The online survey “How to Earn Money in Serbia?” (September 2016) reveals a typical ambivalent public profile: entrepreneurship is seen as desirable, but also as risky and structurally constrained. Almost half of respondents say they have thought about starting a business (40.94%), while 9.45% already run one (7.09% one business, 2.36% several). At the same time, a sizable share say they do not intend to (28.35%) or that they tried and then gave up (7.87%). The message is clear: the entrepreneurial impulse exists, but it is “cut short” by market realities and institutions.
What would push people into private business? The top answers are not about the state, but about a good business idea (16.67%) and start-up capital (12.94%), suggesting respondents recognize that stable beginnings require knowledge and money. Right behind that come “system conditions”: a more favorable market situation (11.94%), less corruption and abuse (10.45%), as well as state incentives (9.70%) and more favorable laws (9.45%). In other words, people would work—but they want more predictable rules of the game.
When asked where the biggest profits are, responses show both realism and a dose of cynicism. Open-ended answers most often mention the IT sector (by far the most frequently cited), along with agriculture, trade, and tourism/hospitality. But just as striking is the repeated mention of “politics,” “crime,” and “making money in murky waters,” which signals deep distrust in equal opportunities.
The survey’s key conclusion is captured in the “million” question: as many as 62.20% believe it is not possible in Serbia to earn €1,000,000 legally, while 19.69% believe it is. This gap between entrepreneurial aspiration and suspicion about “big money” reflects a social climate in which success is often interpreted through connections, privilege, or the grey economy rather than innovation and the market.
Methodological note: the results are indicative, as this was an online survey with a sample of N=127.