The Importance of Entrepreneurship for Jobs, People and a Better Society

Entrepreneurs likely contributed to that morning cup of coffee you enjoyed or the new app you downloaded to your Smartphone.  But entrepreneurship does more than just add extra conveniences to our lives. Entrepreneurs invented the traffic light, and they developed the artificial heart. If you want to give entrepreneurship a try, learn the basics with A Young Entrepreneur’s Guide to Start and Grow a Business.  Through the course, you’ll find entrepreneurship refers to the willingness to start and run a business venture and the risks associated with it. Young, small and innovative companies are examples of entrepreneurship.   

Two years ago, President Barack Obama designated November as National Entrepreneurship Month because it is such an important force in the global economy.  In his research, economist David B. Audretsch found that entrepreneurship is a vital contributor to economic growth and prosperity.

The United States and countries across the world have recognized this and are pouring more resources into supporting entrepreneurs and teaching entrepreneurship. In 2012, the White House launched Startup America to celebrate and accelerate the growth of entrepreneurship and pledged $2 billion over the course of five years to support entrepreneurship in underserved communities and young companies.  Enspire EU is a project looking to foster entrepreneurship across the European Union.

Job Creation

It’s tough to land a job, but entrepreneurs make it easier. Entrepreneurs create jobs for themselves, but often they need more than just their skill set and personal initiative to transform their idea to a consumer product or service. Take Microsoft.  In 1975, Bill Gates and Paul Allen started their small software company with dreams of changing the way we use computers.  They succeeded but not without a great deal of help. Today, Microsoft employs over 100,000 people worldwide.

Together entrepreneurial companies add even more jobs to the economy. A 2013 report by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation found that companies less than a year old with under 5 employees have created about 1 million jobs every year for the last three decades. Those with five to nine employees add about half a million every year. The Kauffman Foundation is an organization dedicated to advancing education and entrepreneurship through its research and initiatives. The National Employment Report found in June that businesses with fewer than 50 employees created 45 percent of all jobs.

Are you discouraged by the job hunt?  Or have a business idea you want to develop? Consider starting your own company, but get some advice first  from Become a Startup Founder.

Personal Growth

Entrepreneurship has created millions of good jobs. In a startup workplace, jobs often call for creativity and collaboration, leading to personal development.  Those exposed to entrepreneurship have higher confidence and greater independence. Not bound by the hierarchy and restrictions of large corporations, young entrepreneurs can take on greater responsibility, work flexible schedules and use creative solutions to problem solve.

The freedom associated with entrepreneurship comes with certain challenges. Entrepreneurs often work long hours and risk their personal assets in developing their business.  Try the course 21 Critical Lessons for Entrepreneurs if you dare to become an entrepreneur and learn to maximize the benefits of entrepreneurial work.

Social Good

Within the last decade more and more entrepreneurs are focusing their work on resolving social problems.  Whether it’s poverty or climate change, these important issues deserve the efforts of these eager entrepreneurs, and their work will benefit society not just through the jobs they create or the sleek product they deliver, but by the people they help. Bangladeshi economist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus used entrepreneurship to help the poor of his country.  In the 1970s, he began giving out micro-loans to basket weavers.  He set up Grameen Bank in 1983 and continued his practice of micro-lending to others in poverty.  The small loans with low interest rates inspired many recipients work their way out of poverty.  Today, more than 58 other countries have used these principles to help their poor. Learn how you could become a social entrepreneur like Yunus with Social Entrepreneurship: An Introduction.

Summary:

Entrepreneurship puts new business ideas into practice. In doing so, it creates jobs that facilitate personal development. With their innovative and disruptive ideas, entrepreneurs can tackle social problems too. It’s a worthy pursuit to consider, but if it’s not for you, see how to pass down its principles to the next generation and enroll in How to Encourage and Teach Our Children Entrepreneurship to see how.