Why society can no longer ignore the call for entrepreneurship

Thanks to the intensity of fear and the volatility in our global economy brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak, we are seeing the media, investors, entrepreneurs, and even an NBA Champion rehashing Warren Buffet's quote, "I will tell you how to become rich. Be fearful when people are greedy and be greedy when people are fearful".

From CNBC's host of 'Mad Money' Jim Cramer, to contributors on Forbes, they all insinuate that greed combined with fear, can warrant opportunities to come to those who capitalise on it.

However, what we see in the mainframe is people racing to provide front-liners with sanitation supplies, and to feed the hungry. For once, we are all forced to reckon with our all-consuming chase for that golden goose.

Let us first dive into the meaning of entrepreneurship. The dimensions of entrepreneurship are always evolving, and perhaps, one of the biggest problems we have is the superficiality in our perspective of the word. The claims for altruistic endeavours (social entrepreneurship is promoted everywhere) grow stronger but before we build upon the meaning of the word, maybe we have to address what needs to be done away with first.

The title entrepreneur comes from a label used in 19th century France to denote a director of a musical institution, 'entreprendre' which means to undertake. An undertaking is a promise and a pledge put into action. It is fundamentally, a pledge to assume responsibility for the risks involved in creating and managing an activity of economic value creation.

Since the 20th century, success is based on where the money and opportunities are geographically positioned - whether it be chasing the American dream or the Dragon of the East (America and China are the strongest exporting nations). Today, no matter where you are, businesses all around the world are not spared from the push for digital adaption. It is a do-or-die situation, where survival and opportunities are positioned in cyberspace. Technology creates wealth from anywhere; it has opened new markets and startup opportunities are decentralising.

What we have been seeing since the industrial revolution is that growth is achieved by consolidation and monopoly. After the devastation of two world wars, countries needed a strong stimulus to recover the world's economy again. From Walt Disney to Steve Jobs, each entrepreneur converged business and technology to reap enough money to last beyond seven generations. At the apex of startup culture, these entrepreneurs built their businesses into a multinational conglomerate. Today, while such entrepreneurship has contributed tremendously to economic growth, the barriers of entry have never felt to be higher for an independent person despite the tools and support available to the masses.

Silicon Valley, once thought of as the pinnacle of technological innovation has also become the birthplace of technocrats, where billionaires and millionaires receive the best minds and still, live intentionally disconnected from the harsh realities of ordinary people's day-to-day lives.

The world has turned against greed. Economic growth is spurred by diversification and free-trade in cyberspace. Platforms such as Amazon, Airbnb, and Fiverr allow small businesses and the self-employed to generate an income from anywhere in the world. On such platforms, no buyer or seller can manipulate price, wage and supply.

20 years ago, if you have one successful product, be it an appliance, a service or a new dish - an astute business owner would never hand it over to someone else. Today, we see the dimensions of entrepreneurship evolving. Being a 'serial entrepreneur' is seen as a desirable trait. In 2009, a Harvard Business School study saw that previously successful entrepreneurs are more likely to succeed in a subsequent venture. Successful entries are just as important as successful exits. The new figurehead of entrepreneurship, Gary Vaynerchuk, stands as an aspiration for novices, marketeers and investors alike.

He said, "People are chasing cash, not happiness. When you chase money, you're going to lose. You're just going to, even if you get the money, you're not going to be happy."

Our changing figureheads show what appealed in the past is not the same as the present. If money does not appeal as the main stimulant of happiness, then success is no longer just measured by financial wealth. Whether it is money or happiness or something else entirely, now it is up to entrepreneurs of the future to decide on what they will chase.

After the war, society called for clever minds and industrious people to rebuild the economy and move forward regardless of the cost. Wealth creation and financial security becomes a lifelong goal for many. The ends will justify the means, in the name of business efficiency.

What we see today is people looking for emotional security. Society calls for change coming from the heart. Consumers are asserting to businesses that they are not mere numbers. In the midst of a lockdown, we have seen that the expectations of businesses have gone beyond convenience, pricing, and availability to compassion, rationale and quality.

When inequality is at an all-time high, the only way to generate an impetus for purchase is to circulate and redistribute whatever funds or resources that are still availed to us. There is a global cry for change to happen, to do away with dysfunctional structures and to transform them with new ones that will bring greater competitive equilibrium.

Entrepreneurship offers a way that can break down the barriers and bring about much-needed change in society through the redistribution of ideas from which solutions to problems can be borne. This has been made even more crucial by COVID-19.

Suddenly, we have businesses shut down and people caught off guard in the resulting melee. Whilst this may be unsettling, it also highlights the importance of innovation. Innovation is a key element of entrepreneurship and involves a mindset capable of adapting. Innovation enables us to constantly learn and unlearn, and be open to new ideas and diverse ways of thinking, both in prosperous and challenging times. How do we adapt to new situations and deal with uncertainty? This question is becoming increasingly important to entrepreneurship, and set a precedent of how people make a living in the present and the near future.

We need not only individuals but also leading organisations in our community to encourage entrepreneurship and spearhead change. NTUitive, the innovation and enterprise company of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), seeks to encourage budding entrepreneurs in developing practical solutions to challenges faced by businesses through its startup acceleration programme, ideasinc.

Through facilitating the formation of innovative enterprises, ideasinc aims to create the entrepreneurial ecosystem that propels economic and social development in Singapore. Such initiatives are crucial, especially during unforeseen crises where everyone is thrown off course as we are experiencing with COVID-19.

Being an entrepreneur involves embracing a resilient and adaptive mindset. Efforts such as these help to encourage society at large be more prepared to embark on the course whilst ensuring they have a support system to provide morale and assistance.

Nikola Tesla may have been the first to discover electricity but Thomas Edison went beyond invention to prepare his ideas for mass adoption. Perhaps, it is time for entrepreneurs to embrace their new forces for creative destruction and direct it into a source of light for everyone in need, illuminating the way to live rather than to triumph from the clouted judgement of others.

NTUitive is presenting a series of Webinars from 26 May to 29 May as part of ideasinc 2020, a nationwide startup acceleration programme. The webinars will feature speakers who are groundbreakers in their fields of expertise. These speakers will offer valuable insights into specific topics in the areas of crisis prevention, building a city of resilience, and environmental sustainability. They will also share their views on the acceleration programme and how it helps to connect businesses and participants.