According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report in Spain (2023-2024), the number of people who entrepreneur has been increasing since the last 3 years. This is very good news considering that this country has not been a big promoter of entrepreneurship among its population and start of entrepreneurship is complex as it has some obstacles and barriers which, in some cases, limited the initiatives. A cultural factor also intervenes in this environment, where the fear of failure is latent among the Spanish population, and it is something which is complicated to change in a short-term.
The report has been conducted to 30.201 people between 18-64 years old between May and July 2023 (12,4% from the rural area and approximately between a 21-25% were young people). The data shows that still more men (11,5%) are willing to entrepreneur, but the increasement of women changed from 8,8% (2022) to 10,9% (2023).
Spanish entrepreneurs bet for business related to services or trade in goods and its profiles used to be a person around 40 years old with a high level of education and expertise (UPTA, 2020). In 2023, the recent entrepreneurship rate in rural areas has decreased to 4,7% despite of the efforts of the public administration (GEM, 2023). In these areas, more women than men consolidate their business.
Distribution of entrepreneurs by gender and rural/urban entrepreneurship
The low data reflects the depopulation that rural areas are suffering in Spain, mainly due to the lack of employment opportunities which causes people to move to urban areas where the chances of finding a stable job are better. So, the idea of the implementation of the YERAME project is to increase the skills to promote the entrepreneurship mindset for young people in rural areas to increase the percentage and thus, being an alternative of the depopulation in rural areas by increasing the job market opportunities. You can check the implementation of the training here: https://defoin.es/sin-categoria/descubriendo-el-potencial-de-lo-rural-proyectos-europeos-defoin/
If you want to entrepreneur, but you don’t know how to start, there are different ideas for entrepreneur in rural areas. Also, it seems that in rural areas it is easier to propose a new business that no one in the area has thought of and to have less competition there (UPTA, 2020). Some ideas according to the article from BBVA:
- Agribusiness.
- Bio and eco’ entrepreneurship.
- Renewable energies.
- Drop Servicing.
- Rural consulting.
- Rural tourism.
Some examples of Spanish rural enterprises which have been implemented successfully are:
- Grodi Tech. Spanish Startup linked to ‘agribusiness’ sector. Thanks to Artificial Intelligence, monitor in real time the greenhouses.
- Asteo Red Neutra. Spanish company whose objective is to reduce the digital gap. It develops the optical fibre in less than 1.000 people villages.