There are a number of reasons to be worried about the state of entrepreneurship in South Africa and globally.

For instance, when one looks at the Gini coefficient – which highlights the gap between the poor and the rich in a country – it is clear that inequality is worsening.

In spite of the critical role that entrepreneurship has to play in development, we are still not making progress in advancing it in South Africa.

We need to change mindsets and this starts with dispelling myths about entrepreneurship.

First, forget the notion of “born” entrepreneurs. They are developed and we as a nation need to start developing them in all spheres of society.

This is supported by a recent report, “Nature or nurture: Decoding the entrepreneur”, which surveyed 685 entrepreneurs worldwide.

Its interesting findings include that entrepreneurial leaders are made, not born; that many (45%) start companies by the time they are 30; that entrepreneurship is rarely a one-off decision (60% had started three or more companies); and that funding, people and know-how are the biggest barriers to entrepreneurial success.

South Africa is doing itself an injustice if it talks of entrepreneurship only in the domain of economic entrepreneurship.

Social entrepreneurship is important, as is environmental entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship in education and government.

There are relatively few examples of entrepreneurship and a high failure rate at the SMME level in South Africa. Why ?

Fingers are often pointed at the shortage of funding for entrepreneurs, but research points to the lack of skills as being a bigger stumbling block.

If we look at how entrepreneurship is defined, we see it is about three elements: identifying opportunities, exploiting those opportunities in a value-adding and innovative manner, and then managing those opportunities.

It is possible to train people to exploit opportunities and to take calculated risks. Entrepreneurs can be trained to innovate – to bring true value to the market and not just a “me too” type of offering.

And it is not rocket science. There is value in efficiency – if you can bring a product or service to the consumer in a more efficient way, that is innovation.

The tools are at hand to develop potential entrepreneurs.

This has been proven, and recent research has again confirmed this.

Let us forget the notion of “born” entrepreneurs and rather set about purposefully developing systemic entrepreneurship. – Professor Tobie de Coning, chief director of strategic initiatives and human resources at Stellenbosch University

Source: www.timeslive.co.za