For the first time, the Chamber of Commerce conducted the Great Survey of Entrepreneurship in Bogota and the Region to consolidate the radiography of the productive fabric, in order to have a frame of reference to guide decision-making, the construction of public policy and strategies for business strengthening.

This initiative was carried out jointly with the National Consulting Center and took place in Bogotá and the 59 municipalities in the CCB's jurisdiction in the region. More than 2,300 entrepreneurs with and without Commercial Register were consulted, which allowed us to identify the profile of the entrepreneur.

In the case of informal entrepreneurs, the survey was based on CONPES 3956 to identify and differentiate two types of businesses: those that are subsistence businesses and mostly operate in public spaces, and others that are associated with supplier networks, are stable or have growing development paths, and generally operate in factories, premises and/or homes. Since the second category is the object of public policy and action by the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, these are the businesses that are mainly characterized in the survey and are categorized as businesses without commercial registration.

The Great Survey of Entrepreneurship in Bogota and the Region allows us to know how the business fabric is made up and what are the main differences between entrepreneurs with and without Business Registration:

Motives for starting a business There is a marked difference between the motives for starting a business among the population of companies with and without a Commercial Register. For 43% of those who do not have a Business Register, the reason is associated with elements of subsistence, such as not having any other alternative. This reason only occurs in 13% of the cases of the entrepreneurs with Commercial Register Fifty-nine percent of these entrepreneurs started their business because they identified it as a business opportunity. For those who do not have a commercial registry, 61% did so. It is important to clarify that, in these cases, an entrepreneur may have several reasons for starting his business, so the sum should not be 100%.

Business person vs. entrepreneur There is a marked difference in the concept of being an entrepreneur, since 76% of those who have a Commercial Registry recognize themselves as such, while in the case of those who do not have a Commercial Registry, only 53% do so. On the contrary, the vast majority in both cases see themselves as entrepreneurs, since in the case of entrepreneurs with a Commercial Register this applies to 95% and without a Commercial Registrer to 96%.

Employment On average, businesses with Business Registration have more employees, largely due to the incidence of medium and large companies. In this sense, 55% of the businesses with Commercial Registry employ between 1 and 3 people and 40% of the businesses without Commercial Registry employ 1 person.

Young people Companies with commercial registration employ a greater number of young people than those without registration, as 26% of the workforce of the former are young people, while those without commercial registration employ 15.1%.

Gender Companies that have women as key decision-makers tend to be more equitable, inclusive and diverse. 53.9% of companies led by women have objectives related to gender equity, in contrast to 38% of companies in which men are the main decision-makers.

Accounting The management of accounting is one of the elements that most differentiates companies with and without Commercial Registry, especially because for larger companies there is an obligation to keep accounts. Therefore, while 68% of the entrepreneurs with Commercial Registry currently keep accounts, only 42% of those without Commercial Registry do so. In the case of those who have a Commercial Register and keep accounts, 36% use specialized software for this purpose and 39% use Excel. Likewise, 53% of the companies have an accountant who performs this task. In contrast, in those that do not have a Commercial Registry, 87% keep their accounting in a notebook and only 6% in Excel. Additionally, 49% of the accounting is done by themselves, which demonstrates the difference in the level of sophistication in administrative processes between companies with and without Commercial Register.

Means of payment Cash continues to be the main means of payment in all businesses, as it is used by 67% of companies with Commercial Register and 92% of businesses without Commercial Register.

Meanwhile, the penetration of digital wallets is increasing, as 50% of businesses with commercial registration use them as a means of payment, while 34% of businesses without commercial registration use them, which shows that they are effective instruments of financial inclusion.

Social networks Among those who use social networks or messaging applications to sell their products, WhatsApp is par excellence the most used technological tool with 90% for businesses with Commercial Register and 92% for those who do not have it.

Additionally, there is no major difference between businessmen with and without Commercial Registry for the use of tools oriented to social networks such as Facebook, since 55% of those with and without Commercial Register use it.

DNA of the business person with Commercial Register

93% of the productive units surveyed are microenterprises, of which 56% are natural persons and 44% are legal entities.

55% of the companies with Commercial Register have up to three employees, of which 36% are women and 26% are young people.

In addition, 72% of the companies have only one owner, and of these, 42% are women and 57% are men.

On average, 70% of the entrepreneurs with Business Registration started their business in the last five years, and 36% since the beginning of the pandemic.

Among the reasons for starting a business, 59% of the entrepreneurs identified it as a business opportunity, while 13% did so because they had no other income alternative.

To finance the business, 50% used personal savings, 30% bank loans and 30% family loans.

Regarding profits, 56% of the businessmen with a Commercial Registry stated that they reach up to 10 million pesos a year, although another 10% of the businessmen did not manage to make a profit. In addition, 46% have debts between 1 and 10 million pesos per year and 22% between 10 and 50 million pesos.

42% of the entrepreneurs with Commercial Registry sell in their premises, 25% in housing with economic activity and 14% from an office or virtually. 67% use cash as the main means of payment, however, they are increasingly becoming more bankable, 69% use bank transfers and 50% accept digital wallets.

Forty-seven percent use social networks as a marketing channel, while 18% use stores or stores. Of the total of those who use social networks to sell their products 90% use WhatsApp, 55% Facebook, 51% email and 45% Instagram.

Finally, 90% have no exports or imports and 81% sell their products mainly in Bogota and Cundinamarca.

DNA of entrepreneurs without Commercial Register operating in factories, premises and homes

Informal businessmen consider themselves to be entrepreneurs and although none of them have a commercial registry, 71% want to obtain one.

Eighty-five percent of the entrepreneurs without Business Registration have up to three employees, although 91% do not pay health care and 96% do not pay labor risks.

In the businesses without Commercial Registry, 37% of the employees are women and 15% are young people. Ninety percent are sole proprietors and of these the owners are 53% women and 46% men.

On average, 66% of entrepreneurs without Business Registration started their businesses in the last five years, and 42% started since the pandemic.

43% of the entrepreneurs decided to open their businesses because they had no income alternatives, and 61% identified it as a business opportunity.

To finance the business, 43% used personal savings, 23% used bank loans, and 18% used family loans.

68% of the entrepreneurs without Commercial Registry have profits of up to 10 million pesos per year, although 19% fail to make a profit. In addition, 70% have debts between 1 and 10 million pesos per year.

92% use cash as a means of payment and are becoming more and more banked, as 34% accept digital wallets and 10% use bank transactions.

For 25% of those who use social networks or messaging applications as a tool for selling products, 92% use WhatsApp, 55% use Facebook and 34% use Instagram.