Entrepreneurship

As a Community

Development

Strategy

John Gruidl and Deborah M. Markley

A profound change in community economic

development strategy over the past decade has been

the emergence of entrepreneurship. Now, as never

before, community developers recognize that

entrepreneurship is critical to the vitality of the local

economy. This emerging strategic change is due to

several factors.

Primary reason - impact of globalization in driving

many manufacturing jobs to overseas locations.

Another factor - is the evidence that entrepreneurs are

driving economic growth and job creation throughout the

world.

“A person who creates and grows an enterprise”

It reminds that focus is the person, not the venture itself.

Not all small business owners are entrepreneurs.

Definition is intended to include civic entrepreneurs.

“A business owner works ‘in’ the business while

an entrepreneur works ‘on’ the business.”

 Civic entrepreneurs

Create programs and resources that benefit our communities and our lives

Need skills in planning their enterprise, marketing their product or service, earning

revenues or obtaining funding to keep the organization financially solvent, and

creating value.

Ingredients of the entrepreneurial spirit

Creativity

Innovation

Motivation

Capacity

(Creativity is characterized by originality, expressiveness, and imagination)

Entrepreneurship five capacities

Ability to perceive opportunities.

Ability to access and manage risks.

Ability to build a team.

Ability to mobilize resources.

Ability to sustain creativity.

There are three main types of entrepreneurial talent

Potential

(those who may become entrepreneurs)

Existing business owners

(some of whom may be entrepreneurs)

Entrepreneurs

(including those with growth and even

high growth potential).

Early in the venture creation process

Motivated toward making a life change

Researching and developing business idea

Crossed the bridge and made decision to start business

Gave thought to the business model, although there may

still be some gaps

Some have formal business plan, although most do not

Entrepreneurship training and business counselling programs

Networking & Mentoring

The specific needs of aspiring and start-up entrepreneurs are closely related and

can be met with moral support, networking and mentoring, business counselling,

and entrepreneurship training.

Have successful ventures but often do not

have the motivation or capacity to grow

Need support services as start-up

entrepreneurs:

• Networking opportunities

• Training to build their skill sets

• One-on-one assistance

•Developing e-commerce tools

• Tapping new markets

Entrepreneurs - Growth

Customized assistance

Higher order assistance

Networking

Expanding/strengthening the management team

Entrepreneurs – serial

Potential – youth

Civic entrepreneurship

Networking and mentoring 

Entrepreneurial training and experience

There is no single set of actions that a community

should adopt to become entrepreneur-friendly.

There are three levels of support that help to think about

creating an environment in community that is supportive

of entrepreneurs.

Basic Support

Advanced Support

High Performing Support

Investment in basic support package is starting point to

building a broader and more sophisticated community support

system for entrepreneurs.

To provide basic level of support in your community,

leaders need to:

Address any issues related to creating a positive

entrepreneurial climate

Take stock of current access to appropriate business

services

Create a focus on entrepreneurs, both business and civic

Provide regular opportunities for networking and mentoring

Once the basic elements of a support system are in

place, a community can consider a number of advanced

activities to further energize entrepreneurs.

Leaders providing advanced support typically:

Link closely to the regional Small Business Development Centre office

Ensure that an entrepreneur has access to appropriate financial capital beyond that

provided by local banking institutions

Implement programs that increase local entrepreneurs’ awareness of and access to

new markets

Encourage programming that introduces youth to entrepreneurship

To be a high-performing community that is optimally

supporting entrepreneurs requires considerable community

commitment and investment.

High performing communities are characterized by:

Using strategies that offer customized help to the full range

of local entrepreneurs.

Building on current financing resources by creating area-

based “angel” investment networks

Integrating entrepreneurial opportunities into the core

curricula of educational systems

High-capacity organizations dedicated to supporting

entrepreneurs.

The desire to start business extends across racial & ethnic

lines.

Communities should be aware of the high propensity of

minorities, especially recent immigrants, to start new

businesses.

It presents an opportunity to communities, but only if

community leaders understand and serve their minority

entrepreneurs.

The community entrepreneurship team should provide

minority entrepreneurs with the information to serve a

broader market.

Importance of building broad networks is important to

success.

If there is little current support for entrepreneurs in community, they can start the

ball rolling by forming a team of leaders and interested citizens to lead the

entrepreneurial effort.

Once the team has come together, one of its first actions would be to examine what

the community is currently doing to foster entrepreneurship.

Team should identify the entrepreneurial talent in your community.

Once group has focused on the type of entrepreneurial talent it will be supporting,

plan visits to each and every entrepreneur on your list.

It is important to identify the assets and resources in your community that can help

entrepreneurs.

Take action! Keeping in mind that entrepreneurs need better networks, not simply

more programs

Communities recognizing - entrepreneurship is important strategy of community

economic development.

Communities – flexible & responsive to meet varying needs of entrepreneurs.

All types of entrepreneurs benefit from networking and mentoring opportunities.

Basic support provides a positive climate and infrastructure.

Advanced support provides training, capital and access to new markets.

Finally, the highest order of support promotes customized assistance, “angel”

investment networks, and entrepreneurial curricula in local schools.