Research: How Can Start-Ups Help Fight Youth Unemployment?
With the right ingredients, start-ups of the future can become the preferred place of learning for unemployed youth.
The vast majority of SMMEs in South Africa are single-person businesses. These entrepreneurs have an appetite to employ youth but face significant risks in doing so.
Web3 technologies can help to nullify these risks.
Globally, across cultures, youth are proactively taking the lead to fight unemployment.
Youth with entrepreneur ambitions are looking for jobs in entrepreneurial spaces that give them the opportunity to experiment while earning a living. With the right structures in place, start-ups can provide these spaces.
“Dr J” is passionate about guiding young innovators towards a prosperous future. Tuck into Dr J’s recipe for coaching entrepreneurs here.
Let’s talk about entrepreneurs and youth.
I’m a big fan of synchronicity or, simply put, meaningful coincidences.
One of the 10 insights revealed in the Heavy Chef Report on Future Entrepreneurs is titled The Youth.
“With a combination of the right ingredients,” it begins, “start-ups of the future can become the preferred place of learning for many unemployed youth – but it all starts with one person.”
The piece connects five crucial points:
That the vast majority of SMMEs in the country are in fact single-person businesses.
That these entrepreneurs have an appetite to employ youth but face significant risks in doing so.
That new Web3 technologies will help nullify many of those risks.
That when empowered and incentivised to employ, start-ups and micro-sized businesses will play a crucial role in fighting youth unemployment.
That start-ups are filled with raw and intense hands-on learning opportunities that are vital for upskilling future entrepreneurs.
Intriguing, yes?
Back to the synchronicity.
Since releasing the report, the themes within The Youth insight have been jumping out at me at many seemingly unrelated moments.
It started two weeks ago when I was pointed to a fascinating podcast that asked if future generations are yearning for a religious revival.
Soon after, a report on the future of entrepreneurship in Qatar dropped in my inbox.
That very same day, our good friends at Youth Capital shared with us fascinating insights into the role of social connections in solving youth unemployment.
Then yesterday, my passion project – a coming-of-age screenplay that explores coming to terms with your past, present and future self – received a funding offer and a feature in Rapport Newspaper.
Coincidences? I choose to think not.
Here are some of the statistical and thematic data related to this theme that you can find in our Future Entrepreneurs Report.
Insight 1
Globally, across cultures, youth are proactively taking the lead to fight unemployment.
Insight 2
Despite the risks associated with employing your first member of staff as a start-up, there is nevertheless an appetite and intent to do so.
Insight 3
Start-ups and micro-businesses do not have staff on their mind. It’s all about the drive for new business. But with an intent to employ in future, this skill gap will be critical to fill if we want to ensure small businesses become spaces for learning and growth for their employees.
Insight 4
Web3 technologies such as blockchain, decentralised networks and smart contracts show promise in helping small businesses onboard new people with reduced costs and risks.
Insight 5
Youth with entrepreneur ambitions are yearning to slot into environments that give them space to experiment and grow while earning a living – a gap exciting start-ups can fill given the right structures are in place.
Start-ups and micro-sized businesses are a fertile ground for employing and investing in the growth of young future entrepreneurs. The sentiment is there both from the business side as well as from the youth. However, there are many steps to take to remove barriers, costs and risks to do so. Web3 technologies look to address these gaps.
Learn. Do. Share.
So, what are the actions we can take from these insights?
For entrepreneurs: Have you started thinking about what learning environment you can create when you inevitably start building out your team?
For educators: How can you help technology companies align their work in Web3 with the needs of micro-sized businesses?
For brands: To what degree can you connect start-ups in your ecosystem with your internal learning, development and internship programmes?
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