Young Finns eye entrepreneurship: OP Survey

About a third of Finns are attracted to entrepreneurship and meaningfulness of work motivates them more than financial rewards to be entrepreneurs, according to a survey commissioned by OP and carried out by Taloustutkimus.

Youngsters are particularly likely to dream of entrepreneurship. Riches are no longer the prime motivation for Finns considering entrepreneurship, freedom and independence have become the key reasons, said the survey result.

People between 16 and 24 years old are most tempted by entrepreneurship and 48 per cent regard it as a possible career path worth considering seriously.

Gender also makes a difference as 36 per cent of men regard entrepreneurship as extremely or fairly attractive, compared to 24 per cent of women, said the survey.

High earnings were among the top three reasons given for finding entrepreneurship attractive in Taloustutkimus’s Entrepreneurship Survey took place in 2011 but OP’s survey revealed that the meaningfulness of work and qualitative factors are now the key attractions.

“People no longer become entrepreneurs only for financial rewards — the three key reasons are independence, freedom and working for yourself. This indicates a change in the values underlying motivation and attitudes towards entrepreneurship,” said Heikki Peltola, Head of SME Retail Banking Operations at OP.

Family background is another growing source of inspiration for self-employment. A third of entrepreneurs responding to the survey stated that their families triggered their desire to enter business. Positive examples and friends also encourage Finns to realise their dreams of going into business for themselves.

“Positive examples are the chief source of inspiration for budding young entrepreneurs. In addition, the social media have provided a more rounded, clearer view of entrepreneurship,” said Peltola.

A total of 1,112 Finns responded to the online survey conducted in November 2021. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.