Entrepreneurship out of necessity vs. entrepreneurship out of opportunity (Part 3/3)

August 24, 2015

Transforming necessity entrepreneurs into opportunity entrepreneurs (Part 3 of 3)

In Part 2 of this series, I described the differences between necessity entrepreneurs – those who have become entrepreneurial in order to survive – and opportunity entrepreneurs – those who have become entrepreneurial because they have identified a market, a need and an ability to earn income by meeting that need.

The world’s poor have the most to gain and plenty to contribute to innovation and entrepreneurship. We hope that the smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs we work with in Ghana are able to hone their resource management skills as well as their instincts to see and act on opportunities while negotiating risk and uncertainty. We want to see necessity entrepreneurs transformed into opportunity entrepreneurs, who have a greater positive impact on livelihoods in their local communities.

Entrepreneurs are defined by their ability to see opportunity and relentlessly pursue it. They are not defined by current assets, technical skill, or scale. Our work with smallholder farmers in Ghana is designed to equip them with basic skills while fostering their own entrepreneurial instincts, allowing people to solve their own problems with their resources and pursue growth opportunities. This method, we believe, gives people a path away from the hand-to-mouth way of living and toward an economically sustainable livelihood.