Generation Entrepreneur

Yuan wants to start a business in school gardening in China. He plans to introduce the School Gardening Program from Melbourne to primary schools in China. He is working with several international schools in Nanjing to start his program. In his program, he notes that children can experience the funs in planting and farming, while the harvest can goes to the school cafeteria.

“Parents would love that because they know what their kids are eating. Media will love it as well, because it promotes an eco- and low-carbon life style,” said Yuan after his visit to the school gardening sites in Melbourne. “We can also use the profits from the school gardening to help poor students in rural China.”

Although there is much potential in entrepreneurship particularly in helping to turn around the job market, the overwhelming entrepreneurship among the youth also reveals the problems of the current school education. The risk and danger of today’s education is that it is based on a world that no longer exists. Education continues to focus on subjects and disciplines while overlooking essential job-specific skills and so-called “soft skills” such as empathy, teamwork and leadership and creativity. For social enterprise leaders, the dual responsibilities of social commitment and commercial need calls for excellent leadership ability, team-work, and interpersonal communication skills.

Amidst this new economic climate, young entrepreneurs are seeking ways to set up their own businesses and combine this with passion and innovation to tackle social problems. This leads to a brand new form of entrepreneurship: social enterprise. This process of employing market-based methods to solve social problems continues to grow in popularity as it calls for financially sustainable organizations that can respond to the world’s most pressing problems. Young leaders have to manage conflicting demands that arise from everything from dual commitments to improving social welfare and achieving commercial viability.

Young entrepreneurs are planning and leading incredible businesses and social change projects. As a society, one of the best things we can do for young people is to give them the encouragement, guidance, and space to change the world.

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Maureen Lu is a Chinese-background junior journalist based in Australia. She is currently working towards a Master of Global Media Communications at the University of Melbourne. Her passions include environmental problems, international issues and gender equity.