Archive for February, 2010

Social Entrepreneurship in 2010

Social entrepreneurship is nothing more than offering innovative solutions to significant problems within a society

Social entrepreneurship as a way of life. For most entrepreneurs, the priority seems to be just getting a business going, and worrying later about making it socially and environmentally sustainable. There are many reasons for that. Most entrepreneurs consider it a luxury to focus on social or environmental issues. They want to find financial security first, to get on their feet and move beyond the daily survival worries

It’s not easy to find entrepreneurs whose businesses revolve around a social or environmental issue. Dedicating oneself to another, bigger cause is a daunting responsibility, and most businesses focus on much more immediate goals of simply making a profit

Read Whole Article: Social entrepreneurship as a way of life

Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards

Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards recognizes and honors Asian businesses for championing sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship in the four categories namely:

• Green Leadership
• Community Engagement,
• Investment in People, and
• Responsible Business Leadership

This is in line with Enterprise Asia’s two founding pillars, which are Responsible Entrepreneurship and Investment in People

Starting Technology Business in Singapore

Imagine doing business in a place where you can easily be connected to potential clients, business/research partners who are just less than an hour‘s car ride away

How about getting work permits for your team approved – in less than 2 days? Sounds too good to be true? These are exactly the things that foreign start-ups will find in Singapore

Singapore has established a reputation for being one of the most business-friendly countries in the world. Start-ups will also be able to tap on the country’s Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network which will reach every home and office by 2012, providing ultra high-speeds of up to 1 Gbps and pave the way for innovative new online services

Finally, there will be no trouble staying connected with more than 7,500 hotspots island wide providing free wireless access

More than 7000 MNCs and 10,000 small-medium enterprises that have already set up their strategic operations here, providing various collaboration opportunities for Singapore-based start-ups

It’s not surprising that the country is emerging as one of the hottest start-up hub in Asia

China Trains Online Entrepreneurs

China Entrepreneurship – Jia Shaohua is helping his students set up their own online shops to learn business and management skills

Jia says his e-commerce entrepreneurship classes, in which about a fourth of the college’s students participate, offer real-life skills to students who graduate better equipped to compete against the millions of other university students who enter the job market every year

An educator at a vocational school with about 8,000 students, Jia is at the forefront of efforts to make higher education more relevant to China’s job market at a time when an economic downturn means university graduates face bleak prospects

Read Story: Hit by job crunch, China trains entrepreneurs

Internet Retail Sales Europe 2010

The European Union is considering a regulation change that would require online etailers in Europe to also own a brick and mortar store

Shopping online has been becoming more popular in Europe over the past few years as they have been hit by an economic recession, which has forced many consumers to visit Internet retail sites for their purchases

Overall for Europe, it is expected that online retail sales will jump almost 20%, most of which coming from countries catching the online shopping craze like Spain, France, and Poland

As more consumers remain conscious of their budgets, it is likely that this online shopping trend will continue in Europe. This means that the brick and mortar retailers need to find a way to combat the shift towards online spending

If nothing else, every brick and mortar store should consider adding an online retail site to their portfolio to try and increase the likelihood that they will generate enough sales everyday

Investors and industry analysts in Europe will continue to watch this trend as it could alter the retail landscape in the region as consumers change their shopping methods

Entrepreneur Mindset – Online Learning

Kaufmann Foundation – Online Program to Identify the Entrepreneurial Mindset

Are entrepreneurs born with a unique gift? What is it that enables them to transform an idea into a successful new venture? What can we learn from their experience? Do I have what it takes to succeed? “Mindset” attempts to answer these questions and more, for the benefit of someone considering an entrepreneurial venture.

Based on more than 200 hours of on-camera interviews with a variety of successful entrepreneurs, including Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, E-Myth author Michael Gerber, Inc 500 winner Chuck Halberg, Pulitzer nominee Clifton Taulbert, Emmy winner Jim Stovall, serial inventor John Osher and many others, “Mindset” provides an inside look at what it really takes to start and grow a successful new business.

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has teamed up with The Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative (ELI) to offer “Mindset: Tapping Your Entrepreneurial IQ,” a self-paced online learning program that enables aspiring entrepreneurs to learn from the firsthand knowledge and experience of successful real-world entrepreneurs.

Social Networks for Entrepreneurs

Whether you’re a small businesses SME – SMB in Asia or a Fortune 500 company in a Western country, social networking has the power to expand your brand among both your audience and fellow business owners

For the latter, entrepreneurs can take advantage of specialized social networks to meet, communicate share and partner with others

LinkedIn  is a business social network cementing its position as the top social network for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses with over 50 million users end of 2009

PartnerUp aims to do for small businesses and budding entrepreneurs what MeettheBoss does for executives by providing the opportunity for networking, collaboration and sharing

MeettheBoss narrows the business social network focus to the management level, providing a portal for executives and higher-ups to meet and communicate

• http://entrepreneur-sme.asia/forum

For Asia SME Entrepreneurs we have above linked Asian-based forum where we can exchange ideas about Asian business issues. Go visit and sign-up today … and don’t forget to tell your friends

Singapore Innovfest 2010

Singapore InnovFest 2010 – 5-7 March

Join in a not-to-be-missed festival of innovation and entrepreneurship events that aims to boost investments, technology transfer and networking opportunities within Asia’s finance, business and technology communities

InnovFest 2010 consists of  Technology Commercialisation Forum 2010 and The Enterprise Connection Networking Dinner (by invitation only)

(5-6th March): Asia’s premier tech transfer event is back! Organised by the NUS Industry Liaison Office (ILO), the Technology Commercialisation Forum showcases key innovations and emerging technologies from Asia. Highlights that participants can look forward to include potential investment, licensing and partnership opportunities

(7th March): Hosted by NUS Enterprise, The Enterprise Connection is the networking event of the year for Singapore and international entrepreneurs, inventors, investors and tech transfer professionals. This by-invitation-only event is the ideal platform for participants to connect, share ideas and explore new partnerships.

You can also check out the Asian Business Angel Forum (8-9th March) held after InnovFest 2010.