Perception about Youth Entrepreneurship

Many young people believe that once they are given enough resources, they could easily establish and successfully run a business enterprise. So, they perceive that the major obstacle to their entrepreneurial activity is the lack of funding. Although the lack of collateral prevents many young people from starting- up their own businesses, the experience, however, shows that this is only a part of the problem. The potential of the business idea, in terms of the existing and future demand for products or services, is of great importance as well.

The idea itself does matter. Opinions, however, with regards to which of the ideas embodies that true one business idea widely vary. Some young people think that it should represent a high-tech innovation. Some other suggests that it should be a kind of strategic vision, while others believe that it should be very unique. In reality, many successful business ideas, which brought a fortune to their holders, were very simple, but they have one thing in common – these ideas provided a solution to a community’s need or problem by producing a new service or product.

Apart from the business idea, an entrepreneur needs specific skills and knowledge to be able to operate his or her enterprise on daily basis. This aspect of entrepreneurial activity tends to be ignored by young people. Entrepreneurship is a dynamic process, which requires certain skills and knowledge. It is both a science and an art. Science must be learned through training, but managing an enterprise is an art, which could be learned, at least partially, by doing. Young people, aspiring to become entrepreneurs, need to be trained in business management, marketing, financing and accounting, human resources management and informational technologies. They also need to learn legal and fiscal aspects of business.

Finally, it is important that would-be-entrepreneurs become familiar not only with the potential benefits, but also with possible risks entrepreneurs have to face and about the trade-offs they have to make. Apparently, the biggest risk entrepreneurs usually face not at the initial stage of starting up their businesses, but rather later, after the business established itself and has to be developed further. This aspect needs to be taken into consideration not only by would-be-entrepreneurs, but also by organizations, which provide services for young entrepreneurs.

Furthermore, the opportunity set for entrepreneurial activities differs from country to country, depending on the structure of local demand. At the same time, the mix of opportunities available to would-be entrepreneurs at the local level may change very quickly, as some countries become more deeply integrated into the European Union or in the global economy. It is important for these countries to develop such youth entrepreneurship platform, which would take these perspectives into account and would promote entrepreneurial activities that could benefit from enlarged markets.