Every second person in Switzerland is a potential entrepreneur

Every year Amway publishes its European Entrepreneurship Report in cooperation with the University of Munich. The report is based on 18.000 telephone and face to face interviews with persons in 16 European countries. The results show a great potential for entrepreneurship.
 
Entrepreneurship consistently enjoys a high reputation throughout Europe with the number of potential self-employed varying considerably between different countries. On average, more than two thirds of the Europeans1polled in 16 countries have a positive attitude towards self-employment. The positive attitude throughout Europe has slightly decreased in comparison to last year (2011/2012: -3%) but remains at a consistently high level.
 
Switzerland is one of the countries with the highest potential for entrepreneurship. 48% can imagine starting their own business. With less than one third of respondents (27%), Germans remain – as in 2011 – least favourably disposed to starting up a company.
 
Compared to 2010 and 2011, the average self-employment potential remains constant throughout Europe. The most important motives for Europeans to start up their own business are “independence from an employer” (45%), “self-fulfilment, possibility to realise own ideas” (38%) and “second income prospects“(33%). However, there are also many obstacles against becoming self-employed. “Lack of starting capital” (57%), the “uncertain economic situation” (44%) and the “fear to fail” (35%) are the highest among these.
 
Although Switzerland is one of the countries with a huge potential in entrepreneurship it is also one of the countries with a high entrepreneurial gap. ”Entrepreneurial gap“ is defined by the number of respondents answering “I can imagine to start up my own business” minus the number of respondents answering “I am self-employed”. One hard fact to explain the gap could be the high wages for employees in Switzerland.
 
The Gap will get probably get smaller in the coming years. 81% of respondents in Switzerland expect a surge in the significance of entrepreneurship within the next ten years.
 
Across Europe particularly graduates estimate that entrepreneurship will be gaining ground in the future. 85% of people with a university degree believe that entrepreneurship will be equally or become more important in the future, whereas only 76% of non-graduates think the same. With more than two thirds of the European nongraduates showing interest in entrepreneurship, this year’s report reveals a high potential which is currently neither discussed nor in the focus of the European economic legislative framework.

You can download the full report below.