ABSTRACT
In this paper the authors explore why Croatian emigration occurs in such numbers and why is it preferred over starting your own business and making a desired life in Croatia. At the beginning the authors presented the entrepreneurship demographics and trends, as well as the Croatian emigration trends in last two decades. This was a foundation to construct survey in two parts for two different types of respondents: the first part included a survey of people who emigrated from the Republic of Croatia to get a closer insight into why people prefer to move out than to start their own business;the second part included a current students survey to see their plans for emigration and potential entry into entrepreneurship when they finish their studies. The results show that Croatian emigrants and students look for a better job, more organized state and that they do not want to start their own business in Croatia mostly because of lack of knowledge and financial resources.