Cuestas Cuellar, Gabriel
¿Empleado o empresario? (Employee or employer?) Bogotá, SENA.
FORMAR n° 3, April-May 2005. p. 24-29

The longing for economic independence is becoming more frequent among Colombians, particularly among those who have higher levels of preparation and knowledge.

Until 10 years ago or more, people only thought of obtaining a University degree, some specialisations, and finding a well-paid job, or simply taking a degree, applying for a job and living on a salary.

The highest business hopes of people were working at Dad's or the family business and getting ready for the generational substitution.

Nowadays, the economic reality of Colombia and the world have changed, thus managing a business has become a possible and valid alternative for the generation of employment and wealth.
Contrary to what many may think, doing business is not something easy but it is not impossible. Special conditions and specific skills are required and they can be fostered and developed with adequate training and practice.

Some of these skills, attitudes and abilities refer to: be goal-oriented, have intuition and future vision, come to terms with mistakes and learn from them; accept risks and measure them, keep emotions under control and have self confidence -because if the entrepreneur believes he will make it, he most probably will, but if he is pessimistic or negative, he will invariably fail.

Furthermore, during the implementation of the business project it is fundamental that the entrepreneur seeks for support and creates a network of relationships. He will also need commercial skills, ability to negotiate, communication and powers of persuasion, leadership conditions, ability to make decisions, creativity, planning and an ability to detect opportunities, among other things.

Although these skills are essential at the beginning and during the life of the enterprise, training plays a significant role in the success of productive organisations.

The Cátedra de Emprendimiento y Empresarismo (Entrepreneurship Faculty) of SENA is an alternative for those willing to embark on the adventure of doing business in Colombia. With the assistance of the "Cátedra" the student discovers and develops enterprising competencies that will improve in business practice, mainly those that will allow him to work in teams, take over the leadership of his project, manage risk and develop an innovative spirit, among other things.
In this way, SENA offers entrepreneurs an initial drive to start. Later, other organisations which are articulated with the Service, provide the necessary support so that projects are put into practice.

Business incubators are organisations that help entrepreneurs to develop their business idea. They are like a "lab" where the entrepreneur tries and confirms, makes real and simulated practices and starts up his business. Since they are practical exercises, the entrepreneur discovers the opportunities, obstacles and difficulties that he can face while putting his enterprise into practice while he is structuring the business. At the same time, it reveals and strengthens his own skills, identifies his limitations and the way of overcoming them.

According to the Chamber of Commerce of Colombia, 80 percent of the enterprises that are created within the framework of incubators manage to survive for at least five years, whereas only 20 percent of those created in a more experimental way persist throughout that same period.

Visit SENA's site on "Enterprise" at http://www.sena.edu.co/Portal/Emprendimiento/

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