Entrepreneurship becomes more and more attractive for Romanians, who would like to get a second income, and be their own bosses, a new international study has found. In Romania, almost two thirds of respondents to a poll by Amway Romania and GfK, displayed a positive attitude towards becoming entrepreneurs, similarly to the results in the other 23 polled countries.
Young Romanians, 18 to 24, are more optimistic towards entrepreneurship – 79 percent, and so are university graduates- 87 percent.

Overall, Romania’s entrepreneurship potential for 2013 was up 8 percentage points on the previous year, to 41 percent, and above the average of all polled countries – 39 percent.

For 53 percent of Romanians, entrepreneurship is attractive for the potential of a second income, well above the international average of 29 percent. The ratio of people who would see themselves starting a business to make extra money is higher among university graduates in Romania – 66 percent, which is more than double the average internationally – 31 percent.

Romanians would also like to be independent and become their own bosses, which is the second reason they would like to go the entrepreneurial route. They would also like to have a better balance between family, their free time and their career – but this was a motivator for only 19 percent of Romanian respondents.

Among impediments to starting their own business are the fear of their business failure – 60 percent, which is however less than the international average of 70 percent. Students are however the least fearful of failure – 55 percent.

However, Romanians believe the Romanian society is not a favorable environment for entrepreneurship, and they even think entrepreneurship is disregarded by the political class, by the media, and by the society as a whole.

The study was launched by direct marketing company Amway. It was for the second time Romania was included in the study of 24 countries.

editor@romania-insider.com