Motivation of Russian entrepreneurs at the beginning of the 21st century: subjective perception of businessmen

Russia has recently needed to overcome a number of crises affecting the phenomenon of entrepreneurship. This actualizes a need to study the personal components of motivation for business. The authors conducted relevant sociological surveys of schoolchildren, students and parents. Additionally, when analyzing a series of free (non-formalized) interviews with successful Russian entrepreneurs with a long history of doing business, conducted by researchers of the phenomenon of entrepreneurship A.G. Onosov and A.G. Nikonov in 2022-2023. The authors of the article carried out a comparative analysis of the data obtained from a series of free interviews and the concept of motivation for entrepreneurial activity by V.V. Radaeva. The following conclusions were obtained: survival needs remain leading among the population as a whole (and among existing entrepreneurs, the survival factor has moved to third position in the ranking), self-affirmation needs are leading among Russian youth (hedonic needs are also high among young people), labor, professional needs self-realization remained second in rating among adult Russians who have plans to open their own business. The need for labor remains leading among representatives of Russian business.