Entrepreneurship policy
A robust entrepreneurial environment free from bureaucracy
Status
Odense Municipality remains far from being an entrepreneur-friendly city. According to Confederation of Danish Industry's (DI) 2024 survey on local business-friendliness, Odense ranks at a disappointing 61st place out of 96 municipalities, placing Odense in the bottom third.
This is an unsustainable position for the country's third-largest city.
Despite initial initiatives, it is clear that Odense lacks a robust entrepreneurial environment, which is also reflected in the lower rate of newly established businesses compared to cities such as Aarhus.
Odense is on the right track, but we need a significant improvement in conditions for entrepreneurs.
Needs and challenges
There are several challenges hindering entrepreneurship in Odense:
- Complicated application processes makes it difficult to get started as an entrepreneur in the municipality. The administrative requirements and procedures are unnecessarily cumbersome and complex
- Existing support schemes are not evaluated systematically, making it difficult to identify and adjust ineffective initiatives.
- Decline in business creation: In 2023, Odense experienced an 11% decline in newly started sole proprietorships - there is a need for a resurgence in the entrepreneurial environment.
Summary
Odense has great potential as an entrepreneurial city, but it requires a targeted political effort to remove the obstacles currently standing in the way of growth and innovation.
There is a need for a more efficient and entrepreneur-friendly approach that fosters collaboration between the municipality, the business community, and educational institutions, while simultaneously reducing bureaucracy.
Political proposals for the entrepreneurship area
- Removal of bureaucracy for entrepreneurs: Simplify and streamline municipal procedures for entrepreneurs, especially in relation to public tasks and schemes. Many entrepreneurs give up on bidding for municipal tasks due to heavy bureaucracy. We must make it easier to start and run a business in Odense.
- Outsource entrepreneurship services to local actors: Lift entrepreneurship support and advisory services out of the public sector and allow private and local actors to deliver more tailored and flexible solutions. This will create greater efficiency and closeness to the entrepreneurs who need help.
- Systematic evaluation of support schemes: Introduce ongoing evaluation of entrepreneurship support schemes, where entrepreneurs themselves can provide feedback on the effectiveness of the programs. It is important that the programs are adjusted continuously and only retained if they create concrete value.