Today I attended the Kauffman Foundation State of Entrepreneurship address in Washington, D.C. at the National Press Club. The event was packed with range of bootstrap entrepreneurs like myself to high ranking government officials. Kauffman President and CEO Carl Schramm addressed the crowd with a wealth of statistics on entrepreneurship which included the following:
- 36 percent of entrepreneurs reported reductions in head count in the past year; only 8 percent have added employees.
- Nearly two-thirds have seen their sales volume and their profitability decrease.
- 71 percent of entrepreneurs do not expect to add any new jobs in 2010.
- 61 percent of entrepreneurs think the economy is on the wrong track.
I covered the event on TECH cocktail (here). I also covered the event real-time on Somewhat Frank Tidbits (here).
"We need to look to American entrepreneurs to get us on the road to financial recovery."
As I mentioned on TECH cocktail, I thought event was well done and I enjoyed the conversations. I am thankful for the opportunity to attend. Though I am a little concerned as an entrepreneur to see a recurring discussion on the important role of entrepreneurs in creating new jobs, to save the American economy. As an American entrepreneur I am all about helping to fix the economy but it is not my overall goal as an entrepreneur to help create jobs. While I would love to see jobs created as a result of my work as an entrepreneur my first goal is building out an idea to solve a problem. Focusing on job creation as an entrepreneur is not what drives entrepreneurs. While I understand the importance of keeping Americans employed, I would like to see more of the discussion focused on entrepreneurship programs to help facilitate new ideas and innovation. What do you think?
