Entrepreneurship

Why do you think entrepreneurship is growing around the world? Do you expect this trend to continue, or do you think entrepreneurship’s appeal will subside over time?

There are several reasons why entrepreneurship is on the rise, and many of them have to do with our new global economy (well, its not that new any more) and the advancement in technologies. The ability to start a company is becoming much easier and people from non-Western parts of the world are becoming entrepreneurs at much higher rates. According to the article The global growth of entrepreneurship, over 40 percent of entrepreneurs as of 2017 were from non-Caucasian ethnicities compared to only 16 percent in 1994-2005 (“The global growth of entrepreneurship,” 2017). This shows that the global economy is providing access to the technologies and knowledge to start a company to parts of the world that a mere 20 years ago did not have access to the right tools. Additionally, social media is making it much easier for entrepreneurs to advertise their businesses, products, and services to a very large population of potential customers. Entrepreneurs’ customer bases are no longer limited to their local communities as the internet and social media connect them to millions of potential customers (Kauffman, 2016; “The global growth of entrepreneurship,” 2017). Finally, according to Gretel Kauffman, in her article, Why entrepreneurship is on the rise, starting a company is much cheaper than it was 20 years ago. This, too, adds to the rise of entrepreneurship. I don’t think this trend is likely to subside any time soon as long as social media and global economies continue to exist. Its appears that it is very easy to start up a company so, as long as this remains true, then I don’t see this trend ending.

What are the three primary reasons that lead people into becoming entrepreneurs?

I think the three main reasons why people become entrepreneurs are that they do not enjoy being constrained to the corporate, 9-5 routine, they are too creative for the corporate world, and they are passionate about their own ideas (FOXYpreneur, 2016; Romelus, 2015; Toren, 2015).

Which reason would better describe an eventual personal choice to become an entrepreneur?

I think all of these reasons are personal choices. It is a very personal choice to leave the security of a job and start your own business. Because the choice to do this is difficult, the reasons that drive people to take that leap are all personal.