Washington
18 July 2008
Traditionally, entrepreneurs bring innovation andchange to the world in their quest to find new ways to turn a profit. Today, modern technology, looser governmentcontrols and better access to capital make it even easier forentrepreneurs to succeed. VOA's economics correspondent Barry Woodlooks at entrepreneurship worldwide, profiling business risk-takers inAfrica, the Middle East, the Americas, Asia and Russia. (Part 1 of 5)
Theoriginal French word entrepreneur refers to someone who undertakes,who does something. Entrepreneurs assume business risk or bring a newproduct, service or idea to market.
Their innovations sometimeschange the world. Henry Ford did not invent the automobile, but hisassembly line revolutionized manufacturing and made cars affordable forthe average worker.
"Right now we're in about 55 countries, 567 cities across the world," explained Newmark. Some analysts say Craig's List is having the same effect on newspapers that Ford's car had on the horse and wagon.
Since the collapse of communism, entrepreneurs have taken off in places where they were once forbidden, including Russia.
YanaYakovleva is the financial director of a Moscow company thatmanufactures silicone.
Despite new freedoms, she says, governmentbureaucracy still makes it hard to be an entrepreneur. "Abureaucrat scores a point for each court case he initiates or for everycompany he closes, and this improves his job performance evaluation,"she noted.
In Venezuela, currency exchange controls and aleadership hostile to free markets make it difficult to do business.Caracas food distributor Santiago Alvarez complains that governmentbureaucrats are unhelpful.
"Getting all the permits to start abusiness is a real challenge," explained Alvarez. "You have to facetremendous amounts of bureaucracy from a lot of different entities, inorder to get permits and to get financing."
But, as always,entrepreneurs are highly motivated and frequently prevail against theodds. They raise funds by borrowing from relatives, tapping intovillage cooperatives or, getting loans from a bank. And they learnhow to cope with onerous bureaucracy to bring their ideas to themarketplace.