Not many are aware that there is a global celebration about entrepreneurship around the world that is happening every second week of November.
This week, more than 10 million people from 160 countries are participating in 35,000 events to celebrate the Global Entrepreneurship Week or GEW.
GEW aims to recognize entrepreneurs and their contributions to economic development, as well as inspire people from all walks of life to consider entrepreneurship as one way to become financially independent.
Founded in 2007 as a result of Enterprise Week UK and Entrepreneurship Week USA, GEW was officially launched as an entrepreneurial awareness campaign.
Through the years, the GEW has grown to be a platform for business collaborations among entrepreneurs, as more opportunities and ideas are exchanged through the various activities during the week.
According to research by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor based in the U.S., only 6.2 percent of the adult population in the Philippines are established business owners, while about 18.4 percent are engaged in early stage entrepreneurship.
Business failure, however, is also high at 12.6 percent due to poor profitability and lack of capital.
Although about half of the population at 46 percent has a positive view about entrepreneurship, about 38 percent of them are not sure about going into business because of fear of failure.
Many people are still hesitant to go into entrepreneurship because they don’t have the right skills and training to start a business.
Last year, during the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, many people who lost their jobs from business closures were forced to go into entrepreneurship.
