A Diagnosis of Polish Start-Ups

The objective of the secondary study was an in-depth analysis of Polish start-ups. In addition, global environment of start-ups was compared with the national one, and all flaws associated with start-ups’ establishment in Poland were indicated. Moreover, start-ups operating in Lublin Voivodeship were also diagnosed. The diagnosis encompassed clusters, which usually constitute an umbrella for such companies in the region. Statistical data included in national and international reports pertaining to start-ups’ ecosystems was applied in the analysis. Results prove that the development of start-ups in Poland is slow when compared with international and global ecosystems. Social capital seems as the most critical element hindering a proper development of such Polish businesses. It became clear that Poles are characterized with low trust, growing resistance for knowledge sharing and cooperation, and reluctance towards risk, and fear of failure. Financial difficulties and inability to find investors constitute additional factors hampering development opportunities, despite government’s policy being more favorable and progressive. Statistics prove that half of Polish businesses use own funds, and their objective is export. Most startups use B2B model in their sales. Unfortunately, national start-ups have not been successful on the global market. Moreover, Lublin Voivodeship is still among those which generate few novel ideas and innovations in Poland. Warsaw, Cracow, the Tri-city, and Poznan are leaders in this respect. Undeniably, the program facilitating young entrepreneurs’ implementation of business ideas has helped recently (2014-2020). In addition, cooperation with R&D centers and universities maximizes synergies, thus fosters innovation and uniqueness of start-ups.