COMBATING UNEMPLOYMENT - Entrepreneurship as a Solution for Job Seekers
Unemployment has caused serious challenges in generating income for the current society. It has caused financial, psychological, and social problems. It has affected the health, life, economy, and social life of the community in various ways. It has led many young people to depression, decreased their self-esteem, coerced them to be alienated from their family, and friends, and resulted in a lack of support in their lives. This was revealed by the assessment done in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia which indicates that these kinds of challenges were significantly greater in the unemployed than employed (NIH, 2020). Unemployment is the root cause for young people to migrate to the area/country where they are thinking of getting a job (CSA, 2021a, 2021b). This challenge can be combated by embracing entrepreneurship since it is a powerful antidote for unemployment. It seems that entrepreneurship has made the days when job seekers had to rely solely on employment a story.
Entrepreneurship provides a means to address unemployment by fostering innovation, driving economic growth, and enabling social mobility. It opens doors to new ventures, new businesses, new alliances, etc. Entrepreneurship is a significant source of jobs and economic growth. It is a powerful economic growth tool for the global and local economies. It is even more important in the context where there is a high unemployment rate; particularly in regions like Africa.
Join us Today
Make us your preferred partner for all your training and consultancy needs.
Various studies indicate that the world economy is undergoing a transformation driven by entrepreneurs who create opportunities for change and build new industries based on innovation and global markets. Entrepreneurs open new opportunities and possibilities for businesses to create value for themselves and society at large. For example, more than two-thirds of new jobs were created by entrepreneurs between 1993 and 1996. This can make a difference in the lives of the community where there is a high unemployment rate; particularly in the lives of the youth and women. Even more, entrepreneurship is a potential business venture to open more employment, alleviate poverty, reduce urbanization, and increase the community’s quality of life.
Therefore, in this article, we will explore some of the major strategies for developing entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial Strategy represents the set of decisions, actions, and reactions that first generate, and then exploit over time, a new entry in a way that maximizes the benefits of newness and minimizes its costs.
To be successful in entrepreneurship, a potential entrepreneur must identify and understand the following things.
Resources Identification
When we say resource identification, they must see the types of funding streams and resources that are accessible to support the goals and objectives of the initiative. They have to do a fiscal analysis study to find and evaluate the usefulness of current and potential resources.
Resources are the basic building blocks of a firm’s functioning and performance. A firm’s resources are simply input into the production process, such as human, financial, natural, social, etc. Entrepreneurs combine these resources in such different ways as this bundle of resources provides a firm its capacity to achieve superior performance. Besides, these resources can be divided into tangible and intangible.
The tangible resource is a concrete property needed to run a business. This includes equipment, office space, land, machinery, vehicles, facilities, etc. But intangible resources are assets that cannot be seen, touched, or felt. The intangible resources include intellectual property which includes designs, brands, inventions, etc. It is clear that resources needed for the enterprise are varied and can have different attributes. These assets are important for the operation of the business enterprise.
Financial Resource
Financial Resources are the funds and assets that finance an organization’s activities and investments. They are the monies that keep the business operating, and there are several ways a business will raise and use its financial resources. However, any potential entrepreneurs must keep in mind that free money may not exist. They must have a solid business plan and reliable financial reports that enable them get the necessary finance.
Social Resource
Social Resource is the practice of developing and maintaining relationships that form social networks willing to help each other. These networks perform best when they are diverse, so leaders need to identify people capable of helping them cause whom they may not normally encounter or regularly interact with.
Human Resource
Human Resources refers to the existing knowledge that lies within human resources, which is the basis for productivity improvement. It refers to the production factors coming from human beings we use to create goods and services. Our knowledge, skills, habits, social and personality attributes all form or part of the human capital that contributes to the creation of goods and services. Human capital is the stock of habits, knowledge, social and personality attributes (including creativity) embodied in the ability to perform labor to produce economic value. Human capital is unique and differs from any other capital. It is needed for companies to achieve goals, develop, and remain innovative.
Intellectual Resources
Intellectual resources encompass the knowledge, abilities, and proficiency essential for running a business. As an entrepreneur, it is crucial to continuously expand our knowledge base. It is possible to get the necessary knowledge from different trainings, attend professional conferences, watch YouTube tutorials, or read articles. From all these and others, we can acquire the necessary knowledge.
Digital Resources
As entrepreneurs, our online presence is crucial in this digital age. Digital resources can include website hosting and design, social media management, email marketing platforms, and other tools that help businesses connect with customers and promote their brands. Digital resources can help business owners reach new customers and grow their businesses.
Entrepreneurial Skill
Sometimes people suggest hard and soft skills as the most important skills of entrepreneurs. These skills are indeed important. But they also require abilities and mindsets that enable them to identify, create, and pursue opportunities, solve problems, and innovate in various contexts. They require networking skills and the ability to manage their resource, invest, and re-invest for more profit.
Market knowledge
This refers to the entrepreneurs’ exposure to information, technology, and skills that provide insight into a market and its customers. This knowledge can be acquired through market research. Besides, entrepreneurs’ technological knowledge is also important as it helps them gain information to create new knowledge. The information (both primary and secondary) should be used for marketing purposes. They can also be used to question surrounding resource allocation.
In general, starting a business requires careful planning and access to the right resources. By leveraging the financial, physical, intellectual, human, and digital resources available, entrepreneurs can increase their chances of success and combat unemployment. There are numerous resources available to entrepreneurs, and with careful planning and execution, they can turn their dreams into reality.
There are various ways in which entrepreneurship combat unemployment. It creates new job opportunities for jobless individuals through the establishment of new businesses. Besides, entrepreneurs are also contributing to overall economic growth by generating wealth which creates jobs and reduces unemployment.
Wow amazing.With this visionary and future oriented training company any one can change his or her life.
Well discussed! We have to empower a generation with “I can create my own business!” mentality! Keep up the good job.