It is up to us. It is up to all of us who call ourselves entrepreneurs.
Mountains of money to banks, home builders, auto companies, etc., etc., etc., are not going get this economy moving. We need to listen to Peter Heslam at Business as Mission Network:
Key to the solution is entrepreneurship. While this requires no state programmes to initiate, governments that do assist aspiring entrepreneurs get good value for money - the average cost of a business start-up is less than the average annual cost of keeping a student at university, a prisoner in jail or a family on welfare.
I ask you, then, to rise up to the challenge again. Education, health care, social security: These domains need your voices, your intellect, your credibility, your time and your money.
In each of these domains, there are some early successes. Edward Fields is breaking through the morass of education problems with his start-up, HotChalk (see "A Technological Fix For Education"). Kirk Loevner is cracking health care with Epocrates. Their experiences offer some insight into alternative business models, marketing models and approaches to problem solving--most notably using advertising dollars to fund resources for teachers, students, doctors and patients.
In education and health care, a tremendous amount of inefficiencies can be tackled with technology. Barack Obama...will need help figuring out how to reform health care and education from within the system without further ballooning the deficit.
It is up to us. Now is not the time to put fear in the minds of today's youth. More than ever, we need to prepare them to get the economies of the world growing again, as Lisa Gibbs so clearly argues in her essay at the Miami Herald:
Nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs is critical to building a regional culture of innovation, which ultimately leads to more, higher-paying jobs.
It is up to us. We need small business to not only fix our economic mess, but our social problems, as well. The Chronicle of Philanthropy highlights the important role that entrepreneurs play today in this realm:
Small businesses give generously to charity, with three-quarters of small-business owners in a recent survey saying they donate a percentage of their profits to nonprofit organizations.
On average, small companies contribute 6 percent of their profits to charity, according to the study, which was conducted by American Express.
It is up to us.
Roy at Roysville is correct -- it is time to get your nose out of your books and your plans and get to work.
Listen to Finer Minds and be ready to be an agile entrepreneur -- ready to create new ventures, new jobs, and real change.
It is not up to Washington or Wall Street.
It is up to us.
Jeff,
I think that what you mention here is true and entrepreneurship can indeed be a mean to rescue our economy. However, to accomplish this and in light of the findings posted under the “Loosing Hope?” comment a couple of days ago, I think that it is critical to build back the faith of our youth in entrepreneurship as a career.
It is my belief that young people, like everyone else, have lost their confidence in our system as a result of the current crisis and it is that lack of trust that is detouring to any enthusiasm for entrepreneurship (therefore the study findings).
Interestingly enough, I have already heard from some people that this is the ideal time to start a business. Even if credit is tight, there are many opportunities in terms of attracting good talent, buying assets, etc.
Maybe the key to boost entrepreneurship in today’s economy is to advertise and celebrate the advantages it has in times like this and the “once in a lifetime” opportunities that are emerging as effect of the crisis.
I agree! I generally do not take on the role of "cheerleader" in my job of teaching entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs. However, I think it is time to change my approach. The negative messages are clouding the judgement of many would be entrepreneurs. We need to present a counter message to offer hope and optimism. There are many good opportunities out there. They are a little harder to find and a lot harder to finance. But, they are there and they can lead to wonderful success as the economy turns around over the coming months and years.
It takes a special person to live their life with passion and seek solutions to problems that exist. Often times these aren't the people in "the club" that have the resources to make something happen.
In order to jump start the new age of entrepreneurship, those in the position to invest need to look at potential future revenue as opposed to the past. I'm sure buggy whips were heavily invested in around 1900 because they had been such a good investment up to that point. The introduction of the Model A totally changed the dynamics.
We're at a point where the dynamics will change dramatically and finding that new idea or technology now and supporting it, could lead to gains far exceeding the losses to date.
It takes both good ideas and capital to make things happen. If you're an investor, seek out that new idea and help make it happen. You have that power and there are great ideas that have been unable to succeed because they didn't have you.
Carpe diem! Seize the opportunity! Win win situation for all!