On Wednesday, we had the pleasure of hearing Professor Goldberg talk about entrepreneurship in the Cleveland market at INACAP. Joining us at our table were Carlos and Mario, Chilean students at the university looking to earn MBAs in the United States and then open their own businesses in Chile. When tasked to find the challenges potential entrepreneurs faced, our table had already stumbled upon a large one when first making our introductions.
To get ourselves more acquainted, our new Chilean friends asked about the other people and companies we had already met. As we recalled our learnings, Carlos and Mario were surprised to hear about the company Cumplo. As we explained Guillermo Acuña’s business model, they were dismayed to hear that US students were finding out about this opportunity before they did.
Diving into the activity, we discussed at length that the biggest problem facing potential entrepreneurs was access to information. Where can you develop your idea? Who can you go to for help and / or guidance? Where can you get affordable funding? Because the current process is so fragmented and confusing, people become dismayed and soon find traditional lines of work to support themselves and their families.
To get ourselves more acquainted, our new Chilean friends asked about the other people and companies we had already met. As we recalled our learnings, Carlos and Mario were surprised to hear about the company Cumplo. As we explained Guillermo Acuña’s business model, they were dismayed to hear that US students were finding out about this opportunity before they did.
Diving into the activity, we discussed at length that the biggest problem facing potential entrepreneurs was access to information. Where can you develop your idea? Who can you go to for help and / or guidance? Where can you get affordable funding? Because the current process is so fragmented and confusing, people become dismayed and soon find traditional lines of work to support themselves and their families.
To tackle this challenge, information is key. People need to know what tools are out there to help them open their own business. However, these discussions should not take place only at universities. Rather, the discussion of starting a business should be opened before a student leaves high school. By getting into their minds early, the world of entrepreneurism is open to more than those that have a university degree. In addition, they can help inspire an entire generation of creative thinkers to take the risk because they know there is a network of support and resources to help along the way. Finally, it is critical that these endeavors go beyond Santiago. There are a large number of potential entrepreneurs all around the country and if they had access to the right information and technology, many more opportunities will grow to diversify the economy. |