Entrepreneurs are rare birds.

According to a recent article in the Small Business Economics journal, although many people consider self-employment, a much smaller percentage of people actually pursue it.

Why are entrepreneurs rare? Here’s what the report found:

• The number of basic skills required at work is higher for self-employed individuals
• Contrary to their original assumptions, self-employed individuals also need a greater number of expert skills than employees (this was no surprise to us!)
• An individual’s probability of becoming an entrepreneur increases if he has a large number of changes of profession

The study was designed to test the assumption that freelancers are “jack-of-all-trades.” What they found instead is that self-employed people’s skills aren’t just broader, but deeper, too.

As the researchers summarize, “The fact that self-employed individuals both need more basic and more expert skills than paid employees may explain why relatively few people are able and willing to start their own business.”

Does that sound about right to you?