It is constantly repeated that small and medium-sized entrepreneurs are the mainstay of Polish GDP, that their development should be supported and that they are so important for the economy. Unfortunately, the pace of development of the SME sector does not match the declarations. As it results from the Polityka Insight report “Small and medium-sized companies in Poland – barriers and development”, the number of SMEs per capita is still the smallest in the European Union.
According to data from the Central Statistical Office, in February 2023, there were 4.3 million active businesses registered in Poland, as well as over 600,000 companies. Finally, statistics clearly distinguish between sole proprietorships and companies, which gives a better picture of the situation. In turn, information provided by the Social Insurance Institution and the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy shows that out of 392.5 thousand self-employed, as many as 280 thousand are retirees. This means that when a self-employed person ends their employment, most of such companies will probably disappear.
High burdens and bureaucracy
In the MAISON & PARTNERS report “Barriers to Doing Business in Poland”, entrepreneurs indicated high taxes, labor costs, and excessive bureaucracy as the main obstacles to doing business in Poland. The rapidly changing regulations that apply to their business are also often difficult to navigate and understand. There were also complaints (and rightly so!) about the large number of arbitrary decisions by officials, harassment by tax inspections, etc.
Barriers to obtaining capital for investment and development also constitute an obstacle to development.
There are also positives
The main problem of those starting a business was not even a deficit of business ideas, but a lack of sufficient financial resources to start. Entrepreneurs also self-critically pointed to a reluctance to take responsibility for their business and a lack of knowledge on how to run a company so that it would be successful on the market.
In turn, the most praised were the non-refundable financial aid from the state, the extended period of preferential ZUS contributions, and some of the respondents also appreciated the relatively easy access to knowledge about setting up and running a business. The image of Polish entrepreneurship is complemented by the “Entrepreneurship Research Report” prepared in 2022 by the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP), answering the question of what motivated many people to set up a business. In 73%, it was the desire to secure a living due to the lack of job offers on the market and – which should not be ashamed – simply the desire to get rich (half of the respondents’ answers).
The future of SME companies is ambiguous. There are many bankruptcies and suspensions of operations. On the other hand, Poles are characterized by high creativity and the ability to adapt and survive even in the most unfavorable conditions. Let this be an additional, optimistic accent at the end of this sketch of the image of SME companies in Poland.