The greatest changes that ever occur in the world are often made under the influence of the tiniest and the least significant factors. The world of business and entrepreneurship is no stranger to this paradoxical law; over the past few years, a considerable rise in the effects of small companies and private entrepreneurships on the course of the major business processes and the world market has been noticed.
Therefore, it is more than reasonable to encourage private entrepreneurship. However, for the most part, starting a new business venture means taking huge risks and facing a number of difficulties in the process. In Monia Lougui’s recent article, Identifying obstacles encountered by Swedish entrepreneurs? Evidences from the start-line [4], the major obstacles in the way of businessmen and the means to avoid these obstacles are discussed.
In fact, the problem raised by Lougui, i.e., the conflict between the complexities that small companies face to make it to the market and the need for small companies to boost economy, is applicable not only to the Swedish market context, but also to the context of literally any market in the world. For example, the one of the UAE seems to be in a temporary crisis due to the lack of boosters for small enterprises.
As Lougui explains, the basic obstacles that Swedish entrepreneurs face when starting their own business concerns the way in which the given sector is funded. Created on the basis of public production, private entrepreneurship in Sweden has little to no chances for getting a good start, since the money provided for the creation of a company is barely enough to rent an office.
Another issue concerns taxation; according to Lougui, the taxes that company owners pay are too high to afford for someone whose company is not immediately renowned in the corresponding market. Compared to the Swedish small companies, their UAE colleagues have even less chances to survive; the effect of the aforementioned issues is reinforced by stiff competition [5], lack of motivation among employees [2] and the lack of efficient start-up programs [1].
Another possible problem that the UAE entrepreneurs might stumble over concerns women in the UAE business world. True, a number of prejudices against women in business have been dealt with in the UAE, yet it cannot be denied that come elements of discrimination still persist.
As long as small businesses exist in their own world of minor concerns and a small target audience, gender based discrimination does not affect the success of an organization. However, as soon as these entrepreneurships start interacting with European and American companies, the clash of cultures occurs, therefore, blocking the way of the UAE small enterprises into a lager business area [3].
Therefore, it can be assumed that the UAE small entrepreneurships have certain potential, yet their owners have to evaluate the existing threats carefully, reconsider corporate values and set the company’s priorities straight, and make sure that the product that is going to be offered to the target audience is in demand and is being marketed in a new and original way, so that the numerous competitors could not ruin the company’s success.
The UAE government has already made an important discovery concerning the significance of small entrepreneurships, which means that the first major step has already been made. What is left is facilitating small companies with a chance to grow.
Reference List
- V. Bharadwaj (2012). Promoting entrepreneurship in the Gulf Region. Web.
- G. Duncan (2011). Problems facing entrepreneurs and SMEs in the UAE. Web.
- H. C. Haan (2004). Small enterprises: Women entrepreneurs in the UAE. Web.
- M. Lougui. Identifying obstacles encountered by Swedish entrepreneurs? Evidences from the start-line. Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, SE, 2010, pp. 2–47.
- Young entrepreneur competition in Abu Dhabi (2013). Web.