Many business opportunities remain untapped

In the wake of the large-scale international study on entrepreneurship - Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) - the individual country reports follow. For the GEM report on Switzerland, a good 2,000 people were surveyed between June and July 2021. In addition, 36 interviews were conducted with experts. The report based on the data analysis is intended to show trends in entrepreneurship in Switzerland and to draw international comparisons. The Swiss chapter of the GEM study is led by the School of Management Fribourg (HEG-FR) and can be downloaded from the HEG-FR website.

The year 2021 is perceived by most respondents as a recovery from the pandemic. The exceptional situation itself is seen as an opportunity: When asked whether they could identify new business opportunities in their environment and implement them within half a year, just under 55 percent of all respondents answered yes. This figure is almost 15 percent higher than it was in 2019 prior to the pandemic. A clear increase can also be observed in entrepreneurial intentions. 13.4% of respondents intended to start a business. In 2019, the figure was 10.7%, and in 2020 only 7.3%.

Stability in entrepreneurial activities

However, intentions do not lead to real new businesses to the same extent. The rate of people who actually became active in entrepreneurship in 2021 was 9.8%, the same level as in 2019 and only slightly higher than in 2020. One reason for the difference to start-up intentions and business opportunities is the perception of the attractiveness of being an entrepreneur. The proportion of people who see entrepreneurship as an attractive career option has fallen from 49.3% to 40.5%. Meanwhile, the rate of people prevented from starting a business by Fear of Failure was in line with the previous year, but at the same time significantly higher than in 2019.

The pandemic has apparently not only led to new entrepreneurial opportunities, but also improved the chances of people with entrepreneurial plans on the labour market. In addition, the pandemic is likely to have made the risks of entrepreneurship more apparent.

In an international comparison, it is striking that the mass of start-ups bears particularly close resemblance to start-ups in the narrower sense of the word. 11.6 percent of all new companies are active in the technology sector. Only in Finland is the share even higher. It is also striking that the majority of TEA companies are business-to-business oriented and not B2C oriented as in all other Level A economies. In addition, a particularly large number of companies earn money abroad from the outset.

Starting points for improvement

The Neci Index is an overall measure of the ease of starting and developing a business. Switzerland scores weakest in the criterion "Ease of Entry: Market Dynamics". In addition, the experts' assessment has deteriorated over the years. Further starting points for improving the framework for entrepreneurial activity are provided by the topics of entrepreneurial education and social and cultural norms.

(Fabienne Roos / Stefan Kyora)