Why entrepreneurship? That’s a good question, and one that we sometimes get here at the Albuquerque Community Foundation. Why are we so focused on funding and supporting entrepreneurs? Shouldn’t we be trying to lure businesses to Albuquerque instead of encouraging business creation? Doesn’t our collective insistence on growing local businesses leave out people who don’t want to own a business (or frankly never even thought about it)?

Research shows 80% of job growth will come through small business growth and development. 

Maybe it’s the word entrepreneur. Most people think of an entrepreneur as a middle-aged man in a blue button-down shirt who has lofty goals to take over the world. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, held up as the ideals of entrepreneurship, started in garages and basements. Both were simply looking to solve a problem. Both had an idea they could provide something of value to the marketplace. Neither had a lot of money. In fact, neither had any money. And, no one wanted to fund them in the beginning because their ideas were unproven.

We've now learned that anyone can be an entrepreneur. The woman making jelly in her kitchen is an entrepreneur. The recent immigrant who teaches other immigrants to sew clothing is an entrepreneur. The native New Mexican growing vegetables to sell at the farmer’s market is an entrepreneur. And so is the tech visionary designing a new app that makes e-commerce easier and faster.

What they all have in common is the desire to provide a product or service that helps people. And more often than not, these small business people won’t get on ramfunding from traditional institutions – for lots of reasons. Many are poor. Some live in poverty stricken neighborhoods. They have no collateral. They don’t have an education. They aren’t “good risks.” Instead, they rely on friends and family, lots of intangible business support from incubators, non-traditional lenders and now, philanthropic programs such as City Alive designing navigator programs to help guide nontraditional entrepreneurs on their path to success!

When we think of entrepreneurs, we should increasingly be thinking of people like Robert Herjavec, a Serbian immigrant to Canada, now known as one of the “sharks” on TV’s Shark Tank. Watch this video interview to hear him explain how he arrived in Canada from Serbia as a small boy and without speaking the language, and the obstacles he and his family faced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95xBnPuwJ3E.

With drive, determination, and an entrepreneurial spirit, Herjavec now runs a world-wide business empire. More importantly, he supports other startup businesses, many created by immigrants themselves, with his own money and expertise. Read more about him, here: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/278061

Our goal is to empower the makers, the doers and the dreamers in our community. Those whose fledgling businesses have the potential to grow. To create jobs. To bring vitality to our neighborhoods because they provide stable economic opportunities for themselves and others. Who are solving a need. That’s why entrepreneurship is a primary focus for us.

Global Entrepreneur Week is coming in November, celebrating the innovators and job creators who launch startups that bring ideas to life, and drive economic growth. Albuquerque has more than 25 informative and inspiring programs scheduled. To find out more about them, visit Global Entrepreneur.