(Victor Hwang and John Bridgeland)
- America’s story has been written by those bold enough to begin. The revolutionaries who founded a new nation, the farmer who moved west to claim and seed land, the inventor who built a new machine, and the newcomer who opened a small shop on Main Street were all pioneers. Each had no guarantee of success. Each carried the promise of progress.
Today’s entrepreneurs are America’s new pioneers. They do not ask for certainty or wait for permission. They see a gap, an unmet need, a better way—and they act. In garages, kitchens, and co-working spaces, they envision and build with a spirit of possibility.
But courage and risk-taking are not enough. We know the path to starting a business is full of obstacles – complicated rules, high fees, scarce capital, and limited networks. Good ideas are shut down by red tape, hardworking dreamers rarely find access to funding, and our education system does too little to cultivate the knowledge and skills to invent.
It’s no surprise then that while more than 60 percent of Americans want to start their own enterprise, only 9 percent actually do. That’s wasted human potential and lost economic opportunity.
To meet the demand, America needs to innovate to fix the very systems inhibiting the creation of new businesses. Fortunately, there is a plan called America the Entrepreneurial, covering a range of issues to strengthen entrepreneurship in America.
Entrepreneurs want freedom to innovate. No lengthy forms, filing fees, or non-compete restrictions would enable them to focus on translating ideas into business ventures, not on burdensome compliance. It’s possible -- in Colorado, the Governor reduced the fee for starting a new business to one dollar.
They also need access to capital. Establishing new development banks for entrepreneurs, waiving taxes on early revenue, and enabling new businesses to compete fairly for public contracts would be a good start. Innovative financing models are emerging, such as Collab Capital in Atlanta, Novel Growth Partners in Kansas City and Founders First in San Diego.
Starting a business can strain families and households, but policy can help. Tax deductions or credits could minimize childcare costs, health insurance can be made more accessible and affordable, and mortgage lenders should treat entrepreneurs the same way they treat employees.
AI and technologies are changing our world and displacing our workforce. Our educational system needs to keep pace by equipping students with entrepreneurial inspiration and skills with courses of study and degrees that reward innovation, so everyone has the ability to start enterprises that meet the demands of an increasingly complex age.
Such efforts take leadership from Governors, Mayors and others. They also need focused attention – such as an Office of Entrepreneurship for every state, city and county. Nevada was the first state to pass a Right to Start Act, establishing such an office. Missouri, Indiana, New Mexico, and Kansas followed with similar legislation or executive action.
This plan is not charity. It is strategy. New businesses create nearly all net new jobs in America. They fuel competition, drive productivity, boost household incomes, and renew communities. Every thriving business today—Ford, Apple, Amazon—was once a fragile new idea. Somewhere in America, the next idea waits for its chance.
America the Entrepreneurial is a movement to support today’s pioneers and bring needed change in communities and states -- an invitation to enlist 250,000 Americans to help clear the ground for millions of Americans to start their own enterprises.
As America – a startup nation -- celebrates its 250th birthday in the coming year, let’s remember that to support entrepreneurs is to support America itself. For in every entrepreneur lives the promise of our nation’s next chapter. And in supporting them, we write the story of our future together.
Victor Hwang is CEO of Right to Start. John Bridgeland is CEO of More Perfect. They are Co-Chairs of America the Entrepreneurial.
