Promoting entrepreneurship through collaborative platforms for the youth

Although the purpose of business and economics degree is to encourage entrepreneurship in the long run, most students these days, however, join an organization after graduation. We do not have proper support system to promote entrepreneurship. Somewhere along the line of education we have, to some extent, forgotten to encourage students to think critically and build on their character and passion to be future leaders.
In the professional field we have Linkedin, Referral Keys etc to promote individuals. Linkedin allows a professional to tell others what qualities they have through their profiles. This allows them to broadcast and promote themselves to the whole world. Since the internet connects every part of the world so quickly, using such profiles, the professionals connect themselves to the global economy. However, there is a lack of promotion of youth initiatives regardless of the country.
Nonetheless, youths, today, have taken lots of steps to solve social and economic problems. Take an example. Samee Quadir Bin Hamid is a student of North South University. Samee has already started a distribution company that employs 52 people. On the other hand, Isbat Ibn Hasnat, a student of BRAC University, has started a non-profit organization called Smallfoot which helps provide education to 12 children living in slums. Such initiatives need to be broadcast to the world to help promote further initiatives among the young people. It is important to remind our youth that we belong to each other and we need to start taking actions.
For collaboration to take place to such extent, we need support systems. Support systems connect all students and help them portray their initiative to the whole world. It is important to acknowledge the efforts of young entrepreneurs because soon enough they will be the future leaders of the economy. In this globalised world, a youth is a person who is not only a part of the local economy but also on the international market. Globalization has made everyone interdependent on everyone, thus anyone who is not a part of the global economy is missing out.
In the fast-growing world of the internet everyone tries to show the world what they can do and this is exactly what Youth Initiative Promotion Foundation (YIP) is doing. It is binding the efforts of the youth to the global economy. The foundation strives to promote entrepreneurship. Furthermore, it also believes in promotion of small initiatives and achievements of students. Through student promotion the promising qualities of the students are shown to the world. This motivates more students to start similar ventures and thus help, build a whole army of leaders for an economy.
They have started to showcase various ventures of students through different media outlets already. A teacher who is not only passionate about teaching but also about his students and has taken a step to create a platform that will showcase different abilities of students. ASM Shakil Haider is the pioneer of the idea of Promoting Student's Initiatives through endorsing them formally. Currently, Mr Shakil is a Doctoral Researcher of Economics at the University of Southampton, the UK. For his doctoral research, he has received the prestigious ESRC DTC Scholarship.
As per the founder of Youth Promotion Initiative it is important to give students the proper exposure for their initiatives so that they can be groomed and gap between reality and text-based education can be filled. The foundation aspires to promote as many student initiatives as possible to bridge a gap and create a support system that will connect the global student body with all the relevant stakeholders. Currently the foundation is working through www.yipfoundation.org. This website displays a page called 'Featured Students' where promising students and their ventures are projected in front of the whole world.
In order to be considered great, an economy must show that it has capable leaders in both the private and public sectors. Small businesses run by the students in the private sector allow the students to think outside of the box which in turn becomes the base of a global leader. The youth population in Bangladesh is still growing, thus, increasing the competition on the job market. If students start a business themselves, they will not only outrun those looking for job but will also build a platform on which the economy can prosper.
The young generation in Bangladesh has already started networking with the global student body. This platform by YIP Foundation allows them to connect with other students, recruiters and support groups that will thus take their business to another level.
On another note, for a growing economy like Bangladesh it is extremely important to promote small and medium enterprises (SME). According to CIDA report, quoted by a national daily August 1, 2010, in its issue there are about 6.0 million SMEs in Bangladesh. These enterprises contribute about 50 per cent of the country's industrial output, employing about 80 per cent of its industrial labour force. Therefore, SMEs not only generate employment but also bring out young leaders. The foundation will promote such initiatives of the youth and thus motivate them to continue doing so.
In order to align with the trend of mobile connectivity and connect the student body further, the YIP foundation is developing an app that will have the 'Featured student' page where students can apply to be placed via consent of their teachers. Furthermore, the app will also build links with investors who are interested to invest in the initiatives of 'Featured students'. This feature in the app will help speedy up the process of starting a business for the students by helping them find interested investors.
The app will also connect different student societies of various universities such as Harvard University Economics Association, BRAC University Economics Club, Young Entrepreneurs Society etc. In later phases of the initiative, the foundation plans to give out commercial space for free to young entrepreneurs for one year to help build and sustain their business. The students in this case will only need to pay the utility bills.
Investment is a crucial part in any organization. Keeping that in mind the foundation has also started communicating with 'impact investors' who are willing to invest into the foundation and help start off the foundation. Through the help of impact, investors and the foundations fund the initiative that has already started investing in various social entrepreneurship ventures.
In a recent case, the foundation invested USD 5,000 for an e-business in a grocery sector.
Moreover, YIP plans to provide funding up to USD 10,000 to potential social entrepreneurship ventures to help it start off. To get the fund the business must show that it will be able to create a social impact on the economy and must be able to sustain on the market for a long term.
It can't be stressed enough how vital it is to promote entrepreneurship through collaboration with global stakeholders because it enhances both leadership and SME businesses, both of which are important for any economy. Especially, SMEs are important for an economy such as Bangladesh. So a wholehearted support is required by all members of society.
Moreover, promoting youth's initiatives should be the heart of the start-up ecosystem because it will not only encourage the youth but also create pathways by connecting them with the relevant interest groups. Platforms such as YIP Foundation in society will not only help the ambitious and entrepreneurial young generation but also act as a driver to promote more SMEs in the economy.
As great philosopher Socrates said, he did not teach others rather served as a 'midwife' to truth that is already within them. As Socrates believed that it is important to serve others promote what they already know and feel passionate about, we should also believe that it is obligatory to uphold the best of the students and their initiatives. We should make every effort to create the platforms which let youth connect beyond borders and promote their achievement and enterprises.
The writer is available at: [email protected]