Entrepreneurialism is no longer what it was once thought to be. Traditionally and by definition, the practice is associated with the risks of starting and operating a business.

Henley Morgan

From a narrow capitalist perspective, the tendency has been to view entrepreneurs as a select minority of specially endowed individuals who create wealth.

The masses who work for them are ostensibly and stereotypically treated as if belonging to an inferior species. This discriminatory tenet, which is a by-product of Charles Darwin's theories "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection" or "The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life", has got to be one of the biggest lies ever perpetrated on humankind.

Thankfully, the spectre of the entrepreneur as a genetically favoured individual who can work business magic is being destroyed daily by a number of developments. Firstly, the rise of the professional manager with access to modern planning and forecasting tools has all but rendered useless the kamikaze or daredevil approach to business decision-making, once thought to be the preserve of the entrepreneur. Secondly, a string of legislation such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) in the United States is forcing entrepreneurs and business leaders to give up their "wheeling and dealing" in which somebody wins but at the expense of the unsuspecting others.

Thirdly, big bonuses and profit-sharing plans are causing CEOs to lose their appetite for acting on blind faith in the hope of huge gains. "Playing it safe" by being more analytical and basing decisions on good information, is becoming the norm rather than the exception in business.

These indisputable trends do not necessarily lead to the conclusion that entrepreneurialism is dead or is dying. It simply means entrepreneur-ialism is no longer what it was once thought to be.

I am convinced of the following. Contrary to prevailing logic, the attributes associated with entrepreneurialism are widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population. In fact, I would go as far as to say that at birth there is that potential in all of us. It's like athleticism.

Humans are designed to get up and walk on our own feet. Whether we do or not and how fast we move is determined in no small measure by how we are socialised, our own will power and desire to develop on the potential, the opportunities and threats that present themselves throughout life and to which we must react in the interest of our survival and advancement.

This view of entrepreneurialism gives Jamaicans as much chance to excel in the field of business as we have in the field of sport.

Our advance in the direction of this new awareness was given a big push when in 2005 Jamaica became the first and only English-speaking country in the Caribbean to participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) - a group of 35 countries that participate in research and share information on entrepreneurship.

Jamaica's entry into this prestigious grouping is the initiative of the still highly business relevant and hands-on University of Technology (UTech) under the leadership of Rae Davis, president, and Garth Kiddoe, dean of the Faculty of Business and Management. The team of researchers headed by Sandra Glasgow, senior vice-president of Corporate Services, is to be commended for their excellent work.

I find some of the information coming out of the study to be more than interesting. For example:
Jamaica's rate of entrepreneurial activity (early stage, new and established businesses) at 26.4 per cent of the population ranks near the top and ahead of countries such as New Zealand and Japan.

Jamaican females are ranked third in the world in terms of their participation rate in entrepreneurial activity.
The great majority of Jamaican entrepreneurs (75 per cent) report that their product and service offerings do not represent anything new or innovative.

Jamaica tops the list of countries in terms of the prevalence rate of informal investors (family members and friends) who put up the financing for a new venture.
Jamaica is near the bottom (28th) in terms of survival rate of start-ups, that is, early stage (nascent) entrepreneurs who make it to having established businesses.

These and other statistics contained in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (available for purchase at UTech) makes it clear that government and its agencies, multilateral and bilateral funding organisations, financial institutions and social planners are foolhardy in pursuing an exclusive policy of seeking to attract and romance big-name traditional entrepreneurs and businesses in the vain hope of a 'trickle down' effect.

Better to bank on the future of the country by investing in people at the bottom of the pyramid who may be poor in pocket and lacking in know-how but are rich in ideas and firm in their commitment to Jamaica.
Do this and we will discover that it is like mining gold.

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'

Cheeky's World