3 Myths about MENA Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

Working and communicating in a structured manner creates a shared responsibility and accountability in an ecosystem that if all parts are working together, can be greater than the sum of its parts.

There are many success stories coming out of the MENA region’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, and it can be quite inspiring to hear and see what these innovative startups are doing in different spaces, and how they are transforming industries before our very eyes. This is all well and good, but can we step back, and take a realistic look at the ecosystem? To do this, we need to first address some misconceptions, so as to get to what the ecosystem really needs.

MYTH #1: You need lots of creative and innovative people

Innovative and creative minds are great, they can lead to some lifechanging and paradigm-shifting ideas. However, and it is a big “however,” an innovator may not necessarily be a good business manager. Someone with a great idea or tech superpowers can establish a new business, but they may lack the management skills needed to take it to the next stage, and turn it into a profitable business. There must be hundreds of great ideas or technological developments that have been forgotten, just because of poor management that led to a failed business. The enterprise I lead, the Innovative Startups and SMEs Fund (ISSF), has identified this as a major issue that startup entrepreneurs need to come to grips with. Yes, you may have a great idea, but do you have the skills and mindset required to transform it into a business? That’s why we work with the ecosystem to ensure that the management training component is being invested in, and that these entrepreneurs have access to capacity building programs to give them the skills they need, and ensuring they are establishing proper processes and good corporate governance standards in their startups. Investment readiness needs to be considered for all entrepreneurs.

Read more: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/342214