BAJAN SUN
Bajan Sun Magazine
SEPT 2014
THE ENTREPRENEURIALISM
By Dr. Anita Davis-DeFoe
SEASON
H
e or she is an individual who has created an enterprise or venture,
as well as assumed all of the risks and subsequent outcomes
associated with taking the entrepreneurship plunge. He or she is willing
to suffer doubt and potential failure, sees into the horizon, and finds
talent that comprehends the goal. He or she is a visionary leader who
creates and markets a range of goods and services. He or she is a
passionate dreamer, an individual who sees possibility, opportunities to
solve problems, fill service gaps; improve functioning and operational
efficiency. He or she has chosen the path of an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs are being viewed in a new light these days, and interest
in replicating their spirit is high. No longer considered geeks,
uncontrollable workers, or lunatics, entrepreneurs are being recognized
as igniters of sustainable growth and new job creation, something that
politicians, governments and bankers can rarely sustain. This is
becoming more evident primarily because as the global economy
continues to rapidly expand, innovation and agility are reigning supreme,
making it crystal clear that we are in the season of entrepreneurialism;
that there is a dire need for more entrepreneurs, and this time is going to
last for quite a while. Corporations are now looking for employees who
can bring the entrepreneurial spirit into the workplace serving to rekindle
innovation and inventive thinking in organizational settings. Whether
born or made, entrepreneurs have a knack for thinking differently, and
the courage to give their ideas and passions a try.
Ivanne Farr, President of the St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands based
Caribbean Islands Education Foundation, and Director of Rare Earth
Studio, a fine jewelry making enterprise that trains youth and adults
commented “My perception of entrepreneurship equates to the ultimate
creativity all people have been given at every level of becoming an
entrepreneur, we are given awesome opportunities to be creative from
concepts to the many levels of implementation. What greater experience
in life! From the outset, entrepreneurship builds personal ethics and
integrity, and makes a way for challenging and exciting endeavors.”
Jamaican Michael Lee .Chin, a global business tycoon; Caymanian
Catherine Tyson, author and host of the Lighten Up show; Nerissa
Golden from Montserrat, author, entrepreneur, market strategies; Yvette
Maynard from Barbados, media and business services expert; Yvonne
Witter based in London and doing enterprise consulting work across
Africa, and Leanna Archer, an 18 year old Haitian princess and visionary
who has been in business some 9 years creating beauty products, just to
name a few. Growing is the list of entrepreneurs, and certainly you
should consider adding your name to this list.
Granted, globally as a society, we are facing some of the greatest
challenging economic times most of us can remember, but this is also a
time when ideas are needed in response to shifts in financial,
employment and industry systems that are desperately trying to
Dr. Anita Davis-DeFoe
Author. Thought Leader. Social
Entrepreneur, Organization and
Leadership Development Solutionist
The Chieftaincy Ceremony. Dr. Anita, second from the left, being named the first woman
Chief in Akwa Ibom State Nigeria because of her global human development and humanitarian work with women in the village. She was named Adiaha Unwana Itam 1, (Daughter of
Light In Itam Clan)
recalibrate themselves out of the depths of ineffective and inefficiency
cesspools. In response to job loss resulting from financial declines or job
disappearance due to technological advancement, considering the
entrepreneur life on some level, from home-based business to storefront,
is becoming the reality for everyone.
If you are pondering how to improve your financial game, and going
into business is a consideration, ponder this, entrepreneurs begin with a
perspective about how they envision their working life, and feel equally
as compelled to explore it. Entrepreneurs are pioneers, displaying a
passion for their idea and prepared to persevere to make it come to
fruition, even if they are forced to step out of their comfort zone, or
forgo some of their creature comforts. Entrepreneurs are action oriented,
and practice persuasion in pursuit of the desired outcome. There is no
mistaking what an entrepreneur is passionate about, as their persona will
tell you, and their spirits will light up with glee when they share their big
idea. Demonstrating tenacity, entrepreneurs are about performance; with
their desired outcomes as the roadmap, eyes directed squarely on profits
and the people that can make it happen.
All of us at some point have said when seeing a product or service,
“Oh, I had that idea a long time ago.”
The question then becomes, what did you do? Did you act upon it? Or
did you put the idea in your back pocket? Because if you did, you are
sitting on your dreams, and you are going to find yourself
inappropriately dressed for the season. This is the entrepreneurialism
season, so dress accordingly!!!
Creativity, innovation, inventive thinking, passion, digital-age
literacy, effective communication, and high productivity are the core
wardrobe, so embrace the change and stroll through the season, or find
yourself shivering feeling as though you are standing outside in the cold.
Learning how to create your own opportunities, based upon your “BIG
IDEA” is what’s happening in the 21st century new frontier.
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