Compare the Important Challenges, Opportunities and Threats for Entrepreneurs in Developed and Developing Countries Would Face and Propose Successful Ways to Overcome These Challenges

Introduction

The ability of an entrepreneur to address major challenges and threats through maximization of the overall opportunities forms the major stepping stones for their success. This has been contributed by the highly dynamic global systems which are determined by modernization and consumerism patterns (World Bank, 2008). Notably, entrepreneurial success is a factor of many complex applications that interact to give the appropriate environment for setting the business operations. Entrepreneurship represents the practice of starting a new business venture as a response to available opportunities. It is a direct venture that expounds on creativity and innovations laid over on major risk of operational expenditures to the entity.

Over the time scholars have pointed out the differences in entrepreneurial demands of the developed and developing countries. However, it is clear that the vast numbers of opportunities available to them are very different to what they deal with different classes of people with varying ideologies, buying power, and consumerism patterns. This essay evaluates entrepreneur's road map in capitalizing the overall opportunities in the world. It presents a clear comparison of the developed and developing countries with reference to the current global changes. Using theoretical consideration, the essay establishes possible methods and ways that can be used to address the major problems and threats that impound the entrepreneurs.

Challenges

Legal and legislative policies of the different countries

Over the years, challenges facing entrepreneurs have shifted from general to specific considerations where customer orientation has become the overall gauge for effective progress. Most of the developing countries have poor supporting policies within their own authorities. Remarkably, over 75% of developing countries have suppressive legislations that are inclined to encouraging the local investors while discouraging their international counterparts. This has been associated with both, slow growth and slow development in these countries. Moreover, these policies are directly aimed at articulating bureaucratic demands in the name of protecting the local players. Scholars have referred to these policies as the main icons in denying people the freedom of choice. On the other hand, most of the developed countries have strongly supportive policies that view entrepreneurs as part of the main supportive systems for them in terms of jobs provision for a country. During the period before 1978, airline business in USA was only restricted to few players in the industry. However, even the present system demands that the investors meet various standards of technology in terms of the overall technology and safety. They also contribute greatly towards countries overall revenue income. To add to that, external investors have much reduced independence to utilize their capital which is not allowed to flow freely out of the country (United Nations Development Program (UNDP), 2008). However, investors in USA have lesser restrictions to invest both in and out of the country.

Lack of enough finances to start the business

Furthermore, one of the major challenges by most of the entrepreneurs in developing countries are facing today is financing their businesses. Zoltán & Roger (2008) points out that raising enough capital has been a nightmare to them. In India, most of the entrepreneurs have opted to register their companies with foreign names to get access to the different international and local funds for their overall development. And also in Nigeria, entrepreneurs are greatly oppressed by the high rates of interests that development banks charges them. Most of the banks offer their loans to be repaid with interests of over 20%. This rate also adjusts upwards depending with time that the loan takes to be repaid. In Kenya, most of the investors have been frustrated by poor monetary policies that have left the banks to ruthlessly exploit the entrepreneurs in the country. On the other hand, developed countries funds availability to the entrepreneurs is much easier and dependent on how well one plans to execute his business plan (Wickham, 2006). However, these resources are only available to the members of the particular country or economic union group and not outsiders. In the European Union, there is a great preference to the citizens from the member sates to access finances for entrepreneurial purposes.

Population and people's purchasing power

Nevertheless, most of the entrepreneurs in the developing countries encounter the challenge of the masses reduced capacity to purchase their goods and services.