For many people, entrepreneurship is synonymous with risk, uncertainty, starting from scratch. But entrepreneurship can also be a shared, guided, accompanied experience. It can be —and should always be— a collective commitment to the economic and social progress of a territory.
In the province of Barcelona, this vision is a reality thanks to an extensive network of Local Business Service Centers (CLSE), which support entrepreneurial activity in all its phases: from the birth of an idea to its consolidation and growth or, even, the succession of a business.
We are experiencing a moment of entrepreneurial effervescence. The entrepreneurial activity rate (TEA) in the province of Barcelona, according to the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report, has reached 9% —the highest in the last twenty-one years. This data indicates that more and more people see entrepreneurship as a viable and desirable way to build their life and professional project. But it also challenges us: are we generating the necessary conditions for these initiatives to succeed? Are we providing the necessary support to those who want to undertake?
At the Barcelona Provincial Council, together with the municipalities of the province, we are convinced that local support is key. Not only at the moment of starting a company, but especially in the process of consolidation and growth, which is often the most complex and fragile. For this reason, for more than twenty years, we have been promoting the CLSE network, an essential tool to turn good ideas into viable and sustainable projects.
The balance is clear: last year alone, the 86 centers distributed throughout the territory served nearly 60,000 entrepreneurs and more than 36,000 companies. They contributed to the creation of 2,417 new business initiatives and the generation of more than 3,100 jobs. And they did so by offering high value-added services: more than 123,000 information and guidance actions, 3,124 advised business plans, and almost 2,300 training actions.
These data speak for themselves. But even more relevant is an indicator that often goes unnoticed: the business survival rate. According to the reports we conduct on companies created with the support of the CLSE, three years later these have a survival rate of 66%. This represents almost six percentage points more than the provincial average. That is, when entrepreneurship is done with public accompaniment, it is more solid, more durable, and more socially profitable.
That is why we insist on an essential message: if you want to start a business, you are not alone. And we don't just say it, we make it possible with services that are not limited to the initial procedure, but offer training, advice, technical assistance, business accommodation, facilitation of access to financing and connection with other agents of the ecosystem. This integrated vision is key for an entrepreneurship model rooted in the territory but connected with major global challenges.
We cannot speak of a complete entrepreneurial ecosystem if we do not take into account the gender perspective
A good example of the services available to those who want to start a business are the Local Entrepreneurship Support Points (PAE), which have celebrated a decade of trajectory in the province. This is a free resource resulting from collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Tourism that saves time and money when registering as a company or as a self-employed professional.In these ten years, about forty municipalities have activated this service and more than 13,000 companies have used it, making it an efficient and accessible gateway to economic activity. Users rate the service with an excellent satisfaction index.
But not everything starts from scratch. It is also necessary to preserve what already exists. A fundamental part of the entrepreneurship policy we advocate is the consolidation and, also, the transmission of businesses. The business abandonment rate is around 4%, and here the Reempresa initiative that we promote with CECOT and the Autoocupació Foundation plays a decisive role. Reempresa allows viable businesses, but without generational succession or with owners who want to retire, to continue in the hands of other entrepreneurs. Thanks to the work of the local Reempresa points, 900 companies and 2,200 jobs have been saved that, otherwise, would have disappeared. It is an intelligent and sustainable way to grow the economy without wasting talent or experience.
All this works because behind each service there is a powerful alliance between city councils, employers' associations, entities, business associations and the Diputació. This public-private collaboration, made from the knowledge of the territory and with a will to serve, allows strategies to be adapted to each local reality. It is not the same to undertake in a medium-sized city as to do so in a rural environment or in neighborhoods with fewer opportunities. And it is in this fine fit where institutional innovation plays a fundamental role.
Furthermore, we cannot talk about a complete entrepreneurial ecosystem if we do not take into account the gender perspective. Women continue to have less presence in entrepreneurial activity and, when they do access it, they often do so with more difficulties in obtaining financing, support networks or social recognition. That is why it is essential to strengthen local policies that incorporate this perspective. Many municipalities in the province are already leading specific programs to promote female entrepreneurship. We must continue this path, because equity must also be a driver of economic development.
It is also necessary to listen to young people, new professional profiles, migrants, those who want to undertake from the rural world, those who do not fit into traditional business models. A good support system must be able to respond to all these realities, and that is why from the Diputació de Barcelona we work with a broad, flexible and territorially rooted vision. We even promote the Entrepreneurial Culture in School program, with which more than 10,000 primary school students create, each year, a cooperative to learn what it means to undertake.
Betting on entrepreneurship is betting on the territory
Because entrepreneurship is not just opening a business. It is generating value, assuming responsibilities, creating jobs, imagining new ways of living and producing. When the territory accompanies this process with knowledge, experience and commitment, we all win.The entrepreneur wins, but also the municipality, the neighborhood, the community.
For this reason, in a week like this one—dedicated to recognizing and making entrepreneurship visible—it is important to remember that, behind the grand speeches and positive data, there is constant, sustained, and shared work. And that the economic future of our municipalities largely depends on continuing to believe in this way of doing things: local, collaborative, and transformative.
At the Barcelona Provincial Council, we are clear about this. Betting on entrepreneurship is betting on the territory. But doing it well means doing it alongside people, with quality services, with a focus on equality, and with the determination not to leave anyone behind. This is our commitment. And it is also the best guarantee for continuing to grow the province, from the bottom up, from within, from the strength of every initiative that starts with an idea and finds the support to become a reality.