Survey questionnaire

Topic: Youth Entrepreneurship: Barriers to startup business by young entrepreneurs

in Kurdistan region.

Dear Participant
My name is Sarhang Ahmed Tahir, MSc. Business and Management Sciences student at University of
Kurdistan-Hawler (UKH). For my dissertation, I am examining Youth Entrepreneurship: Barriers to startup
businesses by young entrepreneurs in Kurdistan region. This questionnaire is to achieve information about your
perceptions, opinions, experiences and particular knowledge regarding the challenges and successes you have
faced in starting and maintaining your business or have being trying to startup your own business. Your business
story and your particular experiences while setting up your own business are extremely constructive to me. They
will facilitate me to better understand the specific constraints and needs of young people who are engaging in
business or to start up their own business as a result policies and suggestions are provided which can
successfully improve the entrepreneurial framework for youth in Kurdistan region. So please tell me your story,
tell me how you succeed and what held you back. As entrepreneurship is seen as one crucial factor in driving
economic development and employment creation for young people, your aid is an important contribution to
fight against unemployment in Kurdistan region. So please dedicate about10 minutes of your valuable time for
the 14 questions and send your feedback to provided email below ASAP, your help is really appreciated. You
will be assured of complete confidentiality.
Sincerely
Sarhang Ahmed Tahir
E- mail: sarhang.tahir@gmail.com
Thank you for your assistance

1. Gender: Female Male
2. How old are you? 18 or 25 26 to 36 over 37

3. Your qualification/education level
Less than High School
High School
Some College
2-year College Degree
4-year College Degree
Masters Degree
Doctoral Degree
Professional Degree (e.g. M.D., Pharm.D, D.D.S. etc)
None

4. Please indicate to one of the following as your employment status.
Self-employment (Business Person)
Wage Employment
Professional (e.g. M.D, Pharm.D, D.D.S. etc)
Student
Jobless
If others (please specify)

5. Assume you were working and could choose between different kinds of jobs. Which of the
following would you choose? I would choose
Being an employee
Being self-employed
Cant choose



I.ENTREPRENEURIAL ENVIRONMENT/ CONDITIONS
6. Young people face difficulties, obstacles and barriers to start a business in many areas. In which
areas (a to g) did you face the most difficult barriers? Please rank the following areas by
importance. Please rank them first (1), second (2), third (3), etc.
Rank: a) Access to finance
e.g. there is a clear lack of access to start-up financing or starting point funding for
young people!

Rank: b) Government regulations
e.g. Excessive administrative and bureaucratic burdens impede youth
entrepreneurship!

Rank: c) Social/ Cultural attitude towards (youth) entrepreneurship.
e.g. Entrepreneurship (startup business) is not appreciated and promoted enough by
society!

Rank: d) Education, skills and training
e.g. Education and training do not promote/encourage young people to engage in
business and to develop good business ideas. Education & training does not match
market opportunities appropriately!

Rank: e) Business support (& physical infrastructure)
e.g. there is clear lack of business support in terms of mentoring, business
Counselling and access to working space as well as to business networks!
Rank: f) Corruption:
e.g. Bribe, asking for shares by, making obstacles by powerful officials, etc.

Rank: g) Other: (please explain)



II. Social/Cultural influences on youth entrepreneurs to startup businesses.
7. A) Who or what of the below factors most have encouraged, discouraged, or influenced
you to start-up a business or will do?




Essential
Influence
Mainly
Positive
Mainly
Negative
No
Influence
Don't know
Parents & family
2. Teachers or lectures
3. Career advisers
4. Friends
5. Entrepreneurs
6. Media (TV, Radio, Internet) coverage of
businesses and business people.

7. Other:



7. What have been important de-motivators (fears) for you to engage in business?

Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree Dont Know
1. Financial risks: I was worried by the
possibility of loosing my (invested) money!
I was afraid of not being able to pay back
my loan, credit or borrowed money!

2. Access to finance Capital to invest I was
afraid of not being able to get enough money
to start my own business!

3. Social (protection) risks or costs:
I was worried by the possibility of having no
social safety net /security! (Health insurance.
Pension, etc.) I was afraid of the high costs for
social protection!

4. Lack of skills (confidence in my skills &
experience): I was afraid of not having the
right skills and experience!

5. Administrative hurdles: I was worried by
the possibility of not meeting licensing and
regulatory requirements!

6. Gender: I was worried by the possibility of
being disadvantaged because of being a
woman!

7. Stigma associated with failing: I was worried
about what my family or other people would
think of me if I failed!

8. Workload: I was afraid of not being able to
handle all the workload

9. Corruption: I was de-motivated from the
level of corruption in business (government
or society in general)!

10. Competition: I was afraid of the strong
competition in my line of business!

11. Market Demand: I was worried by the
possibility that people would not have a
need for my product or service!

12. Other: (please explain)






III. Government regulations and policies
9. A) Regulative barriers: The following regulations have been serious barriers to set up my business:

Very serious Serious Less serious No barrier Dont know
a. Administrative hurdles in registering/licensing
your business ((e.g. registration costs/ duration/
complex procedures,)

b. Tax level (far too high for young people)
c. Bankruptcy laws (very/disproportionately
punitive to business failure)

d. Property, copyright and patent regulations
(poorly enforced or too strict)

e. Competition law (e.g. restricted market
access)

f. Subsidy policy (e.g. disadvantaged through
subsidies for competitors)

h. Taxation regulations (unsupportive, too
complex or arbitrary (subjective)

I. Others.

IV. Start-up financing

10. Is it easy to find financing support for starting your own business?

Yes
No

11. Where would you go for funding? (You can tick more than one)

Family/friends or personal contacts
Government grants (e.g. Small Business Loans)
Angel investment (e.g. banks, micro-credit institutions, cooperatives, NGOs)
Others (please specify)

12. As there are many Small Business Loans fro startup business (e.g. Government grants (e.g. Small
Business Loans) or Angel investment (e.g. banks, micro-credit institutions, cooperatives, NGOs)? Why don't
obtain start-up financing from them? (You can tick more than one)

Lack of access to information on ways to finance new business ventures
Administrative and regulatory burdens (e.g. complex documentation procedures and difficult to
obtain financing due to high level of routines)
Unfavorable or complex tax systems
High interest rates and fees
Religious belief (e.g. interest)
Strict credit-scoring methodologies/regulations
No legal status of enterprise (informal sector)
Others (please specify)





V. Education, skills and training
13. How has education influenced your entrepreneurial career to think starting up your own business? The
educational institutions I attended:

Strongly supported my entrepreneurial career
Influenced my entrepreneurial career positively
Had a negative influence on my entrepreneurial career
Impeded my entrepreneurial career
Had no influence on my entrepreneurial career
Others (please specify)

14. What kind of educational support would have been valuable for you? How could the educational system
in Kurdistan be made more supportive for young entrepreneurs (e.g. courses. internships. company visit
programme)?...................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................
....................


THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE AND YOUR PRECIOUS TIME!




Sarhang Ahmed Tahir
E- mail: sarhang.tahir@gmail.com
Thank you for your assistance