Many scientists hesitate to profit from their expertise as entrepreneurs. Yet, in one respect, scientific founders clearly outperform their peers.
Only one in six scientists (17 percent) who had a startup idea three years ago has since become self-employed. A quarter have completely abandoned the idea of starting a business, and 60 percent have postponed the step into self-employment until the future. Most of those who dared to start a business only do so as a sideline. This is the result of a study of the Institute for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (IfM) in Bonn. A research team from the IfM Bonn and the University of Siegen surveyed more than 7,000 academics from various disciplines over three years about their propensity to start a business.
The most common reasons for abandoning a startup project are a lack of a business concept (72 percent), insufficient market knowledge (46 percent), and fear of failure (45 percent). The most frequently cited obstacles for those postponing their project are a lack of financial resources (56 percent), a lack of market knowledge (55 percent), and insufficient commercial and legal knowledge (52 percent). The biggest hurdles, therefore, lie in practical entrepreneurial knowledge. Dr. Simone Chlosta from IfM Bonn summarizes:
"There is a discrepancy between the propensity to start a business and the implementation of the idea: One in four scientists fails to commercialize their idea, even though many universities have startup offices. However, those scientists who take advantage of the advisory services are more successful in starting their own business than those who do not."
Scientists found more sustainable
If scientists have founded companies despite all obstacles, the projects are obviously well thought out: the survival rate of scientific start-ups significantly exceeds that of all young companies. Prof. Dr. Arndt Werner from the University of Siegen says:
"Of the academic startups that existed three years ago, more than three-quarters are still operating. This is an above-average figure, given that around 40% of the newly founded companies across Germany are no longer on the market after three years. Startups founded by scientists are therefore very stable."
Werner is also pleased that almost two out of five newly founded companies have not only created jobs, but one in three companies is also planning to hire new employees.
