The world celebrates Global Entrepreneurship Week between November 14 and 20 this year. But are we aware of its contribution towards economic development? Entrepreneurs not only come up with opportunities that benefit them, but their initiatives also help the economy of a nation to thrive and grow

The world has been going through tough situations like the pandemic, recession and war, but life goes on. And it is during these difficult times that changes take place. Today, we see a sea change in the mindset of the young generation they no longer want to just work in any company. Many NextGen people, especially India and the South Asian countries, and their huge GenZ population, want to explore business options.

Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in changing society and economic development. In fact, small businesses and entrepreneurs (SMBs) are the real strength of our towns and cities. They keep us going during an economic downturn by keeping a steady capital inflow into regional economies. They provide jobs to residents and patronize other local businesses with their B2B needs. They are at the forefront of revitalizing countries like India, among others. So, let us take a look at how we can support mom-and-pop businesses and build a strong business ecosystem supporting our local communities…

Key ways to support entrepreneurs near you

Reach out to what already exists

You can start by finding out what already exists near you or your community. You can try to nurture it through Economic Gardening, a model that focuses on growing sustainable jobs in existing small businesses. The approach is best for SMBs that are no longer in the startup phase. Moreover, they might like a financial handout, even if they do not necessarily need one. What they need most is mentoring, business objectives and a model that helps them to grow. Helping existing businesses is the key to identifying competitors, finding new markets and becoming realistic. They will be able to flourish and create jobs, too. Additionally, supporting these Stage 2 businesses will encourage the creation of new businesses as well.

Invest in new innovations and ideas

Basically, we all love innovative ideas and investors love to be part of the next amazing product or technology. One good way to bring this force to your regional community is to hold a contest for the local people to pitch their business ideas. It may include people of all ages, including college and university students and judged by local officials and other business leaders from the regional community. It allows prospective entrepreneurs to have a public platform to gain experience and lay a strong foundation and business plan for their start-up. So, even if they don’t win, they can move forward with their plans. In fact, investors present on the judging panel could invest in other small businesses and projects they consider important.

Build SMB-friendly government structure

From local laws to tax policies, governmental structures can be worked on to rejuvenate existing small and medium businesses (SMBs), and help newer ones thrive. One of the biggest complaints from SMBs is that the local government does not try to help them. The fact is that regulations are hard to understand. SMB owners have time constraints and so, it becomes very important to make laws easy to understand and access to government aid for SMBs to succeed.

This can be done easily by providing all relevant regulations in one place. It can include materials to explain why these rules are needed and discussions held to explain how local governments and SMBs can work jointly. A central office to deal with all kinds of SMB questions can be vastly helpful.

Promote local community’s productions

A fact is that big corporations are mostly temporary and change locations whenever they want and make local communities pay the most price. The areas are left in a void with people without jobs and manufacturing plants empty. Leaders may try to spend money to bring another large corporation instead of reviving small businesses in the area that are in need of help.

We hear such stories quite often and so, we should look at regional locations as centers for innovations and provide small businesses and individuals in the locality the opportunity to flourish. We can convert any vacant warehouse or manufacturing plant into a local market where small businesses can exhibit their products in makeshift shops. We must also ensure that local laws allow such commercial activities and try to keep rental spaces for stores affordable.

Diversity creates a healthy, successful economy

We must try to support our small towns financially to keep the areas’ economy afloat instead of depending on outside help. Moreover, we should help various kinds of small businesses, so that events like global recession, or natural disasters cannot impact the area negatively and crush the local economy. This diversity involves the business owners themselves, too. Such a cultural diversity can promote a community largely. It can boost tourism and cultural exchange and can even put small towns on the world map.

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