Poles reluctant to go it alone
Red tape, bankruptcy and difficulties in finding startup capital all mean that less than half of all Europeans are willing to launch their own business, while in the U.S. the number is 61 percent. Poland is above the EU average, with 51 percent.
"Entrepreneurship could be an exciting and profitable activity, but it is connected with risk and hard work," says Günter Verheugen, the European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry.
Exactly half of Poles questioned would enjoy self-employment, but only 42 percent of respondents in Poland deem it possible. In Spain they are not so optimistic; just a quarter think they will succeed in self-employment. What hides behind the numbers is the huge unemployment rate on this side of the Oder. This might be the reason why Poles are willing to self-employ, the downside of which can be a lack of additional social benefits, such as healthcare.
The struggle for capital is the number-one problem in the Union and in Poland according to 87 percent of respondents. Even with seed capital, the entrepreneur will still have to face a huge amount of red tape (70 percent in Poland listed this as a major problem, the EU average), which seems to be a lesser problem for those on the western shore of the Atlantic (just 56 percent listed this as an issue). B.K.
"Entrepreneurship could be an exciting and profitable activity, but it is connected with risk and hard work," says Günter Verheugen, the European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry.
Exactly half of Poles questioned would enjoy self-employment, but only 42 percent of respondents in Poland deem it possible. In Spain they are not so optimistic; just a quarter think they will succeed in self-employment. What hides behind the numbers is the huge unemployment rate on this side of the Oder. This might be the reason why Poles are willing to self-employ, the downside of which can be a lack of additional social benefits, such as healthcare.
The struggle for capital is the number-one problem in the Union and in Poland according to 87 percent of respondents. Even with seed capital, the entrepreneur will still have to face a huge amount of red tape (70 percent in Poland listed this as a major problem, the EU average), which seems to be a lesser problem for those on the western shore of the Atlantic (just 56 percent listed this as an issue). B.K.
