The Global Economic Monitor concludes that as much as one-third of the differences in national economic growth may be due to differences in entrepreneurial activity. In America, as many as 8.4 out of every 100 US adults are right now trying to start businesses of their own. Looking at a business birth-rate strategy in the UK should be a priority for Government.
The fact is that small businesses create the majority of new jobs – 1.6 million (or 64 per cent) of the 2.5 million new jobs created in the U.S in 1996, for example. Since 1980, Fortune 500 companies have cut more than five million jobs while the rest of the economy has added 34 million new jobs.
These statistics are very impressive, but when compared with such statistics for the UK, it can be deduced that the British economy gains considerably more from the small business community. For instance, small businesses account for over 50 per cent of employment outside the public sector, and contributes half the GDP of UK Plc. It follows logically from this, therefore, that small businesses and their ability to create such wealth and employment should be focused on more favourably by our government.
Education in entrepreneurial skills is virtually non-existent in UK primary and secondary schools, as is economic knowledge in general: as a whole we lack a strong understanding of basic economics. But what should we do to address this? The best place to start is to look across the pond at the bastion of entrepreneurial activity: America.
Hundreds of US colleges and more than 90 university-based centres of entrepreneurship now offer entrepreneurship training. Twenty years ago, only a handful of colleges even offered entrepreneurship courses. Today, education in this arena is proliferating across the country.
The National Council on Economic Education has focussed on the teaching of complex entrepreneurship skills such as opportunity recognition, utilising resources in pursuit of opportunity, and mastering long-term vision.
Mini-Society is one of the programmes designed by the Kauffman Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership to teach entrepreneurship to elementary and secondary school children. The programme is an experience-based approach directed at children ages 8 to 12. Through Mini-Society, children design and develop their own society and identify tasks for which they can earn money.
Ultimately, the children identify opportunities and establish their own businesses to provide goods and services to their fellow citizens. Throughout the 10-week programme, the instructor or course leader conducts in-depth briefings with each student to introduce and explain the concepts underlying the learning experiences. More than 3,500 teachers and youth leaders across the country have been trained to teach Mini-Society. Furthermore, the National Foundation for teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) has designed programmes (e.g. summer camps) to teach low-income teens how to start their own businesses.
There are also programmes that are attempting to bridge the gap between the science and business communities (e.g. Stanford University; University of Chicago; University of Colorado-Boulder; University of Iowa; University of Texas-Austin etc). Such programmes will serve as future role models for encouraging the integration of entrepreneurship and technical skills-based education.
A great example of American entrepreneurship can be seen in my following economic tip courtesy of my company Entrepreneur Secrets. Ink is known as ‘black gold’: at printer market leaders Hewlett-Packard, ink and toner supplies make up more than 50% of their annual profits, although they bring in less than a quarter of the company’s $80 billion in sales. At $34 an ounce, it is more expensive that Chanel No.5 eau de Parfum, Dom Perignon 1990 vintage champagne, and 22-year-old Rosebank single malt whisky.
But a new breed of fast-growing upstarts is out to crash the profit party. Across America, retail stores are cropping up in strip malls among the Gaps and Wal-Marts where consumers and small business owners can go to have empty printer and toner cartridges refilled – usually for half of what it costs to buy a new one.
The largest of these outfits, Cartridge World, based in Australia, just passed 1,000 stores worldwide, and its North America affiliate has opened 275 stores in the US. The company is signing up a new US franchisee daily and plans to top 3,000 stores in the country by early next decade, a phenomenal achievement.
There have been ways to reduce printing costs for years for shoppers willing to deal with messy do-it-yourself refill kits or buy from online outfits with iffy-quality products. But the new retail chains will make re-use an option for millions of mainstream PC owners. Customers can either wait for a few minutes for their cartridge to be refilled, or pick up a ‘pre-filled’ one in stock. Most refill franchisees also have their own vans to do pickups and deliveries to local businesses, usually at no extra charge.
Friday, 23 January 2009
Thursday, 8 January 2009
How To Make Female Entrepreneurs Make Money
Americans accept and respect entrepreneurs: some business failures are expected and they are considered a normal part of the process. It is especially striking that US women much better versed in how to make money, and are very active in entrepreneurship, being responsible for more than a third of all start-up efforts.
In the past apprenticeship has been predominantly a male programme and the participation of women has been traditionally very low. However, companies who have employed women apprentices have praised their attitude, commitment and performance.
Not only is there today greater awareness of the need to promote more job opportunities for women but, more importantly, there is increasing realisation that efforts should be directed at breaking down patterns of occupational segregation by encouraging increased levels of participation by women in sectors of the labour market traditionally dominated by men.
In Ireland, for example, FÁS’ (Ireland’s training authority) Action Programme for Women – Women in Focus –provides opportunities for women to broaden their career options into new and non-traditional areas of work. To promote the entry of women into apprenticeships FÁS provides Preparatory Training Courses which help prepare women to train and work in a traditionally male environment. To employers, FÁS offers a bursary to encourage an increased level of recruitment by employers of women apprentices.
The bursary is a grant to private sector employers. The aim of the bursary is to provide an incentive to employers to train and employ women apprentices. It provides a total grant of £2,400 (inclusive of £300 tool kit allowance) to each employer who recruits a woman apprentice. The grant is a contribution towards wage costs of £75 per week over the first 28 weeks of on-the-job phases of the apprenticeship.
Women were well represented on FÁS Programmes and over 50,000 women complete either a FÁS Training or Employment Programme annually. These figures clearly demonstrate that there continues to be a gradual and significant growth in the proportion of women to men participating in FÁS Programmes overall.
By taking on board the principles behind this Irish initiative, and by also focusing on the success of the American economy in fostering such a substantial amount of female entrepreneurs, we would be in a better position to utilise a huge resource which has yet to be tapped into fully. By forming training packages specifically geared towards the female population, we may gradually see a much needed erosion of the status quo where females occupy positions subordinate to those occupied by men.
Recognising and calling for the formation of policies to combat this long-standing imbalance in employment should be a task worthy of attention. It would not only broaden the individual’s horizons, but would also provide businesses with a potentially larger, well-trained workforce, and the UK with a bigger army of entrepreneurs.
In the past apprenticeship has been predominantly a male programme and the participation of women has been traditionally very low. However, companies who have employed women apprentices have praised their attitude, commitment and performance.
Not only is there today greater awareness of the need to promote more job opportunities for women but, more importantly, there is increasing realisation that efforts should be directed at breaking down patterns of occupational segregation by encouraging increased levels of participation by women in sectors of the labour market traditionally dominated by men.
In Ireland, for example, FÁS’ (Ireland’s training authority) Action Programme for Women – Women in Focus –provides opportunities for women to broaden their career options into new and non-traditional areas of work. To promote the entry of women into apprenticeships FÁS provides Preparatory Training Courses which help prepare women to train and work in a traditionally male environment. To employers, FÁS offers a bursary to encourage an increased level of recruitment by employers of women apprentices.
The bursary is a grant to private sector employers. The aim of the bursary is to provide an incentive to employers to train and employ women apprentices. It provides a total grant of £2,400 (inclusive of £300 tool kit allowance) to each employer who recruits a woman apprentice. The grant is a contribution towards wage costs of £75 per week over the first 28 weeks of on-the-job phases of the apprenticeship.
Women were well represented on FÁS Programmes and over 50,000 women complete either a FÁS Training or Employment Programme annually. These figures clearly demonstrate that there continues to be a gradual and significant growth in the proportion of women to men participating in FÁS Programmes overall.
By taking on board the principles behind this Irish initiative, and by also focusing on the success of the American economy in fostering such a substantial amount of female entrepreneurs, we would be in a better position to utilise a huge resource which has yet to be tapped into fully. By forming training packages specifically geared towards the female population, we may gradually see a much needed erosion of the status quo where females occupy positions subordinate to those occupied by men.
Recognising and calling for the formation of policies to combat this long-standing imbalance in employment should be a task worthy of attention. It would not only broaden the individual’s horizons, but would also provide businesses with a potentially larger, well-trained workforce, and the UK with a bigger army of entrepreneurs.
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