Transcript Minority Entrepreneurship, Social Enterprise and Other Opportunities

Minority Entrepreneurship,
Social Enterprise and
Other Opportunities
Prof Thomas M. Cooney
Academic Director – Institute for Minority Entrepreneurship
Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland)
www.thomascooney.com
Income Generation Options
For Each Individual
• Tax generating
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Employment
Self-employment
Farming
• Tax usurping
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State Support / Welfare
Crime
• Tax neutral (although may have positive / negative tax effect)
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Begging
Inheritance
Marriage
Sponsorship
Pensions
Gambling
Under-Represented / Disadvantaged
Communities
• Women, Immigrants and Youth are frequently considered in
terms of employment and entrepreneurship
• BUT WHAT ABOUT:
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Prisoners
People with Disabilities
Roma / Travellers / Gypsies
Gay
These communities face additional and distinctive challenges in starting
up their own business
Prisoner Community
Ex-Prisoners - Economic Rationale
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Approximately 6,364 prisoners in Sweden
Re-imprisonment rate is 35%
Profile of re-offenders
– Unemployed prior to re-offence
– Male
– Younger (under 30)
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Career options on leaving prison
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Back to crime (a prisoner costs on average SEK 2,000 per day)
State support (costs state in excess of SEK 320-680 per day)
Employment (contributes tax, hard to get a job)
Self-employment (contributes to tax and economic activity)
Distinctive E/Ship Challenges Faced By
Prisoners
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Lack of suitable contacts / role models
Inability to drive due to lack of license
Lack of financial support / credit history
Credit payment schemes not available due to record
Business insurance very expensive
How to present yourself to the bank?*
Poor educational and literacy abilities
Stigma attached to having a record
Lack of follow-through, persistence, dedication (lack will to overcome
setbacks)
Problems related to the dulling effects prison exerts on some individuals
Unable to test-market idea
Lack of continuing support
Lack of self-confidence (want to set up business while in prison, but rarely
follow it up on release)**
Training Needs
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Holistic approach needed
Seed funding required
Business mentors required (not Probation Officers)
Must have pre-programme interviews
Build one-to-one sessions into the programme
Only those being released within 12 months should be on the
programme
• Support of other organisations is critical
People With Disabilities
Employment Among Disabled
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15.7 % of Swedish population age 16-65 (919,000) have a
disability - 47.3% male and 52.7% female
Higher rates of unemployment - 67% of disabled persons were in
the labour force, compared to 80.3% of non-disabled population
Fewer in full-time employment
Lower levels of income (internationally) but state support
provided to employers in Sweden
Poorer levels of education
Motivations for Self-Employment
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Desire to overcome disability
Inability to secure / retain job
Wish to increase income
Flexibility in working hours and workload
Rebuild self-esteem
Suits / accommodates disability
Fear of discrimination in the workplace
Autonomy from obstacles such as:
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Transportation
Fatigue
Inaccessible work environments
Need for personal assistance
BUT few tailored self-employment programmes available
internationally for people with disabilities
Barriers to Self-Employment
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Difficulties in obtaining start-up capital
– Lack of own financial resources
– Poor credit rating
– Disinterest from the banks
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Fear of losing regular benefit income (‘welfare trap’)
Unhelpful attitudes of business advisers
Lack of access to appropriate training and support
Developing Appropriate Support
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Address low educational qualifications
Provide tailored training programmes (online)
Provide on-going business support
Establish microloan funds
Implement disability awareness training for business advisers
Facilitate self-employment through vocational rehabilitation
Actively market services to socially excluded groups
Reduce work disincentives
Address labour market disadvantages
Traveller Community
(Gypsies/Roma)
Background to Roma / Travellers
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It is estimated that there are between 50,000 and 60,000 Roma in Sweden
today
Recently Swedish police were found to have illegal databases of Roma names
Have their own distinct culture
Highly entrepreneurial
Suffer from limited education, poor health, discrimination, etc
General perceptions
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Want to live on the side of the road,
Do not want to be part of Swedish society,
Are to blame for crime and anti-social behaviour,
Are cheats who do not pay taxes and do not pay for the services that they receive on halting
sites,
Are associated with violent behaviour (problems with alcohol),
Are work shy
Significant amounts of money being given to this community through various
government schemes
Employment
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Unemployment rates are very high
Roma / Travellers want to access waged employment but have
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to hide their identity
a lack of recognised skills
low levels of education
to face discrimination in the marketplace
Traditional industries and skill needs are being lost to a knowledge-based economy
Laws on street trading had negative effect on Roma / Travellers
Future Developments
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Enormous challenges involved
– Societal perception
– Roma / Traveller issues
– Few role models
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Health and education need to be addressed as a priority
Future programmes require 1-2-1 mentoring
Role models needed to break through at local level
Solutions need to be highly innovative and long-term in vision – not more
programmes that continue dependency
Many previous programme providers have decided to no longer work
with the Traveller community.
BUT – what does the Traveller Community want for itself?
Lessons from / for Maori and Aboriginal communities?
Gay Community
Different Needs
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Internationally, 18% of gay community are entrepreneurs
– ‘Lavender ceiling’
– No family commitments
– Higher capital availability
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Current research by IME suggests that:
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11% are entrepreneurs (417 responses)
78.1% view themselves as ‘an entrepreneur who is gay’
Target gay community as one of many markets
Their desire to contribute to the gay community through employment, etc is
of minor significance
– Have suffered abuse in personal circumstances but positive about business
practice
– Homophobia not an issue in starting a business
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Swedish gay population is estimated at 6%
Bringing It All Together
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“We treat everyone the same” is not working
Must take a tailored approach to each community
Working with organisations within the community must occur
Pre-start-up and early start-up requires our help, afterwards they
should be mainstreamed
• It makes sense economically and socially to take a proactive
approach that is based on results and tangible outcomes
• Significant research, training and policy opportunities exist in all
countries for work in these areas
A Broader Perspective
• Entrepreneurs are key agents of change and innovation
• Entrepreneurs are not limited to commercial environments
• Entrepreneurs are also active in many sectors, including the
social sector
… so we call entrepreneurs active in the social sector social
entrepreneurs
Contribution of Social Entrepreneurs
• Social entrepreneurs are agents of societal change
• Do the statistics back this up?
– A global network of social entrepreneurs has found the following from an
impact assessment survey:
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49% have created significant policy changes at a national level
54% have created significant policy changes at a local level
90% have had their innovative approaches replicated by other outside groups
71% are recognised as leaders in their field after 5 years
• At the end of the day, it means real impact on real people
Bigger Context
• Remember social entrepreneurs are only one part of the
solution
– Charities, NGO’s, state sectors organisations and private sector initiatives are also
essential components of an overall solution
• However, social entrepreneurs can drive innovation and
change and offer the possibility of tackling old problems in
new ways, making the world a better place for all
• Does this mean taking a business approach to tackling social
problems?
 It means taking an entrepreneurial approach (with is common to both the
business and social sectors) to tackling social problems
You can make a difference through
your research, work, and attitudes
or
You could become a
Social Entrepreneur
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