A cultural change is what is needed in order to create more entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas in Barbados, says Ayanna Young-Marshall, coordinator of the Student Entrepreneurial Empowerment Development (SEED) programme.
Young-Marshall told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY that it was time children were given the freedom to express themselves and were encouraged to develop their interests and ideas into businesses when they come of age.
She said that young people were being targeted too late.
“We need to encourage young people to be different, to be free and fearless about identifying ideas for businesses,” she said.
“We have to move from that children being seen and not heard mentality. They go through primary and secondary school and by the time we get them here at the tertiary level, they would have already been fashioned.
“They will be so ripe with ideas and what we can do is to help to mould them, implement and make those ideas a reality and transform the idea now into a business.
“I would like to see the young people be free in that sense to come up with ideas, and not to tell them that idea is crazy or it has been done already,” said Young-Marshall.
The business lecturer said the time was ripe for more entrepreneurial activities and a number of students entering university would have already had a lot of viable business ideas.
“It has to be a cultural move towards seeing the lateral thinker as acceptable . . . right now in Government, all we need [is] ideas to turn the corner.
“We [need] a culture that facilitates ideas and facilitates children expressing them. That is the sort of learning that we need to have – it is a cultural thing,” she said.
“This is the idea generation. All around the world, it is ideas that are contributing to the economic prosperity of countries.
“We have ideas, we are creative by our very nature, but we just need the freedom to express them and develop them – and then get financing to convert that idea into a viable business and of course, generate employment,” said Young-Marshall.
