Analytics, Business, Estonia, Labour-market

International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 20:35

Survey: 1/5 of salaried employees in Estonia wish to become entrepreneurs

BC, Tallinn, 25.09.2018.Print version
A fifth of Estonian residents who until now have stayed away from business activity wish to become entrepreneurs in the next five years, hoping to have greater flexibility in organizing their work life as well as self-realization and independence from an employer, it appears from a financial monitoring report by pollster Kantar Emor, citing LETA/BNS.

Altogether 16% hope to establish their own company and 6% wish to become self-employed persons, while the majority is planning to engage in business alongside their main work. A total of 14% of Estonian residents are already entrepreneurs who have established their own company. At the same time, those who have at one point established a company make up 24% -- this means that a large part or a whole tenth have for some reason abandoned their business, Kantar Emor said.


Kantar Emor expert Tauno Mandla said that many of the respondents dream of the self-realization and greater freedom and independence accompanying the role of entrepreneurs, which can also be apparent in reality. "The main freedom of a starting entrepreneur aimed at serious growth is the possibility of working at the expense of sleeping hours. Many see an opportunity in business to join together a hobby and work, a greater economic independence in the form of an additional or good income plays even a slightly smaller role as an incentive," he said.


"As it appeared from our survey, seven out of ten salaried workers planning to establish a company plan to start a business but wish to continue with their salaried work at the same time. This kind of seemingly risk-free approach may not be too realistic in real life and so it may occur that when starting entrepreneurship the greatest hindrance alongside other hindrances will be the lack of sufficient risk readiness and the fear of failure," Mandla said.


The profile of an entrepreneur currently in possession of a company is relatively predictable -- there are more men, Estonians, 35-49-year-olds and people earning a greater personal income among them. Altogether 70% of entrepreneurs interviewed were men and a quarter were non-ethnic Estonians. Half of the entrepreneurs held secondary education and approximately 40% had a higher education degree. Compared with people who continued business, those who abandoned their companies unfortunately included significantly more residents of other nationalities, women, older people and people of Estonia with a lower income.


Mandla said that the survey in conclusion showed that the entrepreneurial spirit of a large part of the residents of Estonia is not that high as four fifths are not planning to start a business of their own. The lack of a good and promising idea is the main hindrance for starting with entrepreneurship, while respondents also doubt their ability to handle a business, fearing that they lack the necessary skills and knowhow. A fifth of the respondents said that they fear extensive risk, failure and that doing business will not offer a sufficient sense of financial security.


Financial monitoring 2018 is a study that maps the financial behavior of Estonian residents and households and their attitude toward various financial topics. Respondents of the survey included residents of Estonia between the ages of 18 and 74, while the pollster interviewed altogether 1,650 residents in May.






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