Identify and improve community ecosystems.
Everyone is looking for a new lever to pull.
Academics and governments tend to discuss how global forces shape the choices regional businesses and communities need to make, rather than the wants and needs of the local people who live and work there, and put a focus on “business development” initiatives. Steadily improving the business ecosystem leads to a surge in early-stage or start-up businesses with significant potential.
It’s great to think about “regional and economic development”. However, individual choices and actions are the primary drivers, and they require a catalyst. Without significant capital expenditure, growth and business prosperity can only occur through increasing entrepreneurial participation and more responsive ecosystems.
Interest in entrepreneurial activity grows rapidly globally as a foundation for community development. Various communities worldwide use different tools and methods, but the core concept of entrepreneurship remains the same.
Identify the entrepreneurs, support them and build a nurturing ecosystem environment for growing businesses. By all means, change the conversations in the community, but the days of ‘talkfests’ are over if you want action.
Every flourishing ecosystem has a compelling value proposition. It assists in solving community problems and frustrations. Thus, the proper starting point in the search for ecosystem opportunities is an outside-in market perspective, not an inside-out view dictated by bureaucrats.
The most effective way to identify a viable ecosystem opportunity is to examine your customer’s journey and identify market problems, frustrations, and unmet wants and needs that are too big or complex to be solved by one organisation acting in isolation. Keep the focus on creativity, innovation and collaboration.
Focusing on issues that represent substantial problems for your customers or suppliers is essential. Business diversification reduces dependency on external influencers and suppliers. Regional areas usually have a competitive advantage in terms of natural resources.
However, ecosystems usually have a distinct advantage in knowledge and technology-based activities due primarily to remoteness, lack of connectivity and lack of business support services.
Once you identify an attractive market opportunity and value proposition, ask whether a local ecosystem can help you deliver the solution. Unfortunately, governments tend to ignore local entrepreneurial ecosystems, heavily emphasising their ‘silver bullet solution’ from outside the region.
Quotable Quotes
“Business, education, health and other ecosystems in regional areas offer excellent opportunities for entrepreneurs to make a difference, starting with innovation in the education ecosystems“. Peter Sergeant
“Home-based and lifestyle businesses are becoming the backbone of regional communities and vital to creating jobs and new opportunities”. Peter Sergeant.