Young Entrepreneurs Foundation Help give our children a fighting chance
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We are all capable of an idea. This is where youth entrepreneurship takes shape – with a plan which will either fulfil a need or provide a service. But what is the next step? Once you have conceptualized your concept, you will move on to the planning phase, and then you will begin to ask the question that holds back many entrepreneurs. Where will the funding come from?
Where will the funding for Youth Entrepreneurship come from?
This has proven to be a challenge for youth entrepreneurship as these young people have not entered the job market or have the necessary savings to put up as capital to turn their ideas into legitimate ventures. Yes, finding funding and entry into the market remains a big challenge for young people who want to start their ventures. In our previous blog, we addressed the importance of growing youth entrepreneurship and how this will affect the overall growth of the economy. This has become more imperative now, given the economic climate and South Africa’s current recession and decrease in economic growth.
Now is the time for more impactful business development and furthermore, a more intensive approach to providing resources and support to increase small business success rates and more so youth-owned businesses. Furthermore, it is imperative for initiatives such as Young Entrepreneurs, to put the necessary knowledge in place, so those entrepreneurs have the best possible chances at success later on.
We not only have a huge failure rate in small business ventures, but also a decline in the number of young people that wants to start a business. This has proven to be a growing concern as this affects South Africa’s dire unemployment figures.
Young Entrepreneurs Foundation can assist with Business Management & Financial Literacy Skills
However, once we have equipped these entrepreneurs both with business skills and financial literacy, it is time to assist them with making sure the necessary doors to funding are opened. As we mentioned in the introduction, lack of funding it one of the main reasons young entrepreneurs cannot get their business ventures off the ground.
According to a survey compiled in 2017, only 18% of entrepreneur’s questioned have attempted to obtain funding from banks or development agencies such as the IDC or DTI. Others do not know where to start their search when it comes to funding. Many attempts their ventures through self-funding, however, this can be limited as only one or a few people are assisting with funding. This can stifle growth.
Therefore, it is clear that educating and equipping is not enough to assist these business owners to build and grow their ventures. It is all about getting them to a sweet spot of resources along with funding to help them in creating a fruitful outcome for both their businesses and the economy as a whole.
One hand needs to wash the other if we are to see real change in the economy, unemployment and the lives of these young entrepreneurs. Be a part of that processes by getting behind the Young Entrepreneurs Foundation.
