Entrepreneurship in the Netherlands: a lot of potential but limited ambition

The Dutch see a relatively large amount of entrepreneurial potential, but only to a limited extent convert it into actual and ambitious business activity. That is the main conclusion of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) about specific Dutch entrepreneurship. The researchers mainly find the untapped potential among women, the elderly and the highly educated. They do see opportunities, but are less likely to take the step towards entrepreneurship. At the same time, there is movement: the share of Dutch people who indicate that they want to start a business in the coming years has more than doubled since 2018 and the share who are actually setting up a business is growing steadily, and is now above the European average.

The international research project Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) provides annual insight into the extent, characteristics and context of entrepreneurship in different countries. The Dutch national report was compiled by researchers from the Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.), in collaboration with research and consultancy firm Panteia.

The Netherlands has been participating in GEM since 2001, so the monitor shows the development of entrepreneurship over the past twenty-five years. Because GEM measures entrepreneurship on the basis of survey research instead of official company registration, it also makes informal and upcoming entrepreneurship visible, and thus complements the official statistics. And because the underlying method is the same for all countries, it also allows for an international comparison.

The three most striking findings in the monitor are:
 

• More and more respondents indicate that they have recently stopped a business. In most cases, the business was not continued by someone else after that. The most frequently cited reason for quitting is not business failure but taking another job, suggesting that part of the rising outflow is related to an attractive labor market. 
   
• The untapped potential lies in certain groups: women, older people and the highly educated do see opportunities, but are less likely to take the step towards entrepreneurship. This may be because women on average rate their own entrepreneurial skills lower and because the higher educated and older have a more attractive and secure alternative in paid employment.
   
• Generative AI plays a limited role for the time being – about a third of entrepreneurs consider it important for their own business model.

The report shows that the bottleneck is not in the influx of start-ups, but in the translation into growth, and in specific underrepresented groups.  The business climate is rated relatively highly by entrepreneurship researchers, policymakers, financiers and entrepreneurs. Within Europe, only Finland, Switzerland and Lithuania score higher. Yet that is still just a pass, 5.6 out of 10. According to the same experts, there are mainly opportunities in embedding entrepreneurship in education, better access to venture capital and stable policy with less regulatory pressure.

Policymakers, entrepreneurship researchers and business organisations must therefore ask themselves how potential entrepreneurship can be converted into actual activity and growth, according to the researchers. 

Webinar: How enterprising are the Dutch really?

On Thursday 2 July (12.30-13.30 pm.), the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy, in collaboration with the researchers, is organising a webinar about the monitor, entitled 'How enterprising are we Dutch actually?'

Are we Dutch still a nation of entrepreneurs? Or are we fooling ourselves? What does the new Global Entrepreneurship Monitor say about the Netherlands compared to other countries? Are our entrepreneurs ambitious enough? Is the Netherlands a good country to start a business? And to continue to grow  a business once it’s started? Is the business climate attractive enough for entrepreneurs and companies to come or stay here? Or should we conclude that other countries are leaving us behind for good?

Speakers in this webinar are: Prof. Niels Bosma, Prof. Erik Stam, Simon Huijben (all from the Utrecht University School of Economics) and Monique Ansink (board member NLGroeit and CEO of Jumbo Spanbanden). The moderation is in the hands of Pieter Waasdorp, Director of Business Climate at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy.

Registration for this webinar is required. You can do so by sending an email to Simon Huijben: s.w.a.a.huijben@uu.nl. You will then receive a link to participate.

More information

Do you want more information? Download the GEM Netherlands, participate in the webinar or contact Niels Bosma (n.s.bosma@uu.nl) or Simon Huijben (s.w.a.a.huijben@uu.nl).