Beyond flash and fairytales: the overlooked entrepreneurs making Europe stronger

“Big and successful companies continue to fascinate all of us, [but] today’s standard model of entrepreneurship celebrates an exceptional few and neglects the majority”, argued Professor Frederikke Welter at the 2025 Schumpeter lecture, which marked the first day of the European Commission’s SME Assembly, hosted with the Danish EU presidency in Copenhagen.

“We are seduced by big numbers and fairytales, or maybe I should say, fairytale beasts”, remarked Professor Welter in reference to talk of remarkable “unicorn” companies that promise fast, radical change and rapid growth. These companies, argued Welter, are the exception rather than the rule. Instead, in Welter’s view, it is time to shift our attention to slow-growing SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises). From hairdressers to local bakeries, these small “everyday entrepreneurs”, as Welter puts it, are far more numerous than unicorns and are crucial for regional stability.

Welter went on to challenge dominant economic perspectives and highlighted the value that everyday entrepreneurs bring to Europe, and their importance in solving key issues like employment and local investment in previously industrialised regions. With over 60% of European jobs coming from SMEs, their impact is undeniable.

As Welter’s lecture spurred conversations throughout the assembly, the idea of everyday entrepreneurs hit closer to home for some, reflecting the realities of those they work with. Eugenija Kovaliova works at U(In)Power, a programme supporting women entrepreneurs from Ukrainian refugee backgrounds in Lithuania. Kovaliova highlights how gendered barriers prevent women from engaging in entrepreneurship, “childcare is very important because most of the women are alone, they don’t have the network to support [them].” Inaccessible childcare is a barrier to finance, mentorship, and to the labour market. “We see a tendency that a lot of Ukrainian women are highly skilled but end up working in a lower skilled or even unqualified job”, tells Kovaliova, who explains how the pressure for women to work upon arrival to support their families often means taking underpaid work.

Entrepreneurship, says Kovaliova, is part of the solution, “it is a good way to integrate, to be self-sufficient and for many Ukrainian women to reclaim their professional identities, which was an additional trauma.” Yet access to finance for these women remains a challenge, with many forms of finance remain out of reach due to their refugee status, making support like U(In)Power crucial to independencez. 

Access to finance is a challenge for many European entrepreneurs, but  for women and those from refugee and migrant backgrounds it is even more complex. Wendy Aygin, Head Business Coach at #SHEdidit, a Belgian business incubator for women from migration backgrounds, explains the barriers that women she coaches encounter, “Finance can be limited. The ecosystem right now usually doesn’t have a lot of women with migration backgrounds, so they don’t even have anyone that looks like them to understand the barriers they are going through.” 

Shamilla Borchers, who works with migrant founders at the Migrant Accelerator programme in Germany, sees similar experiences, “investors want to invest into someone who looks like them, so for someone with a different background, from a different place, it is quite difficult to get them in touch. They are the most overlooked and high achieving startup group, but they lack resources and networks.” 

Whilst migrants might face large barriers, they are uniquely placed to contribute to the European economy. Maria Elo, a Professor at University of Southern Denmark explains, “people use opportunities differently when they have a migrant background, they see things differently than the local people, which is a competitive advantage. A lot of times migrant entrepreneurs are hungrier, more risk taking, and more entrepreneurial compared to the local population.” 

Despite the strengths of migrant entrepreneurs, and many speakers at the SME Assembly acknowledging the importance of migration in attracting talent to the EU, legislative barriers persist which damage the ability of migrants to start businesses and for Europe to remain competitive. Antonia Bachman, Communications Manager at the Migrant Accelerator commented, “the topic of visas is really important. It would be great to make it easier for founders to start businesses in an EU country.”

 Elo expands, “Europe has a very underdeveloped system of entrepreneurial or startup visas, and in many cases, we don’t have flexibility between different visa tracks. The threshold to get an entrepreneurial visa is also very high, so [policymakers] already assume that you will have a rich entrepreneur coming in, not a student with a great idea for example”. That difference means that Europe misses out on incredible talent.

Digitalisation was another topic heavily discussed at the Assembly. Whilst digitalisation provides competitive advantages and reduces administrative burdens, it is also expected to come with its own challenges for the most easily overlooked of everyday entrepreneurs. Clara Myard, from #MakeItLegit, a French programme enabling informal entrepreneurs to formalise their businesses explains, “digitalisation isn’t a threat in itself, it can actually help their business grow, but only if we make sure it remains accessible, simple, and combined with human support. Otherwise, it risks excluding exactly the people who need opportunities the most.” Poor connectivity or skill deficits are key issues Myard highlights, and with 44% of Europeans lacking basic-level digital skills, according to 2024 European Commission data, it is easy to see how digitalisation could pose a further risk to the entrepreneurs who have already found themselves to be on the margins. 

The experience of an everyday entrepreneur clearly isn’t a straightforward one, but this year’s SME Assembly offered a chance for those with the quietest voices to be heard. Professor Welter and delegates challenged what we think an entrepreneur looks like; a messy image, one with perhaps a few less fairytale creatures than we expect, but with a magic of its own kind.