According to the GEM report, only 3% of young Poles declare a willingness to start their own business. This is the lowest recorded result in 37 years and one of the weakest results in Europe. Moreover, only 15% of founders of new companies say they want to change the world or their market category, while as many as 75% start a business out of necessity.
Putting this into sporting terms, we understand perfectly well that without new talent, there are no future champions. It is very similar in business. If we do not build aspiration and prestige around entrepreneurship, in a few or a dozen years there may be a shortage of people ready to create companies, jobs and innovations.
Since 1989, through hard work – including the work of entrepreneurs – we have built the sixth-largest economy in the European Union. Now we face another choice; I would even venture to say one more important than in 1989. Do we want to rest on our laurels, or is it worth aiming higher?
During the Polska Przedsiębiorcza conference, representing the Business Council and the SME Council at Think Tank The Company, we signed a Roadmap for the next 18 months – the first public commitment by the business community to concrete actions in four areas: the ethos and aspirations of entrepreneurs, the internationalization of Polish brands, energy and competitiveness, and productivity and the Poland of the future.
This is not a declaration. It is a plan and responsibility for its implementation. It is an additional impulse for further development and moving to the next level.
The opening report “Polska Przedsiębiorcza” does not focus on the past. It answers one fundamental question: Poland has won the last 37 years – so what comes next?
The model based on low labor costs and catching up with the West is reaching its limits. Over the past 10 years, the average wage in Poland has increased by 120%, while the EU average has risen by 40%. Others are now producing at lower cost.
38 out of 41 Polish technology companies that raised more than EUR 15 million in funding registered their holding company abroad. Energy costs for industry are 50% higher than in Germany and up to three times higher than in France.
These are numbers, not opinions. And this is the starting point for a discussion about how Poland can win the coming decades. What changes and facilitation measures should be introduced so that in 10–20 years Poland can be among the top three European economies?
