{The following essay was one of top three finalist essays selected from over 30 essay submissions as part of “The Power of Entrepreneurship” Essay Contest. This essay contest, hosted by the Babson-Rwanda Entrepreneurship Center (BREC), was an event held during Global Entrepreneurship Week/Rwanda 2012. }

{{For many years, economists viewed entrepreneurship as a small part of economic activity. But in the 1800s, the Austrian school of economics was the first to recognize entrepreneurs as a person instrumental in all economic and social activity of a country.}}

Entrepreneurship can be defined as the ability and spirit of transforming challenges of the society into opportunities or viable and profitable business.

This requires someone to see far where others do not; to think outside of the box, be determined and set goals. Entrepreneurship can transform the lives of people.Through entrepreneurship, individuals can earn income to help them satisfy basic needs in there lives.

This includes job security through the creation of employment, innovation and creativity, increased productivity and poverty alleviation. Not only the peoples’ lives, but also the nation can benefit from entrepreneurship.

Through entrepreneurship, foreign exchange can be generated, new markets can be created and national income can increase. All of these are possible due to an increase in taxes revealed from the new businesses created.

The nation cannot achieve its full potential in the absence of entrepreneurship because it is the one which puts together other factors of production like capital, land and labor to make something new.

After all, the national economic growth depends on proper ideas, innovation and risks taken by entrepreneurs. This shows that entrepreneurs are the backbone of the national economy.

Through the increase the income of the entrepreneur, the creation of new business opportunities, utilization of resources, creation of jobs, reduction of government expenditure, destruction of monopolies, promotion of leadership and the recognition of societal problems, entrepreneurship can change the lives of the entrepreneur, the people and the nation.

Earning of income by the entrepreneurs. is another advantage of entrepreneurship. Firstly, the entrepreneurs are concerned with the creation of something new in society which results in earning an income.

As entrepreneurs sell goods and rend services, the entrepreneur uses innovation and creativity to dominate the market and create demand. This benefits them and raises the per capita income of the country.

Per capita income refers to the national income divided by the total population. The increase in per capita can be seen in the example of the USA in the 19th century due to the influx of entrepreneurs.

Not only does entrepreneurship increase the income of the individual lending itself to sustainability, but also it increases the income of the nation.

Entrepreneurship leads to the creation of new business opportunities, inspires new business investors and citizens of the country. With more business options, investors will be attracted to either foreign or local investors.

This will enable the country to alleviate poverty by generating foreign currencies which equalizes balance of payment problems that most developing countries face. With the creation of new businesses, the economy is diversified.

This diversification allows for the development of different sectors so the nation can rely on many sectors instead of one sector for sustainability.

From the entrepreneurship of someone others can get idea of what to do. For example today there are many farmers who grow their crops like fruits and sell them to Urwibutso enterprise.

Means that if SINA didn’t take the initiative to create this enterprise maybe they would have not found market for their products.

Moreover there are many people in places in Rwanda who are making money out of selling his products like his juice of agashya, pepper of akabanga and his bakery products.

Entrepreneurship promotes efficiency in the use of resources. Using resources efficiently and creatively is a result of increased competition. This means that resources are efficiently used, managed and allocated in a way that yields the highest profit at the lowest cost.

When there is entrepreneurship, resources flow from those who do not use them well to those who use them appropriately. Even if an entrepreneur fails in creating a business, he /she does not give up.

Rather, they learn from his/her mistakes and correct them in order to achieve the goals set.

Before the establishment of Inyange Industry many people didn’t have market for their milk and some agricultural products like pineapples, and they were misused.

But today they are efficiently used by this industry. Furthermore they yield the highest profit because pineapples, apples, and milk are sold as finished product not as raw materials.

Creation of jobs occurs by forming enterprises. Through the creation of business, entrepreneurs employ skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers. This reduces the rate of unemployment in a country.

For example, as a result of entrepreneurship, in developed countries, 40-50% of the workforce is employed in small and medium enterprises.

Suppose if in Rwanda we have at least two entrepreneurs like SINA GERARD, also known as Nyirangarama, the owner and founder of Urwibutso Enterprise, in each district in Rwanda.

Imagine how many people would be employed. Gerard has employed 2000 people in his enterprise.

High employment in Rwanda may end or reduce brain drain, which is the movement of skilled and talented people from one country to another looking for better opportunities.

This also keeps the entrepreneur’s job and country secured. It also reduces the number of individuals seeking gangs and rebellions as individuals are occupied with their jobs.

Reduction in government expenditure happens when many people are employed or have their own businesses. The government expenditure is reduced because the government, especially those of developed countries, pay unemployment benefits to those who are unemployed.

Unemployment benefits are given to these people in order to survive. When individuals create their own jobs or get jobs from various enterprises, the amount of money spent on unemployment benefits is reduced.

Therefore, this money can be allocated to other sectors which can develop the country. For developing countries, they are unable to allocate such money, leading to a poorer standard of living.

Entrepreneurship raises the standard of living for people, as they are able to satisfy basic needs.

Back to the example of SINA GERARD the government does not to pay for example the health insurance to those 2000 people that he employed. Now the government may allocate this amount of money in other affairs.

Entrepreneurship is a tool of fighting monopolies. Monopoly occurs when the market is dominated by one firm. This means that there are many buyers but only one seller.

This is a result of a lack of competition in the economy. This leads to higher prices, poor quality goods and services and inefficiency in the allocation of resources.

Moreover, monopolies promote income inequality, which hinders the development of a country.

Entrepreneurship creates competition and removes monopolies from the economy.

The eradication of monopolies ultimately leads to a more stable economy Taking the example of a young Rwandan entrepreneur called KAGABO Jean de Dieu the owner soft cleaner, before he established Soft Cleaner in Rwanda, the toilet paper, straws, and liquid soap were too expensive to afford, but because of the competition he created among the producers of those products monopoly was ended and now they are cheap and accessible by everyone in Rwanda.

The increase of entrepreneurship leads to the development of leadership in a country. An entrepreneur exercises leadership by making plans, setting goals and objectives and making decisions to direct his/her business.

Successful entrepreneurs, with their strong leadership skills, even advise the government on economic issues like inflation, unemployment and investment. Without entrepreneurs, the economy of a country cannot be advised well since the country lacks guidance.

The economy of a country without entrepreneurship is like a car without engine.

Entrepreneurship solves the problems of society by transforming challenges into opportunities. For example, if a society is facing problems of hygienic diseases like cholera and dysentery and environmental pollution caused by a lack of proper waste disposal, an entrepreneur may decide to address this problem.

The entrepreneur may make charcoal and organic manure out of it and start selling the products to people around him.

Farmers who used to use expensive and harmful chemical fertilizers and others who used to destroy the environment by utting trees for fire wood may purchase these new items.

The entrepreneur will make money out of these problems while simultaneously solving the issues that the society was facing.

Based on everything discussed above, Entrepreneurship positively impacts the lives of people, the community and the nation.

Through entrepreneurship, the entrepreneur is able to earn an income and the country is able to address problems facing the society, create more jobs, increase competition, efficiently use resources, the introduce a new market and products, increase production, generation foreign exchange and alleviate poverty.

A dynamic society is successful only if it encourages and rewards the entrepreneurial activities that are the determinants of prosperity.

By supporting entrepreneurship, a country moves closer to developing, strengthening and stabilizing their economy and society.