The specter of failure prevents Poles from starting businesses

Young companies complain about tax burdens, bureaucracy, and staff shortages. The specter of failure is what deters Poles from starting a business, reports Friday's "Puls Biznesu."

Most Poles believe that starting a business in our country is easy, but only 3% plan to do so within the next three years (the European average is 15%), according to the Polish edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report, prepared by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) and the University of Economics in Katowice. "52% of Poles see business opportunities, but fear of failure prevents them from starting a business," PB reports.

"Poles recognize market opportunities and appreciate entrepreneurs, but they still rarely take the plunge. Our biggest challenge today isn't the formal barriers associated with starting a business, but rather the fear of failure and a lack of confidence in our own competence. If we want to maintain the pace of economic growth, we must build a culture of entrepreneurship based on courage, education, and support that will allow this potential to be transformed into the creation of new companies. The Polish economy needs new initiatives and young enterprises, because they are the source of innovation and competitiveness," Krzysztof Gulda, acting president of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP), told the daily.

The report's authors also examined how entrepreneurs are using digital solutions. They want to use them more extensively than before in selling products and services. Compared to the previous survey, the percentage of mature companies open to digitalization increased by 17 percentage points, to 37%.

"Artificial intelligence tools are an important element of the business strategy for only 6% of young and 13% of established companies. In Poland, established companies are twice as likely as young ones to use AI in their business activities," PB noted.

The Polish edition of the GEM study involved 2,000 Poles running or planning to start a business, as well as 38 entrepreneurship experts. (PAP)

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