranian Embassy hostages from gunmen in 1980. He was talking to me the other day about the tough SAS selection criteria. One test was to spend a week crossing the Brecon Beacons in Wales with very little equipment or supplies. The most valuable advice he received beforehand was ‘just concentrate on getting to the next ridge’.

So long as you have a clear goal, you can always break the journey into milestones and focus your attention wholly on getting to each one in turn. Otherwise, it can be dispiriting and daunting, and the chances of business failure will rise.

Julie Meyer, of Ariadne Capital, says that along this journey an entrepreneur ‘must demonstrate confidence yet remain humble for those mistakes you will make, and for what you don’t know yet’.

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