Daily Times

In early 19th century French economist Jean-Baptiste Say presented an extensive explanation of entrepreneurship, saying that it “shifts economic resources out of an area of lower and into an area of higher productivity and greater yield”. Entrepreneurs craft something up-to-the-minute, something unusual — they revolutionise or transform values. Regardless of the firm size, big or small, they can contribute in entrepreneurship opportunities for the societal development.

The chance to become an entrepreneur involves four criterias. First, there must be opportunities or conditions to recombine resources to generate profit. Second, entrepreneurship requires differences between people, such as preferential access to certain individuals or the ability to recognise information about opportunities. Third, taking on risks is a necessary. Fourthly, process requires the organisation of people and resources.

There is an increasing consciousness that revolution within the social landscape is essential to trim down the unconstructive societal and environmental effects produced by unsustainable business practices.

Running a business not only meets the needs of the consumers but it must use its application to diminish many issues and problems of society. Entrepreneurship has been the solution of many societies and a key contributor to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) through a bottom-up approach.

Entrepreneurship is proposed as a particularly effective practice to make growth sustainable and more inclusive. However, despite the promise entrepreneurship holds for promoting sustainability goals and addressing climate change challenges, there is still great doubt regarding the role and nature of entrepreneurship.

Becoming an entrepreneur involves numerous criterias. There must be opportunities or conditions to recombine resources to generate profit.Entrepreneurship requires differences between people, such as preferential access to certain individuals or the ability to recognise specific information

In the 20th century, the understanding of entrepreneurship owes much to the work of economist Joseph Schumpeter in the 1930s and other Austrian economists such as Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich von Hayek. According to Schumpeter, an entrepreneur is a person who is willing and able to convert a new idea or invention into a successful innovation. Entrepreneurship utilises what Schumpeter called “the gale of creative destruction” to replace in whole or in part substandard innovations across markets and industries, at the same time creating new products including new business models. In this way, creative destruction is largely responsible for the dynamism of industries and long-run economic growth.

The belief that entrepreneurship shows the way to economic growth is an elucidation of the left over in endogenous growth theory and as such is passionately discussed in academic economics. An alternating narrative suggests that the majority of innovations may just be enhancement such as the replacement of paper with plastic in the making of drinking straws.

The exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities may include developing a business plan, hiring the human resources, acquiring financial and material resources, providing leadership, being responsible for both the venture’s success or failure, and the Risk aversion

Economist Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950) saw the role of the entrepreneur in the economy as “creative destruction” — launching innovations that simultaneously destroy old industries while ushering in new industries and approaches. For Schumpeter, the changes and “dynamic disequilibrium brought on by the innovating entrepreneur were the norm of a healthy economy”.

While entrepreneurship is often associated with new, small, for-profit start-ups, entrepreneurial behaviour can be seen in small- medium- and large-sized firms, new and established firms and in for-profit and not-for-profit organisations, including voluntary-sector groups, charitable organisations and government.

Entrepreneurship may manoeuvre within an ecosystem that offers advice and mentoring to entrepreneurs (e.g. through entrepreneurship centres or websites), small-business advocacy organisations that lobby governments for increased support for entrepreneurship programs and more small business-friendly laws and regulations, entrepreneurship resources and facilities (eg business incubators and seed accelerators), entrepreneurship education and training programs offered by schools, colleges and universities, financing (eg bank loans, venture capital financing, angel investing and government and private foundation grants).

In Pakistan few universities have taken initiative to promote culture of innovation and entrepreneurship within their graduates and/or postgraduates. The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre at Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro is one of the centres promoting the field in Pakistan which strives to develop a culture of innovation within the university pupil and general public.

Furthermore it offers to understand, and invites start-up proposals and finally allocates seed money to the finalised-through-scrutiny proposals (startup ideas). Having such functional centres guarantees acceleration of culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.

The writer is a researcher and policy analyst. Email: furqanhyders@gmail.com and Tweets: @furqanppolicy

Published in Daily Times, August 6^th 2018.