Entrepreneurship why

Article initially published on Silicon Luxembourg. We spoke with Catherine Frideres and Daniela Cedola, Senior Manager and Director at PwC Luxembourg respectively, about the challenges women face when pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors and, more broadly, to achieving the ever-elusive equality and championing other women, especially in times of crisis. The lack of visibility for women in leadership roles contributes to a culture where young girls are not encouraged to develop entrepreneurial skills or pursue leadership positions.

And, this is, certainly, a problem. The rules of cause-effect apply to gender equality matters too. Not only do women hold a still untapped potential to positively influence economic growth; in the context of this new normal, job markets will require professionals with solid soft skills and among them, a deeper sense of empathy, attention to diversity and communication will be key. Historically, however, there has been sector-focused gender underrepresentation. While certain industries have a fairer representation of women, technology, for instance, still remains a male-dominated industry.

While the number of women operating their own business is increasing globally, women continue to face huge obstacles that slow down or even block the growth of their businesses. For instance, there is the lack of capital, social constraints — sometimes subtle but equally detrimental — firmly rooted in the culture, and time limitations. Forward-thinking countries, led by Norway in , and followed by Spain, Finland, France, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Germany and Austria have mandated a quota for women at board levels and we are now seeing the benefits of this.

And these mechanisms need to consider the current, real situations in society: single-parent households, the nature and type of dependents being supported, access to childcare post-birth and at school age.

These mechanisms are key to improving the female entrepreneurship landscape. Another key factor to look at when talking about the importance of entrepreneurship is innovation. New and improved products and services are constantly being created by or being funded by entrepreneurs.

There is fierce competition to create the latest and most advanced products or services. Because of this competition, there is also an increase in funding research and development among universities and research institutions which increases innovation and promotes the advancement of science and technology.

Entrepreneurship is often involved in improving the lives of people. This is usually done by offering new products and services that were not available earlier. This disrupts older and more outdated or traditional systems. Take, for instance, the cab industry. We have recently seen an increase in the use of online cab services. After all, this service provides people the ability to book a cab at any point during the day at a fair market rate.

It has replaced the traditional system where people and cab drivers would have to frequent certain areas to find cabs and riders. It has helped cab drivers get a near-constant supply of customers. It is a win-win situation for the cab drivers as well as the general populace. If you want to do something you believe will help your business there is no red tape to navigate through. It'll be one of the biggest challenges you will face. Leading a company and team members on a growth path is a huge challenge.

The obstacles you face along the way will provide you with an experience you won't find anywhere else. No career hamster wheel. Imagine doing the same thing every day for as long as you work. The ability to pivot. If your business model slows down, you have the freedom to pivot. Think of how many businesses died because of the Internet. The ones with good leaders simply pivoted and made adjustments to survive. You get to work with brilliant minds. As an entrepreneur you will connect with extremely intelligent people from all over the world.

You encounter brilliant minds on your team and through business relationships. Create a legacy. Creating a successful brand to the point where it leaves a personal legacy behind is appealing and serves as motivation for many entrepreneurs.

Turn your passion and beliefs into a business. Are you passionate about health and fitness? Become a nutritional consultant or open a gym. You have the ability to create a business as well as impact people through your passions and beliefs.

You can make people happy. These products bring a smile to faces of millions every single day. Sure, Apple is making billions of dollars, but they are also making their customers happy. You will never hit a ceiling. Some jobs have a growth cap and you can only advance so far. When you are an entrepreneur, there is no growth ceiling. Earn a living doing what you love. Feeling appreciated is great. Build your own security.

You will never stress about having the wrong person in charge of a business. You get to constantly learn. As an entrepreneur you are always learning lessons -- sometimes the hard way. Eliminate downsizing or layoff fears.

Businesses make cuts and lay off employees daily. That can be extremely stressful. Bad days could always be worse. A bad day as an entrepreneur is better than a bad day working for someone else. No degrees or pieces of paper stand in your way. In fact, some of the most successful tech billionaires dropped out of college. You get to push the envelope. There are no boundaries -- create, invent and disrupt as you wish. This is how brilliant ideas are born.

Satisfy your personal curiosity. Most entrepreneurs are curious -- will my idea work? Can I grow this into a sustainable business? Can I be a good leader? No more boring meetings. Gone are the days of boring meetings -- now, if you are in a boring meeting, you have nobody to blame but yourself. Media and press acknowledgement. When your company receives media coverage and validation it is extremely satisfying. Recognition for the hard work you put in helps fuel your inner fire.

You become a provider. As an entrepreneur you will become a provider for many. Your employees will depend on your leadership and decision-making, as it will directly impact their livelihood and well-being. Create your own corporate culture. You get to create a corporate culture based on your beliefs. Want to allow your employees to work from home on Fridays? How about providing in-office daycare to allow your employees to bring their children to work?

You get to develop the corporate culture that you believe will provide the best environment for success and excellence. Experience personal growth. It is a great feeling when you look back and see how much you have grown as an individual. The growth and success of a business is often directly related to the personal growth of the entrepreneur behind it. You become an expert problem solver. As a business owner you become very resourceful and over time you will learn to overcome anything and solve any problem placed in front of you.