The future of local entrepreneurship
Malta hosted an interesting event on November 21 and 22 as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week organised all over the world. The event was organised by the University of Malta in collaboration with Ernst & Young and Malta University Consulting.
Malta hosted an interesting event on November 21 and 22 as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week organised all over the world. The event was organised by the University of Malta in collaboration with Ernst & Young and Malta University Consulting. The event successfully coached and enlightened 30 new entrepreneurs during a busy two days of interaction, networking and instruction by leading experts and practitioners in the field such as Elisabeth Read from the Royal Academy of Engineering in London and Richard Singer Business Development Leader in Ernst & Young Central and Southern Europe.
While not necessarily reserved for young people, entrepreneurship is commonly associated with the younger generation. Entrepreneurship is to do with beginning in the same way youth are associated with the word. Entrepreneurship is fraught with difficulties and therefore entrepreneurs need a lot of encouragement. It was interesting and very encouraging to note the support, participation and endorsement of successful entrepreneurs and businessmen such as Joe Gasan and Helga Ellul.
Entrepreneurship requires responsibility, courage and dynamism. Malta needs all these qualities not to mention the ever increasing pursuit of quality and sophistication in the way we do business. These are going to be important elements of success in achieving our Vision 2015.
The event may have been interpreted as an opportunity for the experienced to teach the inexperienced. In actual fact it turned out to be an exchange of substance by both mentors and new entrepreneurs. The latter had an equally important role in the event because they came ready with their real business propositions. I was pleasantly surprised with a number of qualities that I noticed in these people.
Enthusiasm, clarity of mind and researched knowledge was the first thing that impressed me among these entrepreneurs. They know what they want and they know where they want to take their projects and not where they want their project to take them.
The latter is one message that Richard Singer delivered very clearly, in that successful entrepreneurs should not put themselves first, but the objective of their product or service and the customer is what should come first. Altruistic mentality in the business takes the business far and this is right because this country needs to instil a strong sense of consumer sovereignty.
It was clear that these new entrepreneurs are not being led by the smell of quick cash but by a sense of making life better to their customers. None of them indicated that their prime objective is money. They are all so strongly service-driven. This augurs well for the future of Malta's business community. Malta will enjoy a breed of businessmen with the right priorities. Money and cash is a consequence of good business and quality service. It's a matter of faith in oneself and one's project.
Another important message that came out was the readiness of these people to exploit the current opportunities that the country is placing at their disposal. They clearly expressed the intention to do business locally before stepping into the expanse of the international market. These people therefore are promoting an important element of the attractiveness of this country which by its sheer size serves the purpose of a test bed for so many successful projects. The future of entrepreneurship in Malta does not only depend on operating in Malta. The eyes of our entrepreneurs are on the international scene in order to find the fullness of their creativity and success.
Innovation is clearly present and it will drive us into a new way of life and this is the key to economic solutions of a grander scale such as dealing with the determined shift of our economy from one based on manufacturing to one based on services. Innovation also needs a lot of brain power and it is clearly manifest that our new entrepreneurs are concentrating more on creativity.
Entrepreneurship is not necessarily for individuals. Our new entrepreneurs are encouraged to enter into partnership in order to achieve synergy and enhanced growth. Entrepreneurs can also achieve personal development if they employ themselves with sufficient people-oriented companies which can provide them with learning which they can one day put to good use when running their own businesses. This is another good way our new entrepreneurs can serve Malta better in the future.
One cannot speak about entrepreneurship without talking about the necessary funding. It is inevitable that all successful projects will need adequate financing at different stages of their life; most importantly at start up. Future Maltese entrepreneurs will probably have to search different ways of raising capital for their finance. Such new ways might involve a deeper understanding of venture capital, risk capital, and other bolder forms of capital such as raising public money from the Alternative Companies List at the Stock Exchange. It also involves the new EU directive on small business which, among other things aims at facilitating access to finance to small businessmen.
Entrepreneurs nowadays receive immense assistance through the various EU programmes. Such programmes comprise both funds (depending on the nature of the project) and training in various fields of interest to persons entering into the business world. Our entrepreneurial future will certainly be influenced by how much we are going to exploit these opportunities at our feet.
Mr Galea is managing partner at Ernst & Young.
While not necessarily reserved for young people, entrepreneurship is commonly associated with the younger generation. Entrepreneurship is to do with beginning in the same way youth are associated with the word. Entrepreneurship is fraught with difficulties and therefore entrepreneurs need a lot of encouragement. It was interesting and very encouraging to note the support, participation and endorsement of successful entrepreneurs and businessmen such as Joe Gasan and Helga Ellul.
Entrepreneurship requires responsibility, courage and dynamism. Malta needs all these qualities not to mention the ever increasing pursuit of quality and sophistication in the way we do business. These are going to be important elements of success in achieving our Vision 2015.
The event may have been interpreted as an opportunity for the experienced to teach the inexperienced. In actual fact it turned out to be an exchange of substance by both mentors and new entrepreneurs. The latter had an equally important role in the event because they came ready with their real business propositions. I was pleasantly surprised with a number of qualities that I noticed in these people.
Enthusiasm, clarity of mind and researched knowledge was the first thing that impressed me among these entrepreneurs. They know what they want and they know where they want to take their projects and not where they want their project to take them.
The latter is one message that Richard Singer delivered very clearly, in that successful entrepreneurs should not put themselves first, but the objective of their product or service and the customer is what should come first. Altruistic mentality in the business takes the business far and this is right because this country needs to instil a strong sense of consumer sovereignty.
It was clear that these new entrepreneurs are not being led by the smell of quick cash but by a sense of making life better to their customers. None of them indicated that their prime objective is money. They are all so strongly service-driven. This augurs well for the future of Malta's business community. Malta will enjoy a breed of businessmen with the right priorities. Money and cash is a consequence of good business and quality service. It's a matter of faith in oneself and one's project.
Another important message that came out was the readiness of these people to exploit the current opportunities that the country is placing at their disposal. They clearly expressed the intention to do business locally before stepping into the expanse of the international market. These people therefore are promoting an important element of the attractiveness of this country which by its sheer size serves the purpose of a test bed for so many successful projects. The future of entrepreneurship in Malta does not only depend on operating in Malta. The eyes of our entrepreneurs are on the international scene in order to find the fullness of their creativity and success.
Innovation is clearly present and it will drive us into a new way of life and this is the key to economic solutions of a grander scale such as dealing with the determined shift of our economy from one based on manufacturing to one based on services. Innovation also needs a lot of brain power and it is clearly manifest that our new entrepreneurs are concentrating more on creativity.
Entrepreneurship is not necessarily for individuals. Our new entrepreneurs are encouraged to enter into partnership in order to achieve synergy and enhanced growth. Entrepreneurs can also achieve personal development if they employ themselves with sufficient people-oriented companies which can provide them with learning which they can one day put to good use when running their own businesses. This is another good way our new entrepreneurs can serve Malta better in the future.
One cannot speak about entrepreneurship without talking about the necessary funding. It is inevitable that all successful projects will need adequate financing at different stages of their life; most importantly at start up. Future Maltese entrepreneurs will probably have to search different ways of raising capital for their finance. Such new ways might involve a deeper understanding of venture capital, risk capital, and other bolder forms of capital such as raising public money from the Alternative Companies List at the Stock Exchange. It also involves the new EU directive on small business which, among other things aims at facilitating access to finance to small businessmen.
Entrepreneurs nowadays receive immense assistance through the various EU programmes. Such programmes comprise both funds (depending on the nature of the project) and training in various fields of interest to persons entering into the business world. Our entrepreneurial future will certainly be influenced by how much we are going to exploit these opportunities at our feet.
Mr Galea is managing partner at Ernst & Young.