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
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.