Entrepreneurs and Job Creation

As we begin a new year (one that is hopefully better than the last one), the buzz going around is the creation of jobs to help ease the high unemployment rate. It would be nice to have an instant change from bad to great, but it’s not going to happen so easily. Here’s what I know:

1. Jobs are created through entrepreneurship: The Kauffman Foundation released a study that showed more jobs were created by young firms (companies one to five years old) than larger-sized firms.

2. Of the 12 million jobs that were created in 2007, some eight million came from young companies.

3. If you took startups and young companies out of the equation, job growth would actually be negative.

Entrepreneuship isn’t some career choice designated for those few who show early signs of talent to seek opportunities and take innovations to the marketplace. Entrepreneurs aren’t born, but made.

The thought that the US workforce largely depends upon entrepreneurs is astounding, not entirely because of the jobs they create, but because we’ve become so accustomed of our financial dependency on them. And if such is the case, why isn’t there more focus on and support of entrepreneurship? Why doesn’t it get the same attention as math and science in our schools? Why is it that culinary arts, P.E. and drama classes are abundant, but teaching our kids how to earn a living is absent? Why is it that financial literacy and entrepreneurship don’t even make course selections in most of our schools?

The primary course subjects, though relevant and necessary, are only half of the equation. I would have loved to have been a science scholar, able to extract DNA and perform scientific marvels with it (or whatever you do with DNA.) Had I been that science whiz I think I would have also wanted to know how I could take my discoveries to the marketplace.

My old high school social studies teacher told the class one day that her father had invented the roll top used in deodorants. He worked for a company at the time when he invented it and he never got the financial credit for it. The invention belonged to the company. My thought was, “Gosh, that sucks.” (I was a kid of many eloquent words.)

Success to you!

Melissa

Tagged as: business for kids, Entreprenuership Small Business Global Business Education, kids business, kids business ideas, young entrepreneur, young entrepreneurs