CROWDFUNDING AS A WAY OF FINANCING START-UPS IN POLAND
Niznik-Klocek, Monika (2012)
Niznik-Klocek, Monika
Jyväskylän ammattikorkeakoulu
2012
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2012121319355
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2012121319355
Tiivistelmä
There is a capital gap existing in Poland which particularly affects the limited opportunities for establishment and development of new ventures. The relatively fresh concept of crowdfunding could be a solution to this problem. The purpose of the thesis was to contribute to the scarce literature on crowdfunding in Poland. The main objective of the research was the creation of some suggestions for Polish start-ups on how to use crowdfunding in the most effective way.
Firstly, the literature review was done. The crowdfunding concept had been presented against other means of financing, which resulted in a deeper insight into the crowdfunding phenomenon. After that, a multi-method qualitative study was conducted. The qualitative methods included the use of primary and secondary data. The latter was obtained mainly from Polish crowdfunding platforms and other websites touching this issue. The primary data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews on Skype with two persons involved in Polish crowdfunding from different perspectives. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed by means of a computer assisted qualitative data analysis software, NVivo.
The results indicated that crowdfunding is not yet regular form of financing in Poland. However, its development is possible and greatly depends on projects being successful in raising money from the crowd. The outcome demonstrates numerous possibilities an entrepreneur encounters when handling a crowdfunding initiative and some suggestions for that to be effective. The results showed the importance of building a community and engagement of the entrepreneur as some of the vital factors. In addition, the results indicated that success of the initiative largely relies on promotional activities undertaken by the entrepreneur and a trust of crowdfunders for him. Furthermore, the results emphasized numerous benefits which, besides money, are brought to the start-up when using crowdfunding. Moreover, the conclusions demonstrated that some legal changes in Poland would facilitate the use of crowdfunding and thus could encourage the development of entrepreneurship.
The results, although providing many suggestions, leave plenty of choices to be made by an entrepreneur willing to undertake a crowdfunding initiative. Thus, the thesis is applicable to different types of start-ups in Poland for which the idea behind the project is interesting and attractive to crowdfunders. However, additional value might be brought by future research engaging a larger sample including entrepreneurs who have actually used crowdfunding for financing their start-ups.
Firstly, the literature review was done. The crowdfunding concept had been presented against other means of financing, which resulted in a deeper insight into the crowdfunding phenomenon. After that, a multi-method qualitative study was conducted. The qualitative methods included the use of primary and secondary data. The latter was obtained mainly from Polish crowdfunding platforms and other websites touching this issue. The primary data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews on Skype with two persons involved in Polish crowdfunding from different perspectives. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed by means of a computer assisted qualitative data analysis software, NVivo.
The results indicated that crowdfunding is not yet regular form of financing in Poland. However, its development is possible and greatly depends on projects being successful in raising money from the crowd. The outcome demonstrates numerous possibilities an entrepreneur encounters when handling a crowdfunding initiative and some suggestions for that to be effective. The results showed the importance of building a community and engagement of the entrepreneur as some of the vital factors. In addition, the results indicated that success of the initiative largely relies on promotional activities undertaken by the entrepreneur and a trust of crowdfunders for him. Furthermore, the results emphasized numerous benefits which, besides money, are brought to the start-up when using crowdfunding. Moreover, the conclusions demonstrated that some legal changes in Poland would facilitate the use of crowdfunding and thus could encourage the development of entrepreneurship.
The results, although providing many suggestions, leave plenty of choices to be made by an entrepreneur willing to undertake a crowdfunding initiative. Thus, the thesis is applicable to different types of start-ups in Poland for which the idea behind the project is interesting and attractive to crowdfunders. However, additional value might be brought by future research engaging a larger sample including entrepreneurs who have actually used crowdfunding for financing their start-ups.