Entrepreneurship is generally defined as the act of creating, building, and scaling a business to produce a profit. It involves the willingness and capacity to organize, manage and take on a company’s risks. A capacity for innovation, investment, and value extraction comes with it. It is the best thing to have happened to humanity after science in this era, with a lot more pros than its disadvantages. With uncountable businesses being established by entrepreneurs in different sectors, solutions to the various social and economic problems infesting our communities are being found and implemented on a regular basis.
Each entrepreneur has a problem-solving mindset, always searching for a new and more sustainable way of doing things, even in the revenue generation process. With the belief that big problems also require a big leap of action for the solution to be found, they carry the burden of risk.
Living in these tumultuous times, each minute we have things going wrong. New issues are brought to light and some old ones just continue to evolve to defeat our well-thought-out solutions. Some neighborhoods are riddled with poverty and disease, some are just struggling with power shortages.
Unemployment becomes the order of the day, climate change causes natural disasters, things can only get worse from the miniature problems to the ones we find life-threatening when action is not done. These various growing problems that threaten the well-being of our communities require solutions that can also be enhanced and neutralized effectively enough.
Contrary to what many might want to believe, entrepreneurship is less of just being creative with a blank canvas and more of being an observer, evaluating your environment, identifying problems that need to be solved, and aiming to be a solution provider. There is a sense of responsibility that one has to carry, that sense of ownership where you think it’s you who can make the change and not just wait for the next person to do it for you.
In many ways, entrepreneurship has solved our problems in the community and it continues to do so. Identifying problems in the community as opportunities to create and be creative. In order to provide better services for our communities, this culture of innovation has led to many creative ideas being put into play. We can talk about Uber’s magic and how convenient it is for the user, this also just began as another transport issue that a bright mind recognized and took the responsibility to solve. The continued rise of better service providers, innovators, people who stifle inconveniences, and create better sustainable ways of doing things is one of the ways entrepreneurship can be used to solve community problems. We can talk about how different social media platforms, thanks to entrepreneurship, help to create a more globalized society, easier communication, and everything.
In all communities globally, unemployment has become a major issue, not only in developing societies, but even in well-balanced ones. As a result of lack of employment, many problems arise, with a lot of young people just being idle after finishing school with no way of tending for themselves, we see the rise in some communities in crime rate and drug abuse.
Entrepreneurship comes with the opening of many private businesses, which in turn will offer employment opportunities in such areas, reducing the number of people on the streets in turn. Approximately 75% of the population in most communities are individuals who have benefited from entrepreneurship when it comes to getting jobs, whether it is working for an enterprise that is a product of entrepreneurship or freelancing and being self-employed.
The third way entrepreneurship can assist in solving community problems is through its ability to create an ecosystem that provides a strong breeding ground for innovation when the concept is promoted. The self-directed nature of finding a way to survive makes people financially sustainable, reducing the effects of extreme poverty on most communities in the process, as more people can afford basic living expenses.
Entrepreneurship not only provides jobs, but also gives priority to customers with consumer satisfaction, specialty and customized, sustainable goods and services. This gives an opportunity for services to be provided at more affordable prices, as the consumer’s comfort is usually treasured by small businesses. Better service and goods are provided as the solution is designed to create a new strategy from the first identification of the problem and blending different concepts. There is an opportunity to develop new markets that are beneficial to the community.
Most economies are powered by entrepreneurship, as it is critical for the growth of every economy. Entrepreneurs’ products and services can stimulate related enterprises to support their ventures, fostering economic development. The ability to be adaptive and dynamic in such an era as this is a survival skill that everyone should have. Entrepreneurship offers a change of perspective and approach to how the world works. As our thoughts and actions are elevated, innovation becomes the order of the day. That is the future, merging business with sustainability and solutions to community issues.
