Entrepreneurship Report 2023: entrepreneurial values in Spain

Introduction

The Entrepreneurship Report 2023 is based on a survey of more than 2,200 participants, including freelancers, business owners, salaried employees, and civil servants. The objective: to assess the aspirations, motivations, and limitations of entrepreneurship in Spain.

The dream of starting a business

One of the most revealing findings of the report is the enormous gap between aspiration and reality:

• 60% of Spaniards aspire to have their own business upon completing their studies.
• However, only half of those who have that dream manage to make it a reality.

This gap highlights the structural barriers that make it difficult to move from aspiration to entrepreneurial action in Spain.

Freedom as the driving force behind entrepreneurs

The motivations for entrepreneurship in Spain are clear:

• 65% of entrepreneurs cite the pursuit of freedom and independence as their main motivation.
• 25% indicate that the financial factor is what drives them most to start their own business.

Professional autonomy, the ability to control one's own time, and the possibility of working on personally meaningful projects are the true engines of entrepreneurship in Spain.

Barriers to entrepreneurship

Despite the aspirations, obstacles remain considerable:

A challenging environment

Respondents rate the ease of doing business in Spain at just 2.8 out of 10, a score that reflects the perception of an ecosystem with significant room for improvement.

Main obstacles

The most commonly cited barriers to taking the entrepreneurial leap are:

• Lack of financial resources: the difficulty of accessing initial funding remains the number one barrier.
• Need for a stable income: the risk of losing financial stability discourages many potential entrepreneurs.
• Bureaucratic burden: administrative procedures and regulatory complexity represent an additional brake.

The social prestige of entrepreneurs

Despite the difficulties, Spanish society holds entrepreneurs in very high regard:

• 94% of respondents believe that the work of entrepreneurs is positive for the country.
• The most commonly used adjective to describe an entrepreneur is "brave".

This social recognition is an intangible asset of enormous value for the Spanish entrepreneurial ecosystem, although on its own it is not enough to overcome the structural barriers.

Conclusions

The Entrepreneurship Report 2023 reveals a Spain with a strong entrepreneurial vocation, where freedom and independence are the main values driving business creation. However, the gap between aspiration and reality remains wide, constrained by a lack of resources, the need for stability, and an environment that entrepreneurs themselves rate as unfavorable. The challenge lies in turning social recognition and aspirations into a framework that facilitates effective entrepreneurship.