We are currently living through the most unprecedented times with immense challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has led us to the worst financial crisis in a decade, bringing economies to their knees. Most of the developed economies have already declared that they are in a recession. The COVID-19 situation has driven MSME’s and SME’s, which are largely believed to be the main engine for economic growth, out of business. The slowdown in economic growth consequently has halted job creation and left many unemployed.

The Maldives, arguably, has felt the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic more profoundly than the rest of the world. Being a small island nation, which depends largely on tourism revenues, Maldives is economically the hardest hit country among the South Asian countries, expecting a severe recession by the end of this year through a contraction of our economy by 13% (Maldives Monetary Authority, 2020). Tourism industry directly and indirectly contributes to around 70% of the GDP. Hence, the collapse of this industry due to the pandemic has impacted employment of more than 25,000 people (either by job loss or salary cut), which is 12.5% of the active working population, while the active working population in the Maldives is 68% of the total population.

Consequently, at an individual level, lifestyle and livelihood is taking a new shape. Uncertainty and unpredictability seem to be the order of the day for many of us. However, times like these help us understand the challenges better, make us explore the opportunities in different perspectives, our survival instincts grow stronger and it takes our determination and creativity to do what is often deemed impossible. Taking this into account, it is important for school leavers and university students to build an entrepreneurial career by taking advantage of the current situation, focusing on opportunities available locally. This article is based on a webinar held by Villa College, initiating a discussion about the ways in which higher education providers and the government could help foster entrepreneurial culture and mindset. This webinar on “Building an entrepreneurial career by focusing on opportunities” was hosted by Mr. Mohamed Shihab, Faculty Advisory Committee Member of the Faculty of Business Management, Villa College. Mr. Iyaz Waheed, President of Universal Foundation, Ms. Lubna Zahir, Owner of Skin Candy and Mr. Adam Naseer, Director of Corporate Services Finance Executive and Head of the Institute of Audit and Assurance (IAA), Auditor General’s Office were the panellists.

Webinar link: https://www.facebook.com/133248946731079/videos/801697053937991

Firstly, what is entrepreneurship or an entrepreneurial career? Our experts defined it as identifying and satisfying market needs, with a high risk, high reward proposition and solving the problems of a target market/population. Moreover, entrepreneurs need to sell their ideas, first to yourself and then to the others, as highlighted by Ms. Lubna. The idea of entrepreneurship as a career has been practiced in countries around the world, most notably in the US, where students are encouraged to setup their own little business, like lemonade stands, in order to give them the experience of running their own business. Terms like “kidpreneurs” and “mompreneurs” are virtually unheard of in Maldives, although there is a rise in mothers starting their own businesses at home using various social media platforms. However, Mr. Iyaz noted that a culture of choosing entrepreneurship as a career is not yet established here in the Maldives.

The labour market of the Maldives is characterized by duality (Najeeb, 2011). On the one hand, unemployment rate remains at 28%, on the other hand, the expatriate workers in the Maldives is at par with the economically active Maldivian population. It is estimated that the economically active population of the Maldives will be doubled by the year 2054. Parallel to this growth, by 2054, expatriate workers’ population in the Maldives will surpass the economically active Maldivian population. The growth of foreign employment in the Maldives could pose a huge challenge for locals to find employment in the future. Therefore, the way forward for us is to seek entrepreneurship and self-employment. There are various other challenges that could give rise to entrepreneurship. While some of the challenges can be turned into opportunities easily, others could remain barriers to seek entrepreneurship. It is important to understand these challenges, in order to succeed as an entrepreneur.

Ms. Lubna explained that, in order to become a successful entrepreneur, you need to have specific qualities and characteristics. Most notably, one should be highly committed, hardworking, dedicated, passionate and have a high degree of self-trust, in order to become a successful entrepreneur. She highlighted further, that entrepreneurs must not be afraid to take risks and they should be able to manage the financial aspect efficiently. One of the main challenges that entrepreneurs face in any business is the risk of failure and the hope of success. The constant ups and downs. Our experts suggest that the key to succeeding in entrepreneurial endeavours, is to be consistent and persistent in all efforts. Moreover, they stressed on the importance of future proofing, in order to stay one step ahead of the competition. Mr Iyaz Waheed noted that 2020 has been a reset button for the world. Basic fundamentals are being re-thought by people from all over the world. Technology is now being seen as a basic fundamental in order to make anything successful. This is both a blessing and an enormous challenge that needs to be considered and understood.

According to the Pension Office (2020) statistics, there are 1971 businesses registered at the Pension Office. Only 0.4% of the population is active entrepreneurs, which means one in every 262 people of the population is an entrepreneur. These statistics suggest that there is a huge potential for entrepreneurship development in the Maldives. The rise of internet, gig and shared economy have created opportunities for entrepreneurship more than we have imagined. The COVID situation has forced businesses to find innovative and creative ways to operate their business in order to survive in the crisis and thrive in its aftermath. Having felt the profound impact of COVID 19 pandemic, our economy is in need of people who can think outside the box in innovative and creative ways to provide solutions to existing and future problems. It provides opportunities not only to redefine the existing businesses and the way businesses operate but also to redefine ourselves individually. There could be ample opportunities for reskilling and upskilling to secure jobs or to form new start-ups which embrace the challenges and cater for the new reality.

Mr. Iyaz noted that in order to successfully identify the opportunities in the entrepreneurial field, one should be aware of challenges that they or the people around them faces on a daily basis. Providing a solution to such problems can turn out to be quite a successful business venture, which in turn enhances ones’ entrepreneurial skills and experience. Moreover, Mr. Iyaz highlighted the importance of delayed gratification, which is the delay of treating yourself with certain delights that you crave. He mentioned further, that it is important to make a self-cost-benefit analysis where one needs to identify the things that gives you most benefit and focus on them, in order to improve as an entrepreneur; or in any respective field.

We constantly read and talk about the GDP of our country, and how we do not actually receive an amount that is even close it as our income. Our experts addressed this issue and stated firmly that one has to work towards getting their share of the country’s GDP. In order to do that, it is crucial to take challenges and risks as an entrepreneur. While there are “intrapreneurs”, who are committed in working for firms that do not belong to them, but see it as their own and work to help them survive, it is a common theme in the Maldives where people have certain “side gigs” of their own, with their day jobs, that help them expand their entrepreneurial horizons.

An entrepreneurial mind set is required for the entrepreneurs to be successful in their chosen path. It’s the way of thinking that shape the modus operandi of the entrepreneurship. An entrepreneurial mind-set helps entrepreneurs to identify challenges and opportunities, turn challenges to opportunities and capitalize on opportunities available to survive and thrive the entrepreneurship. It is commonly believed that certain characteristics, skills, behaviour and actions are necessary to develop an entrepreneurial mind-set. The society in general and key actors of the society such as parents, schools, higher education providers and the government in particular play a significant role in developing an entrepreneurial culture or mind set. The famous Bill Gates sought an entrepreneurship through developing an idea for a computer programme at the age of 13. The founders of successful entrepreneurships such as Google and Facebook generated their business ideas in their University days.

In the Maldives, it is often said that an entrepreneurial culture needs to be developed within the country. Our experts discussed at length, as to how one can develop such a culture. First and foremost, it is vital to have a certain iron-discipline and personal leadership in order to succeed as an entrepreneur. The concept of entrepreneurship demands certain disciplinary practices and leadership attributes. Ms. Lubna highlighted that it is virtually impossible to generate success as an entrepreneur, without being disciplined about what one is trying to do. In addition, she mentioned the importance of being consistent in what is being done as an entrepreneur. A stop-start style of self-leadership, discipline and commitment is seldom going to help moving forward. Moreover, our experts mentioned that while it takes time to reach good entrepreneurial ideas and skills, it is important to be up to date with the current affairs of the country and the world, while reading as much as possible and doing research in order to learn more about competitors and key stakeholders of the respective industry or market. This will enable you to always be one step ahead of the competition. Mr. Adam noted that, in order to develop an entrepreneurial culture and mindset, one needs to be extremely motivated and focused. He mentioned further that sometimes there will be numerous and different opportunities available to you, but it is your duty as an entrepreneur, to assess every single one of them and choose what is best for your venture.

Furthermore, our experts agreed that in order to become a successful entrepreneur, you need to be able to adapt into different situations, while having an adequate amount of information about yourself and what you want to do. It is crucial that you identify your passions. Moreover, the exploration of ideas, with self-belief and self-motivation will enable you to identify which ideas are best suited for your business.

We need to be a society that rewards entrepreneurship. Policy makers have a huge role in placing frames and systems (both legal and fiscal) that encourages entrepreneurship. Educators need to instil behaviours, attitudes and develop the capacity of our young minds. Incubators can be developed in collaboration with already established businesses. Moreover, the role of media is important in creating awareness and portray the role models within the society. Most importantly, individuals need to support and encourage each other at individual levels. Action needs to be taken both collectively as a society and individually, each as one, for the other.

References

Maldives Monetary Authority. (2020) Statistics [Online]. Available from: http://www.mma.gov.mv/#/statistics [Accessed 23 December 2020].

Najeeb, A. (2011) The status of migrant workers in the Maldives: 'Precarious workers' or 'labour aristocrats'? Employment Relations Record [Online]. 11(2), pp. 33-55. [Accessed 22 December 2020].

Pension Office. (2020) Statistics [Online]. Available from: https://www.pension.gov.mv/stats/graph/contributions [Accessed 21 December 2020].