Why entrepreneurship is important

“Thriving successful businesses are the lifeblood of prosperous communities. It has never been more important to support the next generation of wealth creating entrepreneurs – particularly in these challenging economic times.”

David Frost, Director General, British Chambers of Commerce.

Global Entrepreneurship Week puts the spotlight on enterprise, opening up new opportunities for people across the country and the world.

Thousands of events are run all over the globe, creating mass participation and exposing people of all ages to quality entrepreneurial experiences. It’s about developing people’s enterprise skills, confidence, and making them realise their ambitions.

Events have a real impact

Omar, 23 from Bolivia

Omar from Bolivia “My name is Omar and I’m a 23 year old student studying Electrical Engineering at the public university in La Paz. I wake up at 5:00 AM every morning to deliver the newspaper across various neighbourhoods in our Capital. I earn only $56 US a month, which allows me to cover the costs of my studies and lunch every day. I come from a poor family and my parents do not make enough money themselves to maintain our family.

I became aware of Global Entrepreneurship Week through a friend and decided to get involved as a volunteer because I dream of having my own business in the future, and was delighted by the idea of learning more about becoming an entrepreneur. I rapidly got involved with the group and offered my design skills, which is my real passion. I was soon responsible for designing various marketing materials that we used to promote the Week. After my experience with the campaign, I am much more confident and I have already signed up a couple of new clients.

Through getting involved in Global Entrepreneurship Week, I now own my own design consultancy!”

Samantha, 15 years old from the UK

As a participant at the Black Boys in Business event during Global Entrepreneurship Week UK last year, Samantha says:

“As a child of 15 years I found that night very inspirational and hopefully there would be more to come (hopefully very soon). Now I have an idea of what business I want to do, and I will succeed!!!”

We believe that entrepreneurship is particularly important because it will:

Spark a global economic recovery

These troubled economic times mean that we need entrepreneurs now more than ever: fresh thinkers who spot opportunities, apply their talents and overcome obstacles to make their ideas happen. In order to do this, we need to reframe the recession as an area of massive opportunity for entrepreneurs.

Tackle youth unemployment

It is projected that by 2015, there will be 3 billion people under the age of 25 worldwide, a demographic that is three times more likely to be unemployed than any other. Youth entrepreneurship presents a solution to youth unemployment, and addresses the need for wider economic opportunities in communities and countries.

Develop innovative solutions for a low-carbon future

By unleashing the entrepreneurial ideas of people around the world, we hope to inspire innovative and sustainable solutions to tackle climate change, from clean-tech engineering to rural and community-based recycling enterprises.

Promote gender equality in the business world

Women and girls represent over half of the population but are often under-represented in enterprise education and the business world. By reaching out to women and girls and empowering them to consider entrepreneurship for themselves, we hope to unleash millions of ideas in a massive area of untapped potential. Read about Women’s Enterprise Day

Create a platform to share best practice amongst practitioners and educators

We believe that every person should have real-life enterprise experiences and the chances to develop entrepreneurial skills and attitudes. We aim to achieve this is by encouraging networks of practitioners and educators around the world to share their success stories, and challenges, and empowering our partners to embed enterprise across their curriculum.

Make sure you’re part of it

The drive to nurture entreprepreneurial talent needs business, education, government, voluntary organisations and the media to work together. No single sector or organisation working in isolation can create opportunities on this ambitious scale.

Global Entrepreneurship Week UK is a great opportunity for showcasing what hundreds of organisations already do all year round to help foster an enterprise culture, or alternatively to launch a new initiative or scheme. See our resources page for some great event ideas.