Did you know Finland and The Netherlands have different cultures when it comes to failure in entrepreneurship? According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), the fear of failure when starting a business is more prevalent in Finland than in The Netherlands.
In Finland (2021), while a significant 62% of people saw good business opportunities (well above the 54.76% global average), the fear of failure was also higher at 44.53% (global average 42.82%). Interestingly, only 42.75% of Finns felt they had the capabilities to start a business, significantly lower than the global average of 57.86%. This suggests a gap between seeing potential and feeling equipped to act on it, potentially contributing to that higher fear of failure.
Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, in both 2022 (33.76%) and 2023 (40.29%), the fear of failure was notably lower than the global average (44.63%). Similar to Finland, a large percentage of Dutch individuals saw good opportunities (61.62% in 2022 and 67.37% in 2023, both above the global average of 56.40%). However, the feeling of having the necessary capabilities for starting a business was also lower than the global average (42.19% in 2022 and 40.29% in 2023, compared to 60.94% globally).
Both nations see opportunities, yet their populations express a lower sense of their own capabilities compared to the global average. However, this translates into a higher fear of failure in Finland, while the Netherlands generally exhibits a lower fear.
Moreover, in both countries, this feeling of fear is stronger for women, suggesting a gender inequality in how confident men and women feel about starting a business.
For more information, you can visit these sources:
Gender Gap in Entrepreneurial Potential in Finland and Reflecting Its Underlying Causes
The Dutch entrepreneurship paradox: why does the Dutch scaleup ecosystem succeed less than it could?
Start Thinking bigger about entrepreneurship in The Netherlands