Compared to their Western counterparts, Asian entrepreneurs are starting out earlier and rely more heavily on support from family and friends. The average age of those in Asia setting up their first business was 29, compared to 34 in the West, and four in ten are still under the age of 35, according to the survey of 2,800-plus active business owners worth more than $1 million.

Entrepreneurialism in the blood

More than half of entrepreneurs in Asia come from business-owning families, compared to 43 per cent in Europe and the US, the research revealed. Meanwhile, 49 per cent of Asian respondents said they had used family wealth when setting up their first business. In mainland China, family funding is even more prevalent, at 61 per cent.

“Entrepreneurialism runs deep in Asian countries and often across multiple generations, so it is natural to have so many relatively young entrepreneurs in these markets. In fact, many of today’s young entrepreneurs come from families with their own businesses where there was opportunity to acquire the necessary skill set and experience that can position them for success,” said Nick Levitt, head of HSBC Private Bank's global solutions group.

Women catching up to male entrepreneurs

The research highlighted Asia as a promising region for female entrepreneurs. Two in five entrepreneurs in Hong Kong, Singapore and mainland China are women, with nearly half under the age of 35. Hong Kong boasted an almost perfect balance of female to male entrepreneurs – 48 per cent female to 52 per cent male – while in Singapore and mainland China, female representation was 36 per cent and 37 per cent respectively.

Entrepreneurialism in the West is still very much male-dominated. Here, just 31 per cent of business owners surveyed were female, with the lowest proportions in Germany (21 per cent) and the UK (27 per cent).

What's more, female entrepreneurs in Asia are significantly better off – more than half of entrepreneurs in Asia with a net worth of over $15 million are female, compared to 33 per cent in the West. Notably, in Singapore, the average female entrepreneur is worth $6.4 million more than the average male entrepreneur in Western markets (worth $4.8 million).

In it for the long haul

In other findings, entrepreneurs in Asia were found to be much more likely to focus on their ventures for the long term, particularly in mainland China where less than a quarter plan to sell their business compared with 55 per cent in the UK.

“Once they reach a certain level of wealth, many Western entrepreneurs branch out into many other ventures or move on to new projects,” said Levitt. “For Asian entrepreneurs who are proud to have built successful empires, there is more of a focus on consolidating and growing their current enterprise.”

It is worth noting that although entrepreneurs in Asia say that their main venture has a turnover of $12 million, more than double those in the West, their personal wealth averages $16.2 million, 26 per cent less than their Western counterparts.