Poland’s society is very entrepreneurial. This was one of the key themes that emerged from the latest Poland GEM National Report, which noted the following:
- Every other Pole believed they had sufficient skills to start and run a business and positively assess the conditions for setting up a business in their local area.
- 78% of adult Poles believe that self-employment is a good career path (second highest among GEM participating countries in Europe).
- 77% believe that people who have successfully set up new companies deserve recognition (sixth highest among GEM participating countries in Europe).
Anna Tarnawa, Head of Strategy and Analysis Unit, Analysis and Strategy Department for the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP) and the leader of the GEM Poland Team, shared insights on why this is the case and other key findings from the study in the below Q and A.
To foster entrepreneurship, it is important that individuals have an entrepreneurial spirit. Why do you think that the report underscored that Poland does so well in this area?
High scores on societal perception noted in 2019 prove that we as a society have travelled a long journey since the Communist time when the government and its propaganda did everything to tarnish the image of an entrepreneur. Even in 2011 when we started systematically collecting the data, the attitude of Polish society towards entrepreneurship was not as positive as it is now. I think that there are several factors that have played a role in this improvement. Our economy has been developing dynamically in the last few years and the unemployment rate has gone down.
The motivation structure changed over time. Now it shows that those who are starting businesses are no longer taking this decision because they have no other alternative to earn a living. There are new types of entrepreneurship – startups and giggers. Creativity, innovation and new technologies are the attractive characteristics of those companies. There is also a new infrastructure of various hubs, accelerators, co-working spaces, platforms as well as public support built around them. I also have to mention that in 2002 “the basics of entrepreneurship” as a subject was included in the core curriculum at the secondary level of education and in 2009 a new regulation specified entrepreneurship competences and skills need to be developed during kindergarten and primary school level education.
On the flip side, Poland doesn't fare as well as other European countries in the area of "fear of failure" (46% said they see business opportunities but admit that the risk of failure prevents them from starting a business). This result is above the European average and closer to the averages for low and medium-income level economies. How do you think that Poland can improve in this area?
Through GEM, we have been monitoring data on fear of failure since 2011 in Poland and we know that it is a challenge. It is rooted in our history, social and culture norms. According to the 2019 GEM National Expert Survey, social norms in Poland do not encourage creativity and innovation as much as it is observed in Europe. Poland is also less conducive to entrepreneurs taking risks.
There are potential areas for improvement. The media coverage of stories presenting successful entrepreneurs could be better. There is also need for developing knowledge and entrepreneurial competences. Entrepreneurs who want to advance their professional development, improve their skills or retrain can use the Database of Development Services portal created by Polish Agency for Enterprise Development. It contains a wide and comprehensive offer of training courses, postgraduate studies and counselling (coaching, mentoring).
We also support companies that are undergoing more serious problems. This year, we will be offering individual advisory services to this type of business via the Early Warning System program. In addition, since mid 2020, those entrepreneurs who need rescue activities or restructuring can get support from the Industrial Development Agency via New Chance Policy.
What do you think are other important takeaways from the report?
In 2019, our economy and labour market were in a perfect condition, which was probably one of the reasons that only 6% of adults had plans to become their own employer. The entrepreneurship structure was dominated by owners of established businesses. Also the gender gap between men and women engaged in both early stage and established businesses almost vanished. The overall assessment of entrepreneurship was positive, although there was still some space for advancement (eg. in internationalisation or innovation).
What research finding from the Poland report do you think can serve as a key lesson/insight for other countries that are looking to foster entrepreneurship?
When I was proudly looking at the first set of data on Poland in a GEM Global Report, I was advised to be patient and wait until I had at least 10 years of consecutive data. This was one of the lessons I learned from Paula Fitzsimmons – one of the top experts in the GEM community. Today, exactly at our 10th year with GEM, I can clearly understand Paula’s advice.
Data can change dramatically and we should be careful when interpreting results as a success or failure. We ought to observe whether this change can be sustained in the coming years. This happened with the “motivations of early stage entrepreneurship in Poland”. After a few years of necessity-entrepreneurship dominating, we saw a reverse in 2014 as opportunity became the main driver. During the following years, the prevalence of opportunity motivated early stage entrepreneurs strengthened and we know that it was the result of the prevailing trend for startups and positive changes in the labour market.
How does being part of GEM and conducting this type of rigorous research benefit the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development and other stakeholders?
GEM highlights a vast array of indicators on societal perceptions, entrepreneurial activity, motivations, aspirations, women entrepreneurship and national ecosystem. It gives us the possibility to understand the phenomenon of entrepreneurship much better and use this knowledge in our daily work anytime we need arguments for a new strategy or a new instrument supporting entrepreneurship growth. In 2017, we decided to increase the sample of Adult Population Survey from 2,000 to 8,000 and added a block of questions that allows us to monitor better startups. GEM allows for international comparisons and has worked excellent in meetings with representatives of foreign institutions who wanted to learn about entrepreneurship in Poland with a benchmark to their results.
Learn more about the GEM Poland 2019/2020 Report.