When I heard about the government’s plan on creating millions of jobs through entrepreneurship, I came out a little bit unconvinced.  Going into your own business is not a walk in the park, and pushing people into something that they are not trained or prepared for can be damaging – failure in business will not only impact your self confidence, but can hit your life savings as well as your marriage as well.  But I do agree that as a nation, we could benefit from cultivating a culture of entrepreneurship.

We think our national culture, which basically encourages citizens to go to school, graduate and then get a job is too ‘constricting’.  In many families I met, being entrepreneurial is still not being encouraged or frowned upon.  For sure, many parents see their obligation as getting the children through college, and then helping them find a job.  I  remember then the  looks of my teachers who look at disdain at some of our classmates attempting to sell candies or other wares while I was still in high school.

Maybe indeed for many a developing country or actually everywhere in the world now, where take home pay will constantly be wanting and not enough, creating a merchant class who is resourceful and business savvy and enabling them to earn on the side, as well as providing micro finance capital might be a good way to grow the per capita income of an economy.

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