Wonka’s factory chosen as the dream business for SME owners

The Wonka Factory, from Roald Dahl’s much loved classic ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, has been named as the fictitious business that SME owners in the UK would most like to run, according to a new survey.

The survey of 500 small business owners by Everline, the digital lender for small businesses, saw 31% of respondents agree that Wonka’s chocolate factory should take the number one spot, rising to 35% amongst female respondents. The North also proved to have a particularly sweet tooth with 46% of respondents there choosing Wonka’s chocolate emporium.

The Rovers Return from Coronation Street was the second most popular business, as chosen by 9% of respondents. It proved especially popular amongst business owners in the West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside, with one in five saying that their preference would be to pull pints as the owner of the Rovers Return.

Third place went to Del Boy’s wheeler dealer business from Only Fools and Horses, taking eight percent of votes. Despite being one of the most long-standing businesses on television, the ‘caff’, part of Ian Beale’s empire in Eastenders, only scored 3 per cent of votes.

Russell Gould, managing director at Everline, commented, “These fictitious businesses are all very different but they all demonstrate the ingredients that make small business people successful, whether it’s imagining the impossible, withstanding the test of time or, in Del Boy’s case, simply chasing down the next deal. Whatever path a small business takes, passion and access to advice, information and finance to aid growth are key to helping hard-working business people make the most of their venture.”

Everline provides a fast, flexible and convenient source of funding to small businesses looking to expand, manage working capital, or fill a cash gap.  Having helped thousands of small businesses since it began offering loans in 2012, Everline’s success is borne from a pioneering use of data which allows it to provide loans in minutes to businesses that traditional financial institutions lack the will, or capacity, to support in the timeframe required.