The Role Of Entrepreneurship For A Better World

According to the World Bank, 44 million people have been pushed in to extreme poverty (surviving on less than USD$1.25 per day) since food prices started soaring in June 2010.

In 2010, 925 million people went hungry all over the world with poverty being the major cause of hunger.

Also in 2010, 78 million youths were unemployed worldwide according to the International Labour Organisation.

All these and more is happening at a time when our world is at its peak in terms of cross-border connectivity, exposure to and awareness of international issues and most importantly, technological advancements that they take a lot of pride and obsession in.

Creativity, innovation, wealth creation and accumulation, fundraising efforts, number of NGOs and 'social enterprises' and educational standards are apparently all at their pinnacles.

They have never been, as global citizens, in a better position to reduce social, environmental and economic issues around us. So why than, is the exact reverse taking place?

You see there is lots of entrepreneurship being talked about and even practiced in the sense that they frequently know of. In September 2010 alone, 4600 over companies were registered in Singapore with 74% having a share capital of below $10,000. Tech-based firms with innovative offerings stay the preferred choice of angel investors, government linked funding and even business plan competition wins.

Entrepreneurship has a bigger role to play today than it did ever before. I do not mean entrepreneurship only in the sense of a method of beginning an innovative start-up but a set of life skills as well.

But entrepreneurship must go deeper than all of that to serve its true purpose and to help us generate a better world. Entrepreneurship for a better world is about three key aspects - values, skills and platforms.

Entrepreneurial schooling and exposure will nurture our youths with entrepreneurial values such as passion, perseverance, innovation, integrity and social responsibility. Such values, when embedded in to their hearts, minds and spirits will nurture a whole generation that will be passionate about giving, sharing and succeeding. It will enable our youths to deal with failures, overcome barriers, spot opportunities and become survivors. They will become a generation that will be more preoccupied with generating solutions than re-emphasizing issues. They are going to be a generation that will ask 'how am I able to make this possible" than finding reasons for "why this is impossible".

Businesses must be built on the foundations and principles of entrepreneurship so that they can provide safe and sustainable platforms. They must empower those within their reach to take their first step. They must play the role of the parent that buys the bicycle, provides the support for the kid to get onto that bicycle and gives that preliminary push and even hand holding until the kid is confident and competent to ride on his own. They ought to be able to generate opportunities for those in their communities, show them the avenues and channels and persuade them that it is alright for them to step out of their non-ideal comfort zones and take those first steps towards positive alter.

Entrepreneurship will also equip and empower as lots of individuals in our society as feasible with the relevant skills necessary to progress. Skills such as communications, relationships management, financial literacy and computer literacy to name a few. Members of societies will be able to leverage on these skills to move forward, to break out of their poverty cycle or help those around them to live more complete lives.