Entrepreneurship for all

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are crucial to strengthening Sweden’s capacity for innovation and competitiveness. SMEs currently account for approximately 50 percent of Sweden’s GDP and 99.9 percent of Swedish companies (2022). SMEs also generate two-thirds of jobs in the private sector. Ensuring that these companies have access to the support, resources, and other tools necessary for growth is essential to the economic growth and competitiveness of Sweden. Ultimately, that will strengthen the business sector and Sweden’s role as an export nation.

Leaders of SMEs often face obstacles due to demographic factors such as background, gender, and geographical location, which makes taking the step to starting a company or running and scaling a business more challenging. Women are generally underrepresented among entrepreneurs, and just over one quarter of Sweden’s entrepreneurs are women, making Sweden one of the countries with the lowest proportion of entrepreneurial women in the EU. Furthermore, only 0.5 percent of the venture capital in Sweden is invested in women-led companies.

By creating more equal opportunities for business and entrepreneurship, more people can contribute to the economic growth and strengthen Sweden’s export and competitiveness. It additionally promotes individual economic independence, as starting and running a business can lead to greater financial empowerment and self-confidence. Many entrepreneurs are motivated by a desire to bring an idea to realisation or to enhance their independence. These driving factors, combined with the unfulfilled ideas of potential entrepreneurs, represent great untapped potential. Barriers to equal entrepreneurship should therefore be identified and remedied.

Public entities, the business community and policymakers can lead the way towards democratised entrepreneurship in Sweden

To motivate and encourage more potential entrepreneurs to start companies and scale up existing businesses, policymakers must ensure that initiatives related to trade, entrepreneurship and export are linked to strong policies for equality. In addition, a combination of commitment from the business community, including support from investors, and predictability, with clear rules from policymakers, is necessary – as are supplementary measures from public entities. By improving the conditions for SMEs, with a particular emphasis on promoting entrepreneurship among women, we can enable more entrepreneurs to contribute to economic growth and thereby strengthen Sweden’s export and competitiveness.

Sweden has a unique opportunity to lead the way towards equal entrepreneurship. By providing the proper support and initiatives for all entrepreneurs, regardless of background, Sweden can promote the emergence of new businesses, strengthen its position internationally and create more meaningful jobs.