This past week was dedicated to entrepreneurship at Missouri Western State University. Workshops for Entrepreneurship Week focused on developing business plans, marketing and preparing students who have a desire to create their own businesses. Creativity, strong motivation and organization are all part of the specialized traits needed to start and grow a business based on a dream and a plan.
However, it takes even more than that. Strong entrepreneurship in a community and a state makes a big difference in the economy. Both small and large startups fuel the economy, reduce unemployment and invite exponential growth. But in the same way plants need proper soil and environment to grow, so too do startup businesses need the right things to take root.
Therefore, to provide long-term encouragement for both individual entrepreneurs and for a general spirit of entrepreneurship to flourish, St. Joseph and the state of Missouri need to reevaluate laws and tax systems. According to Harvard Business School, about 75% of startup businesses will fail. It is incumbent upon communities, lawmakers and other parts of the economy to do what is necessary to provide the fuel for new businesses.
Startups need favorable tax structures. They also need attractive environments and infrastructure to recruit workers for growing new businesses. Educational access, a key asset for St. Joseph because of the efforts of Missouri Western, is important. Minimal red tape for business startup loans also helps ensure an entrepreneur-friendly environment.
According to a recent USA Today report, Missouri ranks 44th among “best states to start a new business.” In other words, the key factors that foster strong entrepreneurial and small business growth are not as strong as they could be. It should be a goal to move up on this list, not because it’s a feather in the cap but because it’s important to the future economic prospects of this area.
While programs like Missouri Western’s Entrepreneurship Week are vital for budding business people, it would be a shame to be training and equipping these young entrepreneurs here in our state and then sending them elsewhere to start new businesses. This is especially the case for St. Joseph, where ongoing conversations abound about the need for revitalization of Downtown and for more thriving businesses to help secure our financial future. Entrepreneurs can be a big part of that.
But it doesn’t just happen. Let’s make supporting entrepreneurs something that’s important for 52 weeks.
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