CIPE’s efforts to nurture enterprise ecosystems and create better conditions for business are core to its broader democracy mission in emerging economies. We assist entrepreneurial communities to empower individual entrepreneurs, open collaborative spaces, and develop their agendas for start-up-friendly policies. In doing so, we leverage their know-how and networks to democratize opportunity.
CIPE continues to grow its collective understanding of the essential role of entrepreneurs and the invaluable insights and inspiration they offer in the realm of policymaking and programs. They have expertise, tactical knowledge, and often foresight that the rest of us do not. They live on the cusp of new possibilities. Entrepreneurs see opportunities where others see barriers. They can help us understand the barriers so we can overcome them. And thus another contribution of entrepreneurs is their ability to surprise us.
Sniffing Out Opportunity
Entrepreneurship includes risk-taking and leading through uncertainty. This involves shining light on pathways that others had not considered or did not believe feasible. “It is the job of the entrepreneur to sniff out and realize opportunity that is overlooked, undervalued, or even berated by others,” wrote well-known venture capitalist and professor Daniel Isenberg.
Entrepreneurs see opportunities where others see barriers. They can help us understand the barriers so we can overcome them.
Entrepreneurial journeys also show us pathways out of poverty and even displacement. Peruvian entrepreneur Aquilino Flores’ story, told by former CIPE partner Daniel Córdova, exemplifies this.1 Flores started out selling t-shirts at car washes, eventually growing his business into Peru’s leading textile and garment exporter Topy Top. In more recent examples, CIPE is supporting entrepreneurship within unexpected places, such as the LIFE (Livelihoods Through Food Entrepreneurship) consortium in Turkey, which created an incubator restaurant program for Syrian refugees and other displaced persons. A different program in the Sahel is now helping 100 young people learn to start and grow new businesses, most of which are aimed at addressing the region’s food insecurity issues brought on by conflict and supply chain problems.
In Guatemala, CIPE’s youth entrepreneurship programming took an unexpected direction when local partner Red Nacional de Grupos Gestores identified the creative economy as a launchpad for entrepreneurship in the city of Quetzaltenango. The entrepreneurs did not disappoint. Lucia Suasnavar, a graduate of CIPE’s program, found clients for her marketing and design business in regional telecommunications companies and the growing food and beverage industry. While looking outward to tap success, Lucia and other participants found ways to leave a mark in the local economy and build a new creative community in their city.
What Do Entrepreneurs Need?
Governments worldwide have come a long way in developing policies that facilitate entrepreneurship, yet decision makers still frequently overlook the viewpoints of actual entrepreneurs. Well-intentioned policies often overlook key needs that will help new and existing businesses be successful and thrive. And when entrepreneurs get left out of a range of policy conversations, unintended consequences result.
It is helpful to remember that entrepreneurs represent different constituencies and their distinct requirements.
Nepal’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic was one of many during the time that showed what can happen when business communities are not involved in policymaking. Lockdowns hastily implemented to prevent the spread of disease did not account for increased public reliance on online food ordering and delivery services, which were not classified as essential services. On a positive note, CIPE partner Bikalpa built connections between policymakers and young entrepreneurs that helped address key issues for start-ups and small businesses. Ultimately, incorporation time for companies was reduced from 30 to 15 days. And motorbike license processing times, previously a year or more, were reduced to less than a month. This expanded delivery capabilities.
In the United States, entrepreneurs Woody Neiss and Jason Best took the lead in identifying crowdfunding as a solution to facilitate capital formation for startups and small businesses. They shepherded a coalition that inserted crowdfunding legislation into the JOBS Act in 2016.2 Young entrepreneurs may be the ones to notice policy gaps and resulting barriers. The Zelela forum of the Ethiopian Youth Entrepreneurs Association has informed policymakers about the ease of doing business for young entrepreneurs. Advocacy by the Jordan Young Entrepreneurs Association reduced the minimum capital requirement for businesses seeking limited liability status and allowed women to receive licenses for home-based businesses.
It is helpful to remember that entrepreneurs represent different constituencies and their distinct requirements. CIPE works with women’s chambers of commerce and associations in numerous countries to craft business agendas and advance policy solutions that might not normally be considered part of other competitiveness agendas. Partners have pushed through a multitude of measures to help more women join their local economies, from curfew adjustments to property ownership. Other accomplishments include putting more women loan officers in Bangladesh to facilitate access to finance, creating collateral registries in Nigeria, and legal measures in Moldova to enable alternative childcare services.
Entrepreneurs Reflect Economic Health
Entrepreneurs are also a gauge. Because entrepreneurs are critical to growth and the health of a country’s economy, one must pay attention to its entrepreneurs.3 When business formation and growth falter, it can signal weakness in the economy. Conversely, when many new startups emerge, even amid economic downturns and times of adversity, it can signal a positive economic trajectory and new opportunities for all citizens.
American entrepreneur and tech guru Brad Feld pointed out that startups thrive in and create community, sometimes in surprising ways. In the aforementioned Guatemala creative economy project, entrepreneurs have come together in co-working spaces and other venues, contributing to both the entrepreneurial life and cultural life of the city. The Bulgarian Entrepreneurial Association (BESCO) is one of many groups that have launched programs to benefit other aspects of society, creating an Advocacy Academy for participants who want to have more impact in their communities. And company owners who have successfully navigated the path to success can empower others by sharing what they know. The Ukrainian Union of Entrepreneurs (SUP) is an organization that represents self-made entrepreneurs, not those who privatized state assets, and consequently provides recommendations for a competitive economy.
Throughout history, acceptance of new ideas and encouragement of entrepreneurial spirit have been key ingredients to developing healthy and inclusive economies. Entrepreneurs break through inertia to create value, blaze new paths, activate markets, and unite communities. There are many ways to tap into their knowledge and build on those insights. They will often offer opinions, but when is the last time you reached out and asked them to?
Footnotes
[1] Daniel Córdova, “Defeating Poverty Doing Business,” in Lessons from the Poor: Triumph of the Entrepreneurial Spirit, ed. Alvaro Vargas Llosa (Independent Institute, 2008)
[3] Zoltan Acs and Nicola Virgill, “Entrepreneurship and Development,” Chapter 3 in Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries. Foundations and Trends in Entrepreneurship, vol. 6, no. 1 (2010.)
Published Date: November 17, 2024