One in two Spaniards believes that the country is entrepreneurial, but only 17% consider that it is easy to do so

Half of Spaniards believe that society is entrepreneurial, but only 17% consider that it is easy to do so, according to the first Entrepreneur Valuation Barometer, promoted by the Valencian Association of Entrepreneurs (AVE). The study delves into the contribution of the business community and how society perceives it.

Specifically, 55% of those who have started a business consider that Spanish society is quite (45%) or very (10%) entrepreneurial.. Among non-entrepreneurs the percentage is slightly lower, 46%. Furthermore, only 17% of those surveyed consider that it is easy (14%) or very easy (3%) to start a business in Spain and 81% believe that it is difficult to do so, with 28% convinced that it is very difficult.

The survey, carried out by GAD3 with a sample of 2,500 people, was carried out between July and August. It is, as the AVE explained in the presentation of the document, a national project “that seeks to know and annually reevaluate the opinion of Spanish society about businessmen and women.”

The average importance that respondents give to the private sector in entrepreneurship is 6.7 (out of 10), and it is those over 65 years of age who give the most importance to the private sector: in that segment the average score rises to 7. On the other hand, the study shows that 77% of the population has a very positive or positive image of Spanish businessmen. The perception has largely remained the same in the last year (60%), although 24% concede that it has worsened and 13% have improved.

The barometer delves into this topic and specifically asks those who believe that opinion of businesspeople has fallen what they think is the reason.. Thus, 28% agree that the main reason is the Government or national policy, followed by those who consider that the image of the businessman has been affected by the search for personal benefit (21%). Only 1% attribute it to layoffs. On the other side of the scale, the improvement in image is attributed to influence/exemplarity (26%), positive trajectory (16%) and job creation (13%).

Another conclusion that can be drawn from this x-ray of Spanish entrepreneurship is that, in general, those who undertake are happy to have done so.. Thus, 63% of those surveyed claim to be very satisfied or satisfied

after having undertaken. Satisfaction is somewhat higher for the age group between 18 and 29 years old, with 76% between those who are very satisfied and those who are quite satisfied.

Regarding the reasons for dissatisfaction, the main reason why respondents feel dissatisfied with having started a business is taxes (24%), which are even above little success or failure (21%).. Aid and incentives (13%), procedures and bureaucracy (10%) are also mentioned.

The barometer also collects information from the INE to contextualize entrepreneurship in Spain. According to these data, the private sector contributes 90.8% of Spain's total investment (90.4% in the case of ICT). As of January 1, 2022, there were 3,430,663 companies in Spain, of which 95.7% have no employees or are microenterprises.. 99.9% are SMEs and only 0.72% are medium and large. Companies provide 84.3% of employment in the Spanish economy (17.2 million employed people-EPA in 2022). Likewise, the private sector contributes 85.2% of Spain's total GDP and companies contribute 69.5% of employers' social security contributions (95,556 million euros in 2021).