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A THEORY OF CHANGE FOR RESILIENT ENTREPRENEURSHIPAFRICA RESILIENCE PROGRAM DECEMBER 2015 | VERSION 1.0
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Introduction
The Resilience Program was thus developed to prototype entrepreneurial solutions, and also to learn and reflect deeply on what re-silience means and what we, as ecosystem builders, can do to enable more entrepre-neurs in their endeavours. We convened a series of dialogues and meetings through 2015, in Kigali, Berlin and Addis Ababa with entrepreneurs and thought leaders, to understand the entrepreneurship challeng-es and opportunities in different contexts and to develop a deeper understanding of what makes entrepreneurs “resilient” – what they need to thrive and what key services, support and interventions are critical in challenging environments.
Approach & Method 4
Summary 5
The Challenging Conditions Entrepreneurs Face 7
Definitions of Resilience 9
Qualities of Resilient Entrepreneurs 12
Characteristics of a Functioning Entrepreneurial Ecosystem 13
Essential Ecosystem Facilitators 14
Critical Ecosystem Facilitators For Challenging Environments 16
The Impact Logic 18
Possible interventions clustered based on Ecosystem Domains 20
Contact Information 22
OBJECTIVES & APPLICATIONSBy identifying from entrepreneurs
themselves what they most need and what has worked, the objectives of this Theory of Change is to create a stronger foundation for the development of local and regional programmatic activities of organisations that aim to support entrepreneurs in chal-lenging conditions. With that it seeks to contribute to the development of “smarter” activities and partnerships among the wider entrepreneurial ecosystem.
CONTEXTCordaid and Impact Hub share the belief
that entrepreneurs in complex contexts are incredibly resourceful and have immense potential. This potential lies not only in strengthening their own economies, civic societies and country systems, but also in contributing to the rest of the world with their ability to innovate, develop and grow prosperous businesses. By combining Cor-daid and Impact Hub’s expertise and expe-riences, the Resilience Africa program is jointly developing a unique community of resilient entrepreneurial ventures through supporting entrepreneurs in Burundi, Dem-ocratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya and Sierra Leone to establish Impact Hubs. The hope is that these spaces will provide much needed incubation and acceleration services in their cities, and will build and strengthen local entrepreneurial ecosys-tems. The Cordaid-Impact Hub partnership is focused on the mutual goal of creating long lasting support for entrepreneurs, col-laborating closely with the local leaders and entrepreneurs who can make this happen and together, encouraging communities and spaces where innovation can truly flourish. In addition Cordaid and Impact Hub want to understand more profoundly what the key success factors are that enable entrepreneurs in challenging conditions to be resilient despite the challenges and risks.
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Approach & Method
APPROACHThis work aims to understand the key
factors for resilience in entrepreneurs fac-ing challenging entrepreneurial ecosystems. In order to inform targeted support efforts in these environments, we seek to highlight the elements that characterize resilient en-trepreneurs in challenging circumstances as distinct from those that benefit entrepre-neurs operating in well-functioning entre-preneurial ecosystems.
We began by asking questions of a sample of entrepreneurs in the following countries: Kenya, Sudan, Ghana, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Mali. We posed the following questions:
• What does it take to be an entrepreneur?• What do you think are the most import-
ant elements that support entrepreneurs in your region (or regions) you work in to thrive?
• Which players are the main facilitators / supporters of entrepreneurs? What does their support look like? What works / what doesn’t?
• What role does government in your region currently play to support entrepreneurs?
• Looking back at the past several years, what factors have you observed being most significant in helping entrepre-neurs to succeed?
• How do you understand resilience for yourself, as an entrepreneur?
In May 2015 we conducted an initial kickoff meeting in Kigali to frame the ques-tions we aimed to answer with this work. To begin the Theory of Change process, a group of twelve then met in Berlin for three days to engage with these questions using tools from “The Community Builder’s Approach to Theory of Change” by The Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Changes. Two months later we convened a conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia called “Re-Imagin-ing Resilience” with a selected group of over 100 entrepreneurs, investors, and key sec-tor players to continue our investigation of what makes entrepreneurs resilient in chal-lenging environments through storytelling, provocations and interviews.
A HUMAN CENTRED APPROACHThis Theory of Change on Resilient En-
trepreneurship puts the entrepreneur in the centre of the investigation and seeks to understand what entrepreneurs need to be more resilient in challenging contexts. It assumes that the success factors for SME re-silience derive from both an entrepreneur’s capacity to navigate given conditions and the maturity of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. Significant research has been done to define what a functioning entre-preneurial ecosystem looks like and how to measure ecosystem maturity (Entrepreneur-ial Ecosystem Diagnostic Toolkit, December 2013 by the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs). Our work hones in on criti-cal success factors for entrepreneur resil-ience when confronting underdeveloped entrepreneurial ecosystems. As such, this investigation adopts a qualitative research approach, engaging the practical experience of entrepreneurs and support organisations with hands-on insight into what works on the ground.
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Summary
SOCIAL CAPITAL & ACCESS TO INFORMATION
Even though lack of access to financial capital is high on the list of obstacles, it seems social capital can in some ways sub-stitute and support entrepreneurs in ways financial capital can’t. Social capital is de-fined by the networks of individuals that entrepreneurs surround themselves with; mentors, peers, family, friends and most importantly, other entrepreneurs. The cen-tral premise of social capital is that social networks have value. Social capital refers to the value of who people know and the incli-nations that arise from these networks to do things for each other.
Where governments and institutions have failed, relationships of trust, reciproc-ity and cooperation are empowering forces in tight knit social networks.
The journey of entrepreneurship re-quires the access to a massive amount of information. Navigating each progressive step means acquiring new information; how to open and register your company, critical laws and compliances, tax incentives, fund-ing opportunities, how to access market in-formation, how and where to get BD train-ing, where to access to banking services and credit, types of available capital, and how to navigate the complex bureaucratic systems entrepreneurs face, to name a few.
Lack of access to relevant information stood out as a major stumbling block for entrepreneurs in underdeveloped ecosys-tems. Institutions that typically provide the necessary information (i.e. educational and financial institutions, government and oth-er regulators) fail to provide entrepreneurs with the information they need when they need it. Entrepreneurs instead depend on the social networks they surround them-selves with for critical information. Deliv-ery and dissemination of information is thus a vital function of social networks. In challenging environments, entrepreneurs tend to rely mainly on themselves and peer-to-peer support. Their resilience stems from their ability to avoid reliance on in-stitutional assistance and instead engage with each other for assistance in navigating complex conditions, forming social capital networks for information gathering and dissemination.
Resilience in tough conditions depends on the predominant qualities of individual entrepreneurs. Without a strong supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem, which internal qualities can they rely on to keep them go-ing?
• Creative Transformer: can pivot and play different roles as needed
• Leader: a dynamic critical thinker who can bridge relationships and lead ethically
• Connector: has a strong ability to build social capital with relationships of trust & empathy
• Risk Taker: can embrace the possibility of failure with audacity
• Long Term Thinker: has accepted there is no ease in doing business and has a deep sense of perseverance, dedication, endurance, discipline and fortitude
• Hopeful, Faithful, and Passionate Optimist: has a hopeful mindset and attitude based on an expectation of positive outcomes related to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large
Resilient entrepreneurs possess strong capacity as connectors and develop social capital with ease. They drive toward a long-term view with perseverance, hope, faith and passion.
Taking a deep dive into context and place is vital when discussing resilient entrepre-neurship. The specificity of place drives everything. Family is another important element to highlight, with its capacity to act as both asset and hindrance for entre-preneurs. When resources are limited or
where certain religious beliefs play a strong role in society, family can add to the obsta-cles entrepreneurs face. On the other hand, family can play a positive role in helping to keep entrepreneurs focused and on track, as well as providing financial support for their dreams.
Strategic interventions must be devel-oped in relation to context. Each city, re-gion, country or set of conditions is part of a dynamic, locally rooted context and local entrepreneurs have their own history and character. Therefore, it is imperative that any intervention considers both the state of the current local ecosystem and local entrepreneurs’ character, expertise, and ex-perience.
The spirit within the entrepreneur and his / her ability to amass the social capital that facilitates access to critical informa-tion enables resilience in challenging en-vironments and conditions. This alchemy enables entrepreneurs to build necessary skills and increase capacity. A functional ecosystem acts as a multiplier, increasing an entrepreneur’s ability to succeed. In the absence of a functional ecosystem resilient entrepreneurs rely on inner resources and social networks.
Even in the most supportive conditions entrepreneurship is a difficult road to choose. Environments with more challeng-ing conditions present many more obsta-cles for an entrepreneur to navigate. In our small sample of countries in Africa and Latin America, our research identified the following 8 conditions as posing the great-est challenge to entrepreneurs (identified by entrepreneurs and intermediary organiza-tions from a list of 50 conditions):
• Corruption• Lack of access to capital• Lack of access to training• Brain drain and youth flight• Unemployment• Lack of access to markets• Economic inequality• Gender inequality
And yet, in spite of these difficult chal-lenges, the culture of entrepreneurship in our focus regions is growing steadily. Just as the cell phone has enabled connectivity in regions lacking infrastructure, entrepre-neurs are creating ways to start and grow businesses with limited to no support from local or national governments and institu-tions. We have found that two interrelated facilitators predict entrepreneur resilience in these environments:
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(Capacities + Social Capital + Access to information) × Ecosystem = Thriving Resilient Entrepreneurs
The stronger the surrounding entrepre-neurial ecosystem, the more the resilient en-trepreneur can unfold his / her potential and truly thrive. The ecosystem acts as a catalyst in activating entrepreneurial potential.
Resilient entrepreneurs have developed the capacity to coevolve, shapeshift & trans-form, understand themselves as part of a whole, emerge stronger, recover quickly, be-come resourceful and ultimately thrive de-spite all of the challenges facing their local environment.
Qualities of the Entrepreneur + Acquired Skills = Entrepreneurial Capacities
The entrepreneurial qualities (Creative Transformer, Optimist, Leader, Connector, Risk Taker, Long Term Thinker) are vital characteristics for any entrepreneur in a challenging environment. We define the combination of these qualities combined with practical business skills as Entrepre-neurial Capacities.
Capacities + Social Capital + Access to information = Resilient Entrepreneurs
In environments with well-developed entrepreneurial ecosystem facilitators, these capacities are sufficient to enable an entrepreneur’s success. However, in challenging environments, a resilient entrepreneur needs more than entrepreneurial capacities to compensate for a lacking en-trepreneurial ecosystem. (S)he also requires well-developed social networks (social capital) to enable access to critical information in order to achieve resilience.
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The Challenging Conditions Entrepreneurs Face
In many emerging markets the entrepre-neurial ecosystem is characterised by the lack of national institutions and infrastruc-ture to support smaller and medium busi-ness in terms of policies and regulations. This is compounded by an endless number of social and economic issues including lack of access to information, lack of capital and markets, lack of suppliers and skilled and educated staff. The challenges facing entre-preneurs in these contexts form a long, dis-couraging list. They add to the many chal-lenges inherent to entrepreneurship even in the best of circumstances to complicate the daily entrepreneurial journey of SMEs.
However, these challenges are not ex-clusive to emerging markets and manifest in other regions and contexts as well. Po-litical, social and economic crises can also lead to violence and turmoil in developed nations, with Northern Ireland and many neighbourhoods in the Netherlands, Greece, or France as prime examples. We therefore engage the term challenging conditions to underscore their spread beyond emerging markets.
• Aid dependency• Apathy• Black-market• Brain drain / youth flight• Command & control
development agencies• Conflict• Corruption• Crime & Violence• Dictatorship• Discrimination• Disease & epidemic• Despair• Donor darlings• Economic inequality• Environmental degradation• Ethno-religious conflict & tribalism• Gender inequality• Government exclusion policies• Human rights violations• Injustice• Insecurity
• Lack of access to capital• Lack of access to education• Lack of access to information• Lack of access to markets• Lack of access to goods & services• Lack of access to technology• Lack of culture of entrepreneurship• Lack of ease of doing business• Lack of favorable government policies• Lack of infrastructure
(roads, electricity, etc]• Lack of trust• Land scarcity• Migration / Immigration• Money devaluation & inflation• No rule of law• No self-employment• Political turmoil
• Population growth• Poverty• Racial inequalities• Repression• Structural dependency• Terrorism• Unemployment• Unpredictability• Weak democracy• Youth exclusion
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Definitions of Resilience
Resilience is a rich and complex process. Because of the mercurial nature of causes and conditions that precipitate re silience, it is difficult, if not impossible, to create a static theory of resilience. Resilience is a way of being and doing, not an end state. Initiatives and strategies are never finished, much less set in stone, because conditions are unlikely to remain constant. Resilience-building efforts must adapt as conditions and needs change. Our attempt is to create a roadmap for the journey of resilience.
“The ability to co-evolve in a constantly changing context, and retain identity, even in the face of turbulence and crisis.”KEN WHITE, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, POST CARBON INSTITUTE
“The capacity of a system to absorb distur-bance and re-organize while undergoing change so as to still retain essentially the same function, structure, identity and feedbacks.” RESILIENCE.ORG
“The ability as a community to withstand change in a way that protects all people, and an ability to take advantage of change in a way that increases the ability of the community to thrive.” NIKKI SYLVESTRI, FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GREEN FOR ALL
“Urban resilience describes the capacity of people living and working in cities – particularly the poor and vulnerable – to resist, absorb, accommodate and recover from hazards or stresses and shocks and transform by addressing the under-lying factors and root causes of risk in an effective way.” CORDAID
“Resilience is based on systems thinking. Understanding yourself as part of a whole, and not necessarily as only one part, but shifting. You play different roles at different times. You have roles instead of jobs, and you are able to shape-shift into different roles depending on what the need is at the time.” DORIA ROBINSON, CEO, URBAN TILTH
“The ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity. The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY
“Resilience seeks to build the capacity of a family or community to withstand shocks in a way that minimizes long-term developmental consequences.” MERCY CORPS
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Informed by the definitions above we have adopted the following working definition:
The capacity, skills and qualities of entre-preneurs to co-evolve, shapeshift and transform, understand themselves as part of a whole, recover quickly, emerge stronger, become resourceful and ulti-mately thrive despite the conditions they face in challenging environments.
CO-EVOLVETo progress in interdependent rela-
tionships with other people and systems and transcend current conditions with an awareness of collective impact. This leads to collaboration rooted in a shared interest in mutual growth and development while un-derstanding that the whole system needs to grow and develop. It is the ability to see oth-er players and identify opportunities to help one another overcome gaps and challenges, affecting collective transformation.
RECOVER QUICKLY & EMERGE STRONGER
The ability to self-motivate and reconfig-ure the operations of the business in a short amount of time. The usage of challenges and failures as a source of learning and innovation. The capacity to identify what works best in certain conditions.
BE RESOURCEFULThe ability to mobilize resources (finan-
cial, human and in-kind) and to continuous-ly adapt and push in the face of challenges in a flexible and proactive manner. People who started with little and have made their own resources know how to get more done with less, and in less time.
In the absence of government policy, so-cial entrepreneurs are building their own systems and tools to compensate for the ab-sence of an ecosystem.
STRONGLY LINKED TO PURPOSE OF BUSINESS (FAITHFULNESS)
Understanding one’s personal life pur-pose as aligned with the work, which mani-fests as persistence and commitment. It also functions as a source of innovation to main-tain competitive edge.
TRANSFORM & REFRAME THE SITUATION
The ability to change perspective and create a new narrative by seeing opportuni-ties where other people see problems. It is a unique quality of the entrepreneur to find continuous meaning in order to continue to drive the business in the midst of turmoil. The capacity to pivot the business model quickly in accordance with what is possible now.
SHAPESHIFTTo consciously move into different
roles depending on what needs to get done. Entrepreneurs that come from places that suffocate innovation instead of spur it are more than ‘resilient entre-preneurs’. They are ecosystem catalysts, creating the language, infrastructure and culture of entrepreneurship from scratch. They possess the capacity and drive to proactively identify needs and fill them.
UNDERSTANDING YOURSELF AS PART OF A WHOLE
To see the web of relationships that compose the ecosystem and understand one’s role within it. This awareness leads to the ability to leverage these relation-ships to create social capital. The value of social capital is characterised by the level of trust and the diversity of the people that are connected.
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Qualities of Resilient Entrepreneurs
CREATIVE TRANSFORMERSomeone with the ability to reas-
semble elements in a new way and activate or mobilize valuable people and resources to solve problems. Pos-sesses capacity to pivot the business and play different roles as needed.
LEADERSomeone who bridges relation-
ships and leads a team in an ethical and effective way.
CONNECTORSomeone who naturally develops
social capital (relationships with a diversity of people and groups to a degree that inspires a quality of trust and empathy).
RISK TAKERSomeone who seizes opportunity
for a rewarding outcome, yet embrac-es the possibility of failure.
LONG TERM THINKEREven though entrepreneurs need
to act in accordance with what the situation requires and adapt quick-ly, it is vital to see the long-term perspective in challenging environ-ments and be strategically aware of opportunities in the long term. Key qualities are Endurance, Persever-ance, Discipline, Commitment, For-titude, Dedication.
HOPEFUL, FAITHFUL & PASSIONATE OPTIMIST
Someone with an optimistic mindset and attitude based on an expectation of positive outcomes re-lated to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large.
Entrepreneur
Resilient
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Characteristics of a Functioning Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
According to resilient entrepreneurs a functioning entrepreneurial ecosystem looks like:
FROM INTERVIEWS WITH ENTREPRENEURS FROM SUDAN, GHANA, KENYA, VENEZUELA AND ZIMBABWE.
According to D. Isenberg, Professor of Entrepreneurship Practice at Babson Executive and Enterprise Education, an entrepreneurial eco-system consists of elements that can be grouped into six domains:
• a conducive culture (e.g. tolerance of risk and mistakes, positive social status of entrepreneur);
• facilitating policies and leadership (e.g. regulatory framework incentives, existence of public research institutes);
• availability of dedicated finance (e.g. business angels, venture capital, micro loans);
• relevant human capital (e.g. skilled and unskilled labour, serial entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship training programmes);
• venture-friendly markets for products (e.g. early adopters for prototypes, reference customers), and a wide set of
• institutional and infrastructural supports (e.g. legal and accounting advisers, telecommunications and transportation infrastructure, entrepreneurship promoting associations).
“Imagine a future with sustainable entre-preneurs, a context in which investors, entrepreneurs, governments and all the stakeholders related are involved, and working efficiently together to help us get up after the many failures we have to deal with daily.”
“Legislation and procedures are supportive making a more conducive environment for startups or at least the government is not inhibiting.”
“Financing system, funds are going to the right places.”
“There is a healthy competition in the market driving innovation.”
“The mindset has changed towards entre pre neurship and is seen as something good and positive. There is trust in entrepreneurs.”
“There is a peer to peer support, experience sharing (for example facing corruption).”
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Essential Ecosystem Facilitators
Essential ecosystem facilitators refer to all domains that are expected to function well in mature entrepreneurial ecosystems. However, in many developing countries and emerging economies these fall short and are underdeveloped or non-existent. Resilient entrepreneurs need to find ways to work around these gaps and create alternative solutions to compensate.
ENTREPRENEURIAL CULTUREEntrepreneurial mindset & attitude and
successful role model entrepreneurs help to transform the narrative from “this is difficult” to “this is possible!” Training for entrepreneurs and fostering education that encourages and facilitates people to create
new ideas are essential to creating entre-preneurial culture and require a long-term approach. Increasing numbers of entrepre-neurs willing to walk this path and set up a business begin to create a culture of entre-preneurship.
PUBLIC POLICIESThe government’s role is to proactively
create conditions through legislation that promotes the entrepreneurial spirit and encourages private sector development and fair market conditions. Government pol-icies are important in creating vision and for normalizing and encouraging entre-preneurship. The challenge in the absence of government is that everyone is creating their own ecosystem – how can many differ-ent ideas work together without the overar-ching structure of government? There is a strong need to convene ecosystem builders in a network and start working together, creating linkages with government where possible.
ACCESS TO FINANCIAL CAPITALEntrepreneurs need to be trained in un-
derstanding financial products in order to be able to interact with financial players such as angel investors, debt, grants, pri-vate equity, venture capital funds, impact investor, micro loans, and crowdfunding platforms. However, these are rarely easily accessible or existent. Even with the pres-ence of such players, entrepreneurs need to be intentionally connected to them by a fa-cilitator who can convene the right people to extend the entrepreneur’s investment circle beyond friends and family.
HUMAN CAPITALHuman capital refers not only to the
need for skilled entrepreneurs but also the challenge of attracting skilled employees or collaborators to make the business grow. Entrepreneurs need to play a much stronger role in training and engaging their employ-
ees. Additionally, they need to encourage professional development for employees, particularly in environments where having a career is not a cultural aspiration.
ACCESS TO MARKETSThe accessibility of business to markets
is characterized by the need for qualitative products and facilitative commercial chan-nels to markets. In challenging conditions where channels are not naturally created an active and facilitative role is vital to es-tablishing a functioning market and ensure products have the needed quality to be com-petitive and relevant to consumer.
INFRASTRUCTUREInternet, electricity and basic business
infrastructure are at the base of the pyra-mid of needs for entrepreneurs.
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Critical Ecosystem Facilitators For Challenging Environments
SOCIAL CAPITALWhat does “social capital” mean?The central premise of social capital is
that social networks have value. Social cap-ital refers to the value of who people know and the inclinations that arise from net-works to act in one another’s interest. The term social capital emphasizes the benefits that flow from the trust, reciprocity, infor-mation, and cooperation associated with social networks. Social capital creates value for connected people.
Social capital as an asset or a resource for resilience can be a characteristic of the com-munity or of the individual. As an individ-
ual asset, social capital consists of a person’s relationships to available social resources. As a characteristic of communities, it con-sists of attributes such as trust, reciprocity, collective action, and participation. Individ-uals can be resilient even if the communi-ties they live in have low or even negative social capital. Bonding ties are relations be-tween family members, friends, and neigh-bors in closed, tightly connected networks. Bridging ties give access to resources and opportunities that exist in one network to a member of another network.
Benefits of social capital in the context of resilient entrepreneurship
Social capital allows information and value to flow (e.g. learning about business or funding opportunities, exchanging ideas, helping each other, asking for favors and loans, asking for critical contacts). All of these depend on the quality of social re-lations and are essential for a business to overcome and bridge the lack of a function-ing ecosystem or temporary challenging conditions. Social networks also help trans-late an “I” mentality into a “we” mentality. Examples of social capital in play include: a
bridging loan issued when an entrepreneur faces cash flow problems, an email from a colleague about a funding opportunity, a personal introduction to a strategic person that facilitates a faster appointment, a busi-ness established with contracts that remain verbal until they are signed, recommenda-tions that bring access to a new important supplier or client.
Social capital can be found in fami-ly, friendship networks, neighborhoods, churches, schools, sports clubs, civic associ-ations, and even bars. Social capital is also a vehicle for increased exposure to best
practices and ways of doing business. It mul-tiplies an entrepreneur’s references, options, problem-solving capacities, and creativity.
Healthy relationships with the local community in which a business operates increase the chances that a business is sup-ported by the community. When a business is perceived as aligned with the communi-ty’s interest, the community’s embrace plays a vital role in supporting the entrepreneur in moments of crisis.
ACCESS TO INFORMATIONAccess to critical and relevant informa-
tion at all stages of SME growth and devel-opment is a fundamental factor in the suc-cess and resiliency of an entrepreneur. In well functioning ecosystems information is available through policy makers, local governments, banks, academic institutions, NGOs and training and education centres.
It is in a government’s strategic inter-est to train and inform SMEs in that they compose a key pillar to economic develop-ment and employment. In functioning eco-systems, information about how to access finance, relevant regulations and compli-ances, best practices, talent, and markets are generally available and accessible. With lacking infrastructure, entrepreneurs must engage alternative means for accessing information through peers and social net-works.
Critical ecosystem facilitators refers to elements that are critical in the absence of a well functioning entrepreneurial ecosystem and its facilitators. They com-pensate for gaps and are vital to the resilience of entrepreneurs. Both social capital and access to information are critically important for entrepreneurs in challenging social, political, environ-men tal and economic conditions.
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(Capacities + Social Capital + Access to information) × Ecosystem = Thriving Resilient Entrepreneurs
The stronger the surrounding entrepre-neurial ecosystem, the more the resilient entrepreneur can unfold his / her potential and truly thrive. The ecosystem acts as a catalyst in activating entrepreneurial po-tential.
Resilient entrepreneurs have developed the capacity to coevolve, shapeshift & trans-form, understand themselves as part of a whole, emerge stronger, recover quickly, be-come resourceful and ultimately thrive de-spite all of the challenges facing their local environment.
Qualities of the Entrepreneur + Acquired Skills = Entrepreneurial Capacities
The entrepreneurial qualities (Creative Transformer, Optimist, Leader, Connector, Risk Taker, Long Term Thinker) are vital characteristics for any entrepreneur in a challenging environment. We define the combination of these qualities combined with practical business skills as Entrepre-neurial Capacities.
The Impact Logic
The Impact Logic aims to establish a framework by which to visualize and synthesise the main insights of this Theory of Change.
Capacities + Social Capital + Access to information = Resilient Entrepreneurs
In environments with well-developed entrepreneurial ecosystem facilitators, these capacities are sufficient to enable an entrepreneur’s success. However, in challenging environments, a resilient entrepreneur needs more than entrepreneurial capacities to compensate for a lacking en-trepreneurial ecosystem. (S)he also requires well-developed social networks (social capital) to enable access to critical information in order to achieve resilience.
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The entrepre-neurial activ-
ity of starting a business meets policy require-ments and therefore entrepre-neurs have access to information
Conveners & Support structures exist
and facilitate networking
Value Products
& Services are ready
for Market. The quality of
these Prod-uct / Services
and its value proposition are
validated and tested in advance.
Responsible financial play-
ers are able to operate and
Entrepreneurs are familiar
operate financial products.
• Entrepreneurs have access to information
about role models.• Society recognizes
the value of being an entrepreneur
and provides support.
People have access to
information about op-
portunities to grow as entrepreneur or carriers
• Well devel-
oped (person-ally & profes-
sionally) skilled entrepreneurs
and employees seeking to thrive.
• People have opportunities for exposure & access to International connections & career growth perspective.
• Entrepreneurs and financials players are
appropriately connected• Entrepreneurs
have access to infor-mation of where and
how to access fi-nancial players
Government and business as a driver for
creating infrastructure.
• Entrepreneurs willing to take a risk and
set up a business.• Role models inspiring and showing evidence of success.
Entrepreneurs are connected in networks to other entrepreneurs &
mentors. Therefore entrepreneurs have access to information of where and how to
access networks.
Entrepreneurs have access to
information about markets
• The will from
policy makers to foster entrepre-
neurship and to increase the ease of doing business.
• Policy matkers are in touch with entrepre-neurial activity that’s affected by policy.
Entrepreneurs have access to
financing forms at all stages from
idea to scale
Public policy encourages, promotes, centivizes entrepreneur-ship
Entrepreneurs with strong social capital, actively engaged with
other entrepreneurs and organisations
Entrepreneurs have access
to markets
An entrepreneurial
culture supports the ecosystem
Human Capital:
Skilled & en-gaged people capable of transforming ideas into action
Solid Infrastructure: Internet, Telecommunications,
Roads
PRECONDITION
A functional entrepreneurial ecosystem (with shared val
ues
& in
tent
ion)
ULTIMATE OUTCOME & GOAL
PRECONDITIONS
OUTCOME
Enable entrepreneurial people to thrive, understand
themselves as part of a whole, co-evolve, shape shift, recover quickly,
transform. To be resilient.
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Possible interventions clustered based on Ecosystem Domains
ENTREPRENEURIAL CULTURECulture: Providing role models (s/heroes
in social entrepreneurship), programs & events: festivals, conferences, entrepreneur events, media campaigns tailored to com-munication stakeholders promoting social enterprise
PUBLIC POLICIES• Pro-Entrepreneur Policy: Providing tax
incentives, relevant policy institutions, legislation for entrepreneurial education in national curriculum, R&D on policy frameworks, policy advocacy
• Business setup: Facilitating ease of doing business by making business registration, regulation, permits, and licences accessible, creating incentives, and mandating compensation and employee benefits
HUMAN CAPITALPartnerships & Alliances: Establishing
partnerships and alliances with established entrepreneurship training institutes, aca-demic institutions, corporations, and pro-fessional experts
ACCESS TO MARKETSFacilitating connections: Providing access
to transparent providers and suppliers
ACCESS TO FINANCIAL CAPITALProviding seed capital, investor ready
programs, linkages with financial insti-tutions, investor preparedness training workshops, start-up valuation workshops / training
INFRASTRUCTURECreating facilities that offer solid infra-
structure support (internet, telecommunica-tions, business center equipment) and places for entrepreneurs to meet i.e. co-working spaces
SOCIAL CAPITALCreating social networks of trust, reci-
procity, information sharing, and coopera-tion that generate value for those connected to the network via sharing challenges & best practices, ethics & values, peer-to-peer sup-port, matchmaking
ACCESS TO INFORMATIONTraining / Skill Building / Information:
Providing entrepreneurial education, busi-ness skills (marketing, accounting, financial planning, international management), ac-cess to practical knowledge & skills, techni-cal skills, knowledge transfer, access to pol-icy information, incubation & acceleration programs, pitch training skills, business model canvas workshop, financing options training, business clinics, employer train-ing (HR Management)
Here we identify possible interventions in each essential ecosystem domain (Culture, Public Policies, Human Capital, Markets, Capital, Infrastructure), en-gaging the critical ecosystem facilitators social capital and information access. These are representative samples among many possibilities and are to be applied in accordance with priorities defined by local context and reality.
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Pablo HandlImpact [email protected]
Konda MasonImpact [email protected]
Boris [email protected]
Mattijs [email protected]
ContributorsAgostine Ndungu KenyaAnge Muyubira BurundiBoris Alberda NetherlandsClaudia Valladares VenezuelaGada Kadoda SudanJonathan Robinson United KingdomKadidia Konare MaliKhadra Ali SomalilandKonda Mason USALena Mahgoub SudanMattijs Renden NetherlandsMohamed Keita MaliMugethi Gitau KenyaNada Abshir KenyaNahom Abraham EthiopiaNatalie Miller South AfricaPablo Handl BrazilRahel Boon EthiopiaSheilah Birgen Kenya Tadzoka Pswarayi SimbabweYawa Hansen-Quao Ghana Zachariah George South Africa
Editor Elisabeth CramerDesign Seraina BruggerPhotography Alex Niragira
