Also, 49% of Romanians say they started a business in order to balance their career and personal life, way above the European average of 31% and more than double the percentage of respondents from countries with a strong entrepreneurial tradition, such as Germany, Denmark and Belgium.
Microsoft conducted a study regarding the SME sector, which is deemed the most dynamic sector of Europe’s economy, with SMEs accounting for 99% of all Europe’s businesses and 85% of employees in the EU working for them.
The study shows that 31% of Romanian respondents believe that working for a SME brought them financial benefits, higher by 12 percentage points than the European average of the study, placing Romania second after Poland by these answers. Romania is followed by countries in the region such as Hungary where only 21% of respondents spoke about the advantages of working for a SME, the Czech Republic where 18% of respondents share the same opinion, and by Slovakia where 12% share the same opinion.
Romania is among the top three countries that draft no business plan, with a percentage of 25%. Turkey holds the top spot in terms of planning a business.
Compared with the rest of the countries included in the study, Romania has the most entrepreneurs declaring they regularly use the same technology both at home and at the office, but the bulk of them (44%) say technology-related decisions are a regular component of their business. By contrast, only 17% of respondents in Denmark, the country with the highest DESI index (Digital Economy and Society Index, drafted by the European Commission), gave the same answer.
SMEs are vital to the European economy, accounting for 99% of all of Europe’s businesses. According to the European Commission, they form the backbone of its economy and job growth. SMEs are defined as employing between 1 and 250 employees and can have a turnover of up to EUR50 million.