Futility of Entrepreneurship

Is it me or is funding a business idea like trying to find a specific needle in a 10 tonne pile of needles? In Jamaica the problem is made worse exponentially by the approach the government and lending institutions have towards entrepreneurship. Finding a loan in these harsh economic conditions is quite challenging, yes but finding a loan in Jamaica has always been challenging. Apparently a business idea with a sound plan but lack of connections in the industry and collateral is avoided like the plague. This leaves prospective entrepreneurs like myself with a bad taste in our mouths, a bad attitude and diminishing interest in the development of our country.

Like most aspiring entrepreneurs I know, I was never trained formally in Business, Management or Marketing, I also suffer from a lack of resources (where I am located at least) such as mentoring and the perennial lack of financial resource problem we are all faced with form time to time. I get the impression that Jamaica is a (as I like to call it) "Closed Source" society. We deplore imitation (the best form of flattery) and we despise competition. Therefore, if a smaller competing business pops up those involved in its more successful counterpart are highly unlikely to offer advice and guidance in the market. Jamaican businesses fear competition out of what I can only conclude as a lack of confidence in the business and one's capability to run it successfully. It is through fierce but responsible and mature competition that businesses excel and see in them qualities that were never even expected.

We see each other as competitors, this approach is counter-productive to our Nation's development; friendly competition in business is what our economy needs to lift itself out of the economic predicament we are unfortunately in. How can this be achieved? Well, first the Government needs to take an active role in practice and not on paper. All talk an no action results in a lack of confidence in the Leadership. Prospective businesses will see that flogging the dead horse is futile and will either pull out or shut up killing the drive that is common among entrepreneurs. From my estimation Jamaica is a very very difficult place for the average aspiring entrepreneur to gain a usable advantage/foothold. Though I have never been exposed to setting up businesses in any other country and I expect there to be harder places to do business but as it stands it is quite difficult to do business in Jamaica and one significantly vital element of doing business is coming up with funding - a task that is a shade away from futility in Jamaica for the entrepreneur that doesn't have the capital or contacts like the lucky 0.5% in Jamaica who usually are engaged in traditional businesses that add no real value to the economy as far as novelty and ingenuity is concerned.

If the country collectively engages in taking a little more risk than is customary then we will see the genius that is hidden in the large crop of disillusioned potential entrepreneurs who are unable to get funding. These individuals are those we need to keep in the country, we run the risk of forcing them either into disillusionment or into more accommodating conditions which are usually in other countries or areas where the true potential may never be realised. Jamaica, through policy shifts in both the Government and the Private Sector need to place more emphasis on entrepreneurship in practice. It makes no sense whatsoever to make funds available to fund small businesses but requirements are unattainable by the very very vast majority of persons who need these funds. Bureaucracy must be minimized - ideally removed and an increase in confidence in the idea and the potential must be seen.