Gone are the days when only landlords and monarchs used to own large companies. We are in an era when entrepreneurs are redefining industries. Richard Branson, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett, Dhiru Bhai Ambani, Larry Page, Henry Ford and we can keep counting to get a comprehensive list of global entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is one of the most important traits for success these days. More so for companies. Everyone wants to have a bigger share of that profit pie. This leads us to a question. Is Entrepreneurship really that important? Let’s look at it in the business context while touching on its impact in a broader sense.
With the current challenges in almost every economy due to COVID-19 pandemic, entrepreneurship has to be one of the most fundamental abilities of the business leaders globally. It helps in gaining competitive advantage. Intrapreneurship is the term that is now often used by companies for entrepreneurs in-house.
Let’s now discuss the importance of entrepreneurship in the current context especially with countries dealing with one of the worst economic recession due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
Entrepreneurship as an agent of business growth
Entrepreneurship enables companies to go with the flow of the dynamic economy especially in managing risk, innovation and creativity, uncertainty as well as growth. One of our articles discusses more about how to become an entrepreneur. Here, we focus more on why to become an entrepreneur and why all economies should support entrepreneurs.
In a market-driven economy, entrepreneurs are now considered as assets of the company and they must be motivated, cultivated as well as remunerated as much as possible.
Here is a quick list of benefits that companies have by nurturing entrepreneurship:
- Increases agility of the firm
- Increases innovation capital of the firm
- Strategies emerge from all sides and dependence on top management is reduced.
- New ideas emerge in-house and can be incorporated without spillage of plans to competitors.
- Increasing confidence and outlook of the company
There are endless other subtle benefits to business and the economy overall by fostering entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurs can change our behaviours at workplaces. Through successful innovation, they further improve our standard of living. In other words, they could make a society prosperous.
Are you still wondering why entrepreneurship is significant in business growth?
Greater research is being carried out to evaluate Indicators of entrepreneurial determinants.
Lots of economies all across the globe are giving importance of creating a well-integrated entrepreneurial ecosystem like the one suggested by Weforum in the infographic below.
Entrepreneurship as an agent of social change
Heard of ‘Social Entrepreneurs’. Sure you have. They are helping economies bounce back and help in the balanced growth of countries that involve all communities.
Entrepreneurship is an effective way of introducing new and unique services and products.
It further assists us to achieve freedom through lessening the dependence on obsolete systems and technologies.
This eventually leads to improved quality, economic freedom and greater morale.
Social entrepreneurship is gaining in importance these days. Companies are more concerned about corporate social responsibilities.
Ethics, community development schemes and living for purpose is now instilled in most professional training and education. We must credit this phenomenon to entrepreneurship.
This is set to bring harmony in society and help in global prosperity.
Importance of Entrepreneurship in developing New Businesses globally
Think about smart apps and smartphones, which is leading to innovation and creative practices all over the world.
Rich countries or people are not just the only ones who can avail of smartphones nowadays. Once Apple developed the iPhone, emerging economies like Korea and China bombarded the smartphone industry with fresh innovation.
Entrepreneurs then use intellectual knowledge to spin-off new opportunities. Thus new businesses emerge globally.
Indian IT industry is an example of how frugal innovation can lead to big success stories.
Furthermore, technological globalization simply implies that entrepreneurs in less developed countries could easily get the chance to get access to high-tech gadgets and devices.
Through the creative ideas of entrepreneurs, fresh jobs are created which makes a big impact on the entire economy. Companies from associated industries such as network maintenance, call centre operation as well as hardware providers are now growing. Training and education institutes are nourishing new IT employees, which are providing better and high paying jobs.
Likewise, efforts on future developments, most particularly in underdeveloped countries, do need well-established logistic support, qualified workforce as well as capital investment.
Entrepreneurs let benefits pass along on the wide spectrum of the economy right from construction workers to highly skilled programmers.
Entrepreneurship contributes to the development of community
All of us are aware of Non-Government Organisations. Most of them are funded by entrepreneurs. Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Azim Premji, Ratan Tata and the list continues endlessly.
Lots of people believe that the world today is going astray. On the contrary, entrepreneurship can help us move towards a world of harmony and greater coordination. COVID-19 pandemic, Global warming, Terrorism etc. are opportunities to get likeminded people on the same boat who care about humanitarian causes.
Bill Gates, one of the most sought-after entrepreneurs in the past few decades, makes use of his money so he could fund charity works in the different sectors of the government. It is one of the characteristics of an entrepreneur, which makes other business executives motivated.
Entrepreneurship helps in augmenting the national income and ensures proper distribution of the income to the society. Entrepreneurship is not solely based on the profit motive. It is a state of mind which seeks self-satisfaction through better and bigger causes.
Entrepreneurs give themselves lots of responsibilities. Responsibility to take care of the workforce, stakeholders and the larger community. If you are an entrepreneur and have not yet started to contribute to the society then it’s time to get socially responsible. While it is satisfying, it is also readily used as a reputation management tool.
In addition to this, there’s a cascading effect. Entrepreneurship generates higher income and increased employment, leading to higher national income and tax revenues. Such revenues are used by the government for social and humanitarian causes.
Importance of entrepreneurship- Final Thoughts
A lot of our posts are dedicated to innovative companies, Success factors, traits of entrepreneurs, and about catalysts of innovation and creativity for business growth. This is in order to help wannabe entrepreneurs in some elementary research.
It is worthwhile to pursue entrepreneurship or intrapreneurship for instilling greater self-belief and to attach oneself with the greater vision.
Entrepreneurship today can be considered as a central thing in the market economy. It is the part of the societal force acting as a spark plug of the economic engine which stimulates and activates most of the economic activity.
A lot of country’s economic success has been the result of rewarding and encouraging instincts of entrepreneurship.
