In October the NEWBIE team of Business Incubator – Gotse Delchev organized three Discussion Circles in Petrich. The participants were more than 80 representatives of Vocational high school (named after Asen Zlatarov), teachers, potential new entrants and one NGO.
The topics that were focussed on were: challenges for new entrants and potential farmers to implement innovation, educational programmes on entrepreneurship, depopulation of rural areas, aging population, young people and entrepreneurship, challenges for new entrants and potential farmers to access land and capital; good Bulgarian and EU practice and inspiring business models in farming.
Key elements of the discussions:
- Entrepreneurship in farming and rural areas
- Challenges and problems in front of young people with entrepreneurial potential
- Practical education on entrepreneurship and innovation
- Successful business models of new entrants
- Sustainable farming and rural development
- Innovation in farming
- Challenges and problems to implement innovation
- Successful business models of new entrants
- Sustainable farming.
Key obstacles in front of the young people:
- Lack of access to affordable capital
- Lack of encouragement and support by friends, family and public support
- Society mentality which does not encourage mistakes to learn experience
- Lack of learning-by-doing education at schools
- Lack of skillful and devoted mentors to help with the most difficult first step of the business
- High price to implement innovation
- Fear of failure
- Young people are impatient and easyily distracted
Suggested innovative solutions of these issues could be:
- Better and active communication with successful young farmers and entrepreneurs to inspire youth at schools
- Practical education and study visits
- Encouragement and strong support to young people for their ideas development
- Encouragement and strong support to young people for their ideas development – practical training, exchanges, mentoring, experimenting
- More business ideas competitions for young people
Within the limits and measures against Covid-19 the discussion circle was organized to keep up with all the safety requirements. The team of the Business Incubator has always enlarged the pool of the stakeholders involved – now with representatives of a vocational high school, teachers and NGOs for the current DCs. The participants actively discussed why Bulgaria is such a shy innovator, in particular in agriculture, why such a small number of young people dare to become entrepreneurs despite they have ideas and would like to work for themselves. The graduates from the vocational school think the main obstacle is the current mindset and the fear of failure. They need real practice-oriented entrepreneurial education and support to succeed. The group also discussed their business ideas for sustainable local social and economic development in rural areas.
