Bluff City Community Development Corporation believes in Entrepreneurship and we believe that this is not fostered in the communities that we live in and serve.  Based on this believe, we feel called to plant the seed of Entrepreneurship in the communities that we live and serve.

Entrepreneurship is the process of creating a business idea and turning it into a real business. Entrepreneurs create new goods and services based on new technologies or demands. They are extremely motivated and focused, typically spending long, unpaid hours working on their ideas in attempts to turn them into profitable businesses. Entrepreneurs are the engines of the economy in every generation, so many economic development efforts support their needs in the hope of creating new employment prospects. Entrepreneurship development programs provide potential entrepreneurs with the capital, training, and technical assistance they need to start-up and grow their business. Incubators are one of the many initiatives used for entrepreneurship development, but programs also include technical assistance, financing, legislation, marketing, accounting, and networking.

3 Ways to Fight Poverty With Entrepreneurship

There is a lot of discussion about poverty in America. Solutions range from increased taxes on the rich to work requirements on welfare. It seems as if no one is arguing for one solution that’s been on the top of a lot of peoples’ mind lately: entrepreneurship.

The many causes of poverty are complicated and the subject of much debate. Education is one factor. Twenty-four percent of people without a high school education are currently facing poverty, as opposed to 4 percent of people with a bachelor’s degree. We also know that where you live dictates what schools you attend and the opportunities you experience, and that poverty is intergenerational. If your parents live in poverty, you too will likely live in poverty.

So why entrepreneurship?

If you went to the worst schools in any state, there is a smaller chance that you will attend college and receive a degree needed to secure a good salary in a traditional job. However, if you were to start a landscaping business, you could achieve a six-figure income while also creating wealth through business equity. In fact, A recent survey found that more than half of Entrepreneurs have less than a four-year degree and 25 percent have a high school degree or less.

Not only does entrepreneurship remove educational barriers, but it also leads to higher wages. When you control for education, ability, parental income, and more, entrepreneurs’ incomes are higher than those of people working traditional jobs. This is especially true in low-income areas, where individuals who are self-employed and incorporated have the highest average income in a community, coming in at $67,000 a year.

But entrepreneurship does not only benefit the entrepreneur; it also benefits their community. When a business is created in a community, it creates local jobs, helps keep money circulating in the community, and often pulls in money from other communities. Approximately two-thirds of jobs are created by small businesses, and 30 percent of those are from new establishments.

Finally, if you look at the history of the country at even a cursory level, you learn that almost every disenfranchised group leaned on entrepreneurship as a way up and out of their circumstances. Immigrants are just one example.

The greatest myth about entrepreneurship is that it is only available to people who are already wealthy. That’s simply not the case. At our foundation, we help people open low-capital startups every day. We do not dispute that it is easier for someone to start a business if they have deep pockets, but we also know (through lived experiences) that you can start a business with less than $1,000.