Business Entrepreneurialism sees emergence of Social Entrepreneurialism: Ipsos Survey

According to a new survey by Ipsos,  the traditional definition of entrepreneurialism is now undergoing a metamorphosis of sorts and is moving from pure play business entrepreneurialism and is adding a key element of social entrepreneurialism to make a definitive impact – so starting a new set up is good, but giving back to society will now complete the picture.

“Business entrepreneurialism has been the primary motive of those who have forayed into entrepreneurship, in India. Social Entrepreneurship is the new emerging trend. It is either competing with business entrepreneurship or working in conjunction with business entrepreneurship and is creating a holistic picture of entrepreneurialism,” said Parijat Chakraborty, Executive Director, Public Affairs, Ipsos in India.

The study was conducted online in 24 countries including India, among a more affluent, connected population, to coincide with Global Entrepreneurship Week (Nov. 12-18, 2018). The study has delved into new territory - entrepreneurship being manifested in non-economic start-ups (like Charities) and whether entrepreneurs are likely to be engaged in societies and emotions associated with entrepreneurialism.    

Capturing views on Entrepreneurial Experience, 40 per cent of Indians polled said that they have started at least one business in the past, while 39 per cent have considered starting it and 21 per cent denied. 25% of those polled said they have started a Charity or Community Group in the past and 39% have contemplated about doing it (balance, denied). 31 per cent Indians have started an Interest Group and 37% have considered doing it (the rest, denied).

Chakraborty is not alarmed with the figures: “Many of the business start-ups referred here are basic and rudimentary in nature, without demanding much investment or manpower. However, the sheer proportion of those who have dabbled in any business, two in five, is one of the highest in the world, points towards the high level of unemployment and underemployment in our country.”

The survey also mapped the entrepreneurial aspirations of Indians. And the response was quite encouraging. 50 per cent of those polled said that they would like to give wings to their aspirations and start a new business venture in the next two years. 19 per cent were neutral, while 31 per cent said that they were unlikely. Interestingly, 41% Indians have shown high entrepreneurial aspiration for starting a Charity or Community Group in the next two years, 21 per cent were neutral, while 38% were unlikely. Also, 45 per cent have shown entrepreneurial aspiration for starting an Interest Group. 18% were neutral and 37% were unlikely to do it.

Net-Net – Total Entrepreneurial Aspirations (Business + Charity/ Community Group +Interest Group) in the next 2 years showed that 37% of Indians plan to start a business + 1 other (from social), 13% want to kick off business only; 19% are interested in Others (Charity/ Community Group/ Interest Group) only; and 31% seemed to have no interest in entrepreneurship at all.

Entrepreneurial Emotions    

Largely, Indians associate two salient emotions with entrepreneurship: Interested (74%) and Inspired (73%). While two negative emotions associated with entrepreneurship were: Nervous (37%) and Afraid (33%).

Entrepreneurship Spirit while starting a business was seen to be more positive than negative for 39% of Indians polled, 60% had mixed emotions, while balance 1% were more negative than positive.   

Technology & Entrepreneurialism

48% of Indians polled said that they tend to have a hard time keeping pace with the rapidly changing technology. 18 per cent were neutral, while 34% disagreed and said they have no problem with technology changes.

Half of Indians polled (50%) said that they trust Artificial Intelligence; 26 per cent were neutral and 24 per cent disagreed that they trust AI.

 Government & Entrepreneurialism

60 per cent of Indians polled are of the view that the government has a responsibility in actively assisting entrepreneurs.

Less than half of Indians polled (46%) feel that government is doing commendable work in actively assisting entrepreneurs.

Performance falls short in expectation.

“In the World Bank’s latest Ease of Doing Business rankings 2018, India has climbed 23 places to the 77th spot for 2018. While we have a long way to go, this improved environment is surely going to give a further boost to entrepreneurialism, both business and social,” Chakraborty concluded.      

 Methodology

The survey was conducted in 24 countries via the Ipsos Online Panel system between September 20-28, 2018. Interviews were conducted with 18,000 adults aged 18-64 in Canada and the U.S. and 16-64 in all other countries. Approximately 1000+ individuals participated on a country by country basis via the Ipsos Online Panel with the exception of Argentina, Belgium, Hungary, India, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey, where each have a sample of approximately 500+.In 16 of the 24 countries surveyed internet penetration is sufficiently high to think of the samples as representative of the wider population within the age ranges covered: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy,  Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Great Britain and United States. Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey have lower levels of internet penetration and so these samples should not be considered to be fully nationally representative, but instead to represent a more affluent, connected population. These are still a vital social group to understand in these countries, representing an important and emerging middle class. Weighting has been employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample’s composition reflects that of the adult population according to the most recent country census data. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points for a sample of 1,000 and an estimated margin of error of +/- 4.5 percentage points for a 500 sample 19 times out of 20.