An Era That Needs a Revival of Entrepreneurship

To reinvigorate our economy, restoring entrepreneurship is an urgent task. That is because the business activities that drive innovation, create new businesses, and generate value arise from entrepreneurship itself. What is troubling, however, is that entrepreneurship in our society has gradually been shrinking.

The social mood is increasingly tilting toward avoiding risk. Talented people are devoting themselves to civil service exams rather than stepping forward to pursue innovation and create value. In the business world, a self-protective attitude is more prevalent than entrepreneurship. We are now in a situation where it is difficult to expect the kind of entrepreneurial drive that once led our country’s economic growth. There are several reasons why entrepreneurship has fallen into such stagnation.

First, the burden of starting a business and bearing managerial responsibility is quite high. If business management fails, the risks individuals must bear are excessively great. In other words, the risks of doing business are high, while the chances of success are low. In reality, many entrepreneurs are experiencing the tragedy of having to bear unlimited responsibility for company management.

Second, the perception that doing business is difficult has become widespread throughout society. Respect and encouragement for businesspeople are diminishing, while resentment and envy are gaining ground. In the business community, instead of pride in having led social development, voices of lament are growing louder, saying, “Why become an entrepreneur and suffer like this?”

Third, the spirit of challenge has disappeared. In our society, adventure and a pioneering spirit are no longer respected. A culture that encourages initiative and challenge in moving toward a new world has vanished, and it has become commonplace to accept a settled, complacent way of life as unavoidable. As a result, people prefer stable jobs and lives without major change, turning away from entrepreneurship.

Still, this does not mean there is no hope. As society changes rapidly and new technologies are industrialized, a wide range of opportunities is emerging. Fortunately, our society is full of outstanding talent. If entrepreneurs arise who are willing to take on the challenges of the times, economic growth will follow naturally. In that sense, fostering the will to seize opportunities and creating a social atmosphere that views such efforts favorably are the very conditions that make success possible.

To revive and energize entrepreneurship, the first priority must be to create an environment in which people can cast off their fear of failure. In particular, there is an urgent need for systems and social mechanisms that can share the risks arising from failure. Only then can talented people seek out new opportunities and exercise their entrepreneurial spirit.

If outstanding talent becomes obsessed only with finding stable jobs, our society will be wasting precious resources. If a single failure means falling into the abyss in life, anyone would naturally become intimidated and give up on starting a business. Conversely, if the risks and burdens of failure are adjusted reasonably and entrepreneurs who have failed once are also given opportunities to try again, then talented people will compete to demonstrate creative and innovative entrepreneurship.

When a spirit of adventure and challenge overflows through society, and creativity in ideas and methods is embraced with flexibility, “innovative entrepreneurship” will bloom again. I say this with certainty: without entrepreneurship, there can be no development of our economy and no future.

Sung-no Choi

Vice President, Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

Original article:

http://www.viva100.com/main/view.php?key=20170809010003521

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Original title: 기업가정신 회복이 필요한 시대

Author: Sung-no Choi

Date: 2017-08-09

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=press&pn=27&idx=10647