Every Fifth Pole Wants to Start Own Business

Nearly every fifth Pole plans to start a business within next three years, while two thirds consider entrepreneurship to be a good career path. Even though the numbers are lower than three years ago, we are still above the EU average. In Poland, as in other parts of the world, there are more and more young entrepreneurs launching start-ups in the area of new technologies.

‒ More and more young people are starting new businesses in Poland. The number of companies started by people at the age below 30 years, as well as the number of start-ups operating in modern fields is going up. These young people most often operate in modern technology sectors, such as IT and telecommunications – explains Bożena Lublińska-Kasprzak, President of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development. ‒ To a certain extent, also programs financed with public money, oriented towards creation or support of such start-ups, have contributed to this.

As it transpires from the survey, which the Agency participates in, over 17 per cent of Poles intend to start a business in next three years. While the number is smaller than three years ago, it still is above the EU average.

Almost 10% of adult Poles are entrepreneurs at an early stage of operation - the category includes people who intend to start a business or already did it less than 3.5 years ago. The index for the entire European Union is 8%.

‒ Interestingly, Polish entrepreneurs have very big ambitions, aspirations and plans for the future. We rank Europe's third, as far as declarations of company development is concerned. Almost 40% of Polish entrepreneurs claim that they will employ another five people in next five years – adds Lublińska-Kasprzak.

27% of entrepreneurs are even more ambitious, assuming creation of as many as 10 new workplaces within the same time frame. In terms of aspirations, only Romanians and Latvians outstrip Poles in the EU.

The President of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development adds that an increasing number of people are deciding to become self-employed. It concerns not only outsourcing of staff who were previously employed on a full time basis, but also Poles who decide to work as freelance consultants and experts. Nevertheless, almost half the number of businesses are started out of necessity. Also, Polish people very positively assess starting own business as the right career choice. In our country, this view is shared by 67 per cent of people, 10 per cent more than the EU average.

‒ Research as well as our observations, experiences and dealings with entrepreneurs allow an optimistic look at what is to be happening in Poland. We need to remember that in next years there will be substantial financial support, particularly for newly established businesses. Besides, the climate for running business operations in Poland is considerably improving – points out Lublińska-Kasprzak.

She emphasizes that even though in terms of entrepreneurship Poles are EU leaders, we still must work to improve the image of people starting their own business.

‒ No doubt we still have a lot to do to increase the number of entrepreneurs and to make them bigger and more competitive. We are still far from the European standard as far as average company size is concerned, therefore our entrepreneurs must grow and become global companies; they also must develop their operation on foreign markets – argues the President of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development.

Source: Newseria