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For six years the customer satisfaction index in Poland has grown by over 17 percentage points to nearly 78 percent, and it currently exceeds the customer satisfaction levels recorded in the USA and the United Kingdom. Service quality and its growing significance among businesses have had a tremendous impact on customer satisfaction. For the eleventh time the Customer Service Quality Star titles have been awarded to entrepreneurs recording the best results in this field.

The Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Technology is planning to create a technological campus to cluster all Polish cybersecurity specialists in one place. This autumn, the project’s operator is going to be selected. The business accelerator is based on solutions applied in Israel and its role is to reinforce Poland's security and attract investors from the IT sector to our country.

More than 80 percent of investment in the development of Polish start-ups is state-funded. The reason for this is the still underdeveloped private-funds market. The Polish market for high-risk start-ups is slowly catching up with the world in professionalism. About 10-20 percent of venture-capital funds in Poland can already be considered as top-performing funds. However, the percentage of those that aren’t working well is still too high.

When compared to the European market, the Polish market for fairs and exhibitions is rather small but well-developed, and it has been steadily growing for several years. More and more events organised in Poland are congresses and fairs with a global reach, attracting foreign exhibitors and guests. This drives business tourism and commercial real property market. Additionally, the fairs and conferences contribute to the development of companies and the entire economic sectors, which become popular thanks to such events. The base of trade fair and conference centres, however, requires extension and modernisation with a view to ensuring the further growth of this market.

Nearly 40 percent of Poles read at least one book per year. Although the reading level is low, we buy books increasingly often. The number of published titles is also growing, and since 1991 it has seen an almost threefold increase. For the printing industry this is a favourable situation, especially on the market of hardcover books, which guarantee the highest mark-ups. At the same time, the average circulation of the published titles is decreasing, which is why more and more companies choose digital publishing, which is much less expensive than traditional printing.

Business angels are increasingly active in Poland. According to the Startup Poland foundation, 33 percent of Polish start-ups took advantage of the services of domestic and foreign business angels. The EBAN data shows that the three most frequently chosen industries are technology, ICT and healthcare. The Vice-President of the largest European organisation of business angels believes that the next five years will be promising for the whole CEE region, and Poland will be the first choice among investment locations.

“In Poland there is a need for providing financing not only to small start-ups but also to larger projects, which require the involvement of greater sums of money,” said Krzysztof Domarecki, Founder of the Fidiasz investment fund. According to one of the richest Poles and the man behind the success of the Selena group, investors should apply more stringent criteria to the projects they support. One should search for the first Polish unicorn among fintech or e-commerce companies; however, in the longer term, it can also be found in industry or biotechnology.

Piracy is on the decline, but in Poland still nearly half of all the software in use is illegal. Private users use pirated software, as well as music and films from illegal sources, even more frequently, being oblivious of the associated risks. Combating piracy has many forms, which include tightening up the anti-piracy regulations. The examples of imposing greater restrictions show that piracy is growing even more quickly.

The record-low unemployment results in the consistently growing demand for human resources from behind our eastern border. The new regulations, in force since January of this year, and the new category of simplified seasonal work permit were supposed to assist employers. However, it turned out that employment agencies are not yet ready to embrace the changes. The number of declarations processed every day can sometimes be ten times lower than before.

High energy costs, heating and air conditioning charges are tangible problems for both enterprises and local governments. They often lack funds for investments to increase the energy efficiency of the buildings they use. An alternative solution is investments based on the ESCO formula, where the whole cost and risk are incurred by the company implementing the project. In Poland the value of the market is estimated at EUR 27 m and is constantly growing, as increasingly more emphasis is placed on the significance of energy efficiency for the development of the economy and the competitiveness of enterprises.

The earnings of women working in the same positions as men are lower, they are less willing to start their own companies and less often perform managerial roles. This is a global problem faced by the largest world economies. In Poland, despite the fact that managerial positions are in 40% occupied by women, their earnings are much lower than those of men. Together with the spreading popularity and significance of start-ups, it is easier for women to enter the labour market and find their way to sectors which previously were considered to be typically male. This is facilitated by the numerous competitions organised for women’s start-ups and a growing number of women performing the roles of business angels.

Personal hygiene products’ market has been steadily growing by some 3-4% per annum. Faster growth is experienced by its relatively new segment, namely home care products. In both cases the dominant trends to govern this market over the next years are innovation and environmental-friendliness. You might think that innovation in the production of cotton pads or swabs is limited. Quite the opposite, you can be very innovative in the production of even such rudimentary personal care products, says Rafał Szczepkowski, CEO at Harper Hygienics.

Modular construction is no longer associated with temporary buildings. This method can be used to build homes as well as hotels, public housing, and educational establishments. And, what is important, it is much cheaper and faster than traditional construction technologies. This growth in the popularity of modular construction in Poland can be driven by the recent increase in the prices of building materials and labour shortages, both of which have translated into generally higher prices in the construction industry.

Only 14% of companies have their employer branding strategy defined. But in order to attract employees, and millennials in particular, one needs to get to know their needs and provide them with opportunities for fulfilment and a sense of making a difference in the company. The young generation want their bosses to be like partners and coaches, who will lead and direct them. Employers need long-term strategies and comprehensive approaches to their personnel. Without it, they will be hard-pressed to achieve success, experts claim.

Tax reliefs valid for up to 15 years, and the investment outlays requirement reduced by 98 percent – the act on supporting new investments entered the Senate a few days ago. Entities operating all over the country, not only in the special economic zone as it was done before, will be eligible for support. Experts stress that these are positive changes as they will make the country more attractive for investors. Benefits will be especially provided to micro- small and medium-sized businesses. The introduced changes are expected to result in as many as 500,000 additional jobs.