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ECONÓMICAS |
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Potes-Ordoñez, Cerón-Ríos and Sandoval-Zúñiga / Económicas CUC, vol. 44 no. 1, pp. 153–174, January – June, 2023 |
CUC |
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Pilot Entrepreneurship Learning Program: a case study of young people in the region of Cauca Programa piloto de aprendizaje en emprendimiento: estudio de caso en jóvenes del departamento del Cauca |
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Abstract Young adults in vulnerable conditions in rural and urban areas face different social and economic problems and lack of job opportunities due to the ongoing armed conflict in the country. For this reason, young people are seeking to create their own business (entrepreneurship) that generates economic income and supports their families. However, they do not have the knowledge to create a sustainable business. In this article, we conducted research focused on implementing a pilot learning program to strengthen entrepreneurship among economically vulnerable youth in the midst of armed conflict. Under the principles of case studies, a mixed investigation was carried out through a survey and the semi-structured group interview of young people from the rural and urban sectors of two communities located in the municipality of Popayán, capital of the region of Cauca. The implementation results of the program were based on 3 identified factors: 1) perception and motivation to undertake, 2) knowledge and entrepreneurial skills, and 3) limitations of entrepreneurs. Based on this, a new vision of entrepreneurship and the application of administrative concepts in their entrepreneurial ideas was achieved. The greatest limitation is the lack of financial resources to start the ventures and give them continuity. It is concluded that in order to solve the need, not only must comprehensive training processes be implemented in entrepreneurship but also active government support mechanisms must be available. The program proposed in this article is unprecedented and innovative, since it is contributing to the social and sustainable development of regions with difficult access and vulnerable conditions, forming young leaders capable of influencing the relevant decisions of the transformative processes of society. Keywords: Entrepreneurship; urban and rural context; young adults; training programs; armed conflict Resumen Los jóvenes adultos en condiciones vulnerables de zonas rurales y urbanas, se enfrentan a diferentes problemas sociales, económicos y falta de oportunidades laborales debido al conflicto armado que se viene presentando en el país. Por tal razón, los jóvenes están buscando crear su propio negocio (emprendimiento) que les genere ingresos económicos y sustente sus familias. Sin embargo, no cuentan con los conocimientos necesarios para crear una empresa sostenible. En este artículo, se realizó una investigación enfocada en implementar un programa piloto de aprendizaje para fortalecer el emprendimiento en jóvenes económicamente vulnerables en medio del conflicto armado. Bajo los principios de estudios de caso, se realizó una investigación mixta a través de una encuesta y la entrevista grupal semiestructurada a jóvenes de los sectores rurales y urbanos de dos comunidades ubicadas en el municipio de Popayán, capital del departamento del Cauca. Los resultados de implementación del programa se basaron en 3 factores identificados: 1) percepción y motivación para emprender, 2) conocimiento y habilidades emprendedoras, y 3) limitaciones de los emprendedores. Con base a ello, se logró una nueva visión del emprendimiento y la aplicación de conceptos administrativos en sus ideas emprendedoras. La mayor limitación es la falta de recursos económicos para iniciar los emprendimientos y darle continuidad. Se concluye, que para dar solución a la necesidad no sólo se debe implementar procesos de formación integral en emprendimiento sino también de contar con mecanismos activos de apoyo gubernamental. El programa propuesto en este artículo es inédito y de carácter innovador, ya que se está contribuyendo en el desarrollo social y sostenible de regiones con difícil acceso y condiciones vulnerable, formando jóvenes líderes capaces de influir en las decisiones relevantes de los procesos transformativos de la sociedad. Palabras clave: Iniciativa empresarial; contexto urbano y rural; jóvenes adultos; programas de formación; conflicto armado |
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Study Case. Receiving Date: 16/12/2021 Return Date: 28/02/2022 Acceptance date: 19/06/2022 Publication Date: 01/07/2022 |
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Fundación Universitaria de Popayán Popayán, Cauca (Colombia) laura.potes@docente.fup.edu.co |
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Universidad del Cauca Popayán, Cauca (Colombia) gceron@unicauca.edu.co |
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Universidad del Cauca Popayán, Cauca (Colombia) oscar.sandoval@docente.fup.edu.co |
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. To cite this article: Potes-Ordoñez, L. B., Cerón-Ríos, G. M., Sandoval-Zúñiga, O. R., (2023). Pilot Entrepreneurship Learning Program: a case study of young people in the region of Cauca. Económicas CUC, 44(1), 153–174. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17981/econcuc.44.1.2023.Org.1 |
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JEL: D83, G14, L26 |
Introduction
Entrepreneurship is a topic of great interest at the level of young people who are classified as leaders, capable of influencing the relevant decisions of the transformative processes of society. However, societies with prolonged armed conflicts show a systematic violation of rights where precariousness and uncertainty predominate (Amador-Baquiro, 2016). Therefore, it is a phenomenon that summons academics, professionals and government entities to propose and develop strategies to enhance the entrepreneurial ideas of young people with economic and social vulnerability.
While it is true, there is a great interest in entrepreneurship on the part of young people, Bretones and Radrigán (2018) point out that entrepreneurial attitudes are affected by cultural and national elements; Ortíz and Olaz (2015) and Fernández and Ruíz (2015) show that young people lack sufficient information to start an entrepreneurial project, little training and are afraid of failure. Long-term unemployment is also recognized as one of the main variables affecting them.
For their part, Almagro-Gaviria and Manzano-Soto (2016), Blanco, Mercado and Prado (2012), and Lejarriaga, Bel and Martín (2013) recognize that currently most young people undertake projects, motivated by the reduction of employment opportunities that derive from the current economic context, an aspect that constitutes a threat to their well-being. Among the disincentive reasons for doing so, the lack of funding and confidence in the system stand out.
In Ibero-American countries, an effort has been made to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit, through training programs, despite the fact that they have been made visible through business development, young people continue to depend to a large extent on their social and economic context and, therefore, remain vulnerable (Súarez, 2017). Situation that is ratified with the contribution of national research such as those of Cifuentes and Rico (2016) and Suárez (2017) who recognize that the development of the ventures has been complex given the difficult conditions of the environment such as the armed conflict and the economic situation of the country. Promoting entrepreneurship has merited some programs by the national government and territorial governments, but these programs have been scattered, discontinuous and circumscribed to financing facilities.
Although the realities of young entrepreneurs are described, the understanding of this phenomenon from the comparison of urban and rural enterprises is a meagre field. Their needs in terms of entrepreneurial training are unknown, to promote entrepreneurial programs aimed at strengthening entrepreneurial ideas from a joint perspective that stimulates the development of training strategies specific to the context of economic and social vulnerability, based on “experiences dispersed in different environments with the purpose of perceiving how fragile and emerging forms of entrepreneurship shape the attitudes of young people” (Minialai, Bossenbroek & Ksikes, 2018, p. 37).
By virtue of the foregoing, this proposal aims to implement a pilot program in entrepreneurial training based on a diagnosis of the degree of understanding of the theories in entrepreneurship, taking as a reference, two groups of young people in a condition of economic vulnerability exposed to armed conflict, one from the urban context and the other one from the rural dimension. The questions were aimed at knowing not only how to appropriate this concept, but also, the identification of the main conceptual gaps as a basis for the implementation of this program.
The results of this article show a significant difference between the two contexts and how the training program in entrepreneurship made significant learning visible to enhance their entrepreneurial ideas. It is necessary, then, the dynamism that must be given between the educational sector, the environment and the linking of pedagogy by projects for the development of skills and the entrepreneurial culture from school (Alemany & Urriolagoitia, 2014).
State of the Art
The review of the literature regarding the categories of entrepreneurship, youth and entrepreneurial programs makes it possible to highlight that research has advanced in terms of knowledge of the realities of young entrepreneurs and to reflect on the need to enhance their skills. In this sense, the issue is addressed from the international, national and local components, showing the following:
The phenomenon of entrepreneurship at the international level has made a deepening of the entrepreneurial reality and its importance in economic, social and political matters. The trends of the studies show interest in knowing the needs of young university students, such as the case of Santamaría and Carbajo (2019), Portuguez-Castro and Gómez-Zermeño (2020) and Vélez, Bustamante, Loor and Afcha (2020) who confirm that entrepreneurial education is significant because it allows improving skills, attitudes, and the values associated with the entrepreneurial spirit.
On the other hand, research such as those of Ortiz and Olaz (2015) and Makua, Cuenca-Amigo and San Salvador (2017) who deepen entrepreneurship in young people from vulnerable environments is recognized. The authors point out the importance of training to start an entrepreneurial project given the potential that they demonstrate; although it is true, it has allowed them to launch their ventures, they remain vulnerable. In this regard, Minialai et al. (2018) expresses the need to have models in entrepreneurship, that is, the active presence of entrepreneurs who occupy a dynamic role for their strengthening.
The Colombian perspective analyzes the panorama from the pedagogical practices of young people and the situational reality of urban and rural contexts. According to this, studies such as that of Cifuentes and Rico (2016), reflect from the rural environment on the importance of considering the voices of students in the planning, execution and evaluation processes of productive pedagogical projects in entrepreneurship. At the urban level, it shows that students are affected by barriers such as fear of failure. For their part, studies such as that of García (2015) have contributed from training for entrepreneurship through Pedagogy per Project (PpP) to strengthen entrepreneurial training and authors such as Zea-Fernández, Benjumea-Arias and Valencia-Arias (2020) have developed a methodology for the identification of dynamic capacities in entrepreneurship centers.
Thus, important contributions are evidenced in terms of identifying the entrepreneurial needs of young people. However, it is relevant to make significant progress in vulnerable urban and rural contexts that allow not only to reflect on the practice but also to contribute to training from their skills and attitudes in entrepreneurship. It is necessary to understand the dynamics of their context to adapt meaningful education programs and in this way, create support networks that contribute to their continuous improvement.
Therefore, the little knowledge of the subject in question represents, for the authors of this study, the need to implement a pilot program in entrepreneurship that strengthens the entrepreneurial ecosystem. In this sense, it contributes to research such as those of Sánchez and Cerón (2020) who at the local level analyzed the strategies of accompaniment to ventures of the municipality of Popayán (Colombia) where institutional articulation, associativity, competencies and accompaniment programs stand out; results to be considered in vulnerable environments as an interest of this research.
Methodology
This session describes the research method that was used for data analysis, study population, and data collection instruments.
According to this, the study is typified with a descriptive scope given that it seeks to specify the characteristics of the phenomenon of analysis, as well as the relationship between the stakeholders. It seeks to understand the nature, behaviors and manifestations of the identified groups where reflection was of great importance to rescue experiences and perspectives (Hernández-Sampieri y Mendoza, 2018; López-Herrera & Salas-Harms, 2009). The study focused on the premises of mixed models that made possible the qualitative and quantitative combination in such a way as to generate complementarity between the methods.
As for the population, it was carried out with two groups of economically vulnerable youth, who are exposed to the armed conflict in the Cauca region and who have the potential to develop entrepreneurial activities; that is, they are in the process of developing an idea in entrepreneurship or they are already executing it. In this sense, when working with young people, the research refers to a young person with an age ranging between 14 and 28 years of age according to the National Administrative Department of Statistics of Colombia (DANE, 2021). Convenience sampling was used since the samples —young entrepreneurs— are formed by the available cases to which access was obtained; this technique allows access to selected subjects by virtue of convenient accessibility, proximity and level of knowledge in the face of the phenomenon being investigated (Hernández-Sampieri y Mendoza, 2018).
In this sense, from the rural context, there is the first group of young people located in the municipality of Cajibío, who belong to the Agricultural Association of Cajibio-Asagroc with ages ranging from 16-28 years of age. The second group, is located in the municipality of Timbío with ages between 16-24 years of age and with development of enterprises from the urban context. A total of 50 young people from both contexts were estimated to participate.
However, the data collection techniques were the survey and a semi-structured group interview, applied simultaneously. Each group of young people consisted of 25 members from each context (urban and rural) of strata 1 and 2, applying the convenience sampling technique. The instruments were composed of 11 questions, which respond to the category of entrepreneurship and subcategories such as: employment, training experiences in entrepreneurship, motivation and entrepreneurial skills divided into two sessions. In this way, they asked about types of entrepreneurship training (strengths and weaknesses), they also inquired about the skills that young people have in order to create their business idea and limiting aspects that have prevented the strengthening of their businesses.
According to the above, the analysis of the information was carried out through the methodological triangulation where the results of the quantitative and qualitative methods were contrasted (Betrián, Galitó, García, Jové & Maraculla, 2013).
For the quantitative method, a descriptive analysis of the results obtained from the statistical figures was used, which allowed the main research findings to be analyzed and interpreted. These results describe the knowledge and/or conceptual gaps of young people in terms of entrepreneurship, their entrepreneurial experience from the skills developed, type of training achieved and barriers; the above with the aim of adapting from a training program, the strengthening of their business ideas. In the case of the qualitative method, a content analysis was used, using the categorization systematization proposed by Díaz (2018).
Results
The results and analysis of greater relevance are described below from two fronts of analysis: 1) perception on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial training of young entrepreneurs and 2) Implementation of pilot program.
Perception on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial training
• Factor 1. Perception of business idea and entrepreneurship
As shown in Table 1 and Table 2, this factor relates three categories: the perception about the concept of entrepreneurship, how entrepreneurial ideas emerged, and the motivation of each young person to undertake. There is a direct relationship between them, since their ideas of entrepreneurship arise from the motivation of young people to undertake, this is how they generate an individual perception of the basic concept about entrepreneurship, from experience.
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Perception of the concept of entrepreneurship and motivation to undertake.
Source: Author’s own work. |
Perception about the concept of entrepreneurship: Table 1 shows that the majority of young people, rural and urban, have the perception of entrepreneurship as: “developing a business idea” with a percentage of 54% and 24% respectively. Entrepreneurship is also associated, for the urban sector, with the realization of a project with 36% while 18% from the rural sector relates it to the creation of a small business. The perceptions that young people express are dissimilar, since for one sector training is important to achieve progress and the other view considers that success lies in starting with small initiatives that ensure sustainability; thus, in third place, there is employment generation with a percentage of 9% for the urban sector and 12% for the rural sector.
The stories of young people show the importance that their development must be accompanied by clear objectives, considering the difficulties that may arise in its implementation; they affirm that its purpose is self-employment. In addition to generating benefits not only of personal interest but also for the community taking into account the economic deficiencies present in the region.
For this last statement, it should be contextualized that poverty in Cauca exceeds 70%. In the region, this indicator is undervalued compared to the official figures recorded by DANE; For this body, the incidence of poverty is 62.0% while the research carried out was estimated at 70.55% according to econometric results (Gómez, Fajardo & Sarmiento, 2016).
On the other hand, the arguments previously raised by young people and their context, show a business-centric perception (Formichella & Massigoge, 2004). In accordance with this, their appreciation suggests a concept that is not distant but that it is necessary to recognize that it must go beyond a business idea. In this way, conscious, orderly and systematic undertakings will be directed, avoiding improvisations.
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Perception of the concept of motivation for entrepreneurship.
Source: Author’s own work. |
Motivation to undertake: Table 2 show that the reasons for young people to undertake are specifically oriented towards the family environment and their interest in improving their quality of life. The trends of the results show that young people from the urban context are motivated to improve the quality of life, with 75%. The stories show interest in helping the family, specifically their parents. And 25% expressed the generation of employment, which suggests improving their living conditions and having a source of income. For its part, the rural context refers to the motivation of their ventures, such as generating a better source of family income and quality of life for themselves and the community, with 40% and 30% respectively.
This is the result of the conflict that has been going on in Colombia and rural areas for more than 50 years.
Young people have been severely affected in the country by the consequences of the insurgent armed struggle (Coalición contra la vinculación de niños, niñas y jóvenes en el conflicto-Coalico, 2007). Consequently, the human development of the Colombian population has been affected, which results in their good living and it is for this reason that many of the young people want to migrate from their regions to urban cities to seek opportunities.
The young people who have been interviewed in this article talk about improving their quality of life and relate it to improving their income. Hence, the tireless search for human development that denotes the evolution of the person throughout his life and is the reflection of multiple processes inherent to him and his environment that are directly related to the biological, psychological and social aspects that make up the integrality of being.
The previous findings show a perception centered on the business, forgetting an important point mentioned by Formichella and Massigoge (2004), where the concept of entrepreneurship is recognized from the project’s point of view, glimpsing the figure of the entrepreneur as the one who not only looks at his environment, but also discovers hidden opportunities, generating impact in his life and in the community.
• Factor 2. Entrepreneurs’ knowledge and skills
Table 3 evidences that young people have received entrepreneurship training. In the urban sector, support was provided by the regional government, which motivated them to start a business. From the rural sector, the results show that 88% of young people have also been trained in entrepreneurship. However, the discourses denote the opposite, given that they were oriented in generating economic activities specific to their context such as the transformation of coffee, bakery and cooperativism. Although, in both sectors without formalization of the companies.
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Entrepreneurship training.
Source: Authors’ own work. |
Unfortunately, the intervention of the Colombian government has not been very favorable for young entrepreneurs, evidencing that, for the urban sector, 43% manifest conceptual gaps in terms of accounting and finance, considering the administration of resources important. For the rural sector, they are administration and marketing, with 30% for each of the themes. In this regard, the testimonies show the need to acquire new techniques for the management of processes and knowledge in regulations for the transport of products.
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Conceptual gaps for entrepreneurs.
Source: Authors’ own work. |
In accordance with the Table 4, the existence of training gaps for entrepreneurs is highlighted. A condition that makes them more vulnerable, taking into account that their ventures will face unknown scenarios, generating a gap of success further away from their possibilities. On the other hand, there is also a need from the point of view of entrepreneurship skills as shown in Table 5.
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Entrepreneur Skills.
Source: Authors’ own work. |
Here, it is evident that 31% of young people in the urban context consider leadership as the main skill for the development of their enterprises, followed by discipline with 23% and knowledge of economic activity with 15%. According to the stories, these have been key aspects to boost their businesses. From the rural context, there are differences in the development of skills. In this aspect, knowledge of economic activity prevails with 70%. Young people mentioned in this category: the ability to sell and the good technique for the elaboration of their products.
However, it remains a concern that young people’s potentials, those distinctive features of an individual, are no longer being cultivated. And all this depends not only on the skills of society to manage and transfer the creation of knowledge in an organized way in order to add economic and social value, but also on entities that drive to develop skills and build solid attitudes to assume and face adversities (Gutiérrez, 2015).
• Factor 3. Limitations of undertaking
The results agree that the main limitation for the development of the enterprises, from the urban and rural contexts, is the lack of resources, with 33% and 50% respectively.
The stories emphasize that this situation arises for the commercialization of products and the acquisition of raw materials, as well as the purchase of machinery for the case of rural enterprises. Likewise, they agree on the second difficulty presented is the lack of knowledge on issues of administration, with 27% for the urban environment and 30% for the rural one. The situation is related to accounting management and marketing of the products.
The third criterion is the opposite (Table 6), when mentioning the urban context that the limitation is also due to the fear of failure with 20%; it considers that there is fear considering that they are premature and informal ventures. For its part, the rural sector links it to the low demand for products with 10% due to the high costs of inputs to achieve the quality so demanded by regulators.
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Limitations of undertakings.
Source: Authors’ own work. |
Factor 2 is then reiterated, the training need to achieve entrepreneurs capable of managing resources, with knowledge and skills in the management of their enterprises. Likewise, it is important to assess the motivational factors that according to Marulanda, Montoya & Vélez (2019) allow identifying what motivates people to create and manage their own company.
Implementation of the pilot programme
• Description of the programme
Within the framework of the “Colombia Emprende” program, aimed at supporting initiatives for the entrepreneurship of both rural and urban victims and ensuring the business ideas of families and people who are victims of the armed conflict, a pilot program was proposed (Table 7), to strengthen the entrepreneurial ideas of young people through the development of administrative and financial capacities, marketing and soft skills, which are aligned with that proposed by the Colombian Ministry of Labor (MinTrabajo, 2019).
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Description of the pilot programme for young entrepreneurs.
Source: Authors’ own work. |
Based on the above, it can be noted that the pilot program applied to youth groups had a positive impact given that significant learning was rescued. In this sense, the following results were evident once the program was implemented:
New vision on the perception of entrepreneurship: According to the speeches made by young people, a new perspective on the concept of entrepreneurship is framed. The rural context highlights that it starts from a planned process which requires knowledge of the needs of a population from an economic and social point of view. Likewise, they affirm the importance of the constant identification of the weaknesses of entrepreneurship for constant improvement. The urban sector, frames that the entrepreneurship involves not only the idea of business or project but also the creation of opportunities according to the needs of the environment for the achievement of the objectives.
By virtue of the foregoing, Méndez (2019) exposes that entrepreneurship is the driver and generator of the economy, developing the economy of a region, contributing social development, promoting innovation and employment generation; a position that allows recognizing a more structured idea on the part of young people to project their enterprises towards the construction of the business and social fabric.
Business model, concept of greater impact on entrepreneurial ideas: The young people of both contexts, highlighted that the program in entrepreneurship allowed them to highlight the canvas model as one of the relevant knowledge for the strengthening of their ventures. Likewise, they highlight the component of marketing, from the use of means to make their product or service known. In this sense, most empirical studies indicate that entrepreneurship can be taught, or at least incorporated by entrepreneurial education where skills are possessed so that entrepreneurships improve their levels of competitiveness (Pérez, Font & Ortíz, 2016).
Projection of ventures by opportunity: Once the program has been carried out, the young people recognize in their stories the need to orient their ventures as an opportunity, that is, sustainable businesses with the possibility of generating an impact towards their community. In the diagnosis, entrepreneurships were evidenced by necessity given the vulnerable condition in which young people find themselves. These consist of materializing a business idea in which there is not necessarily potential growth (Pico, 2017).
However, the vision of entrepreneurs proposed by the program is aimed at making visible opportunities such as business sustainability and employment generation. The current reality entails in its analysis that a well executed enterprise could become a potential business with many opportunities that lead it to position itself in the market and therefore achieve business success (Pico 2017).
Strengthening communication skills and initiative: The young entrepreneurs recognized that the program was able to strengthen communication skills and initiative as an important component to make their ventures visible. They emphasized that the exercises developed in the program helped to recognize that soft skills are key when projecting their enterprise.
Finally, the applied program allowed the strengthening of knowledge with the learning acquired in the rural and urban context program highlights a favorable result being in total agreement with 72% for the rural context and 87% for the urban environment. Similarly, its applicability allowed the generation of opportunities for entrepreneurial ideas. In this sense, 82% mentioned being in total agreement for the rural context and 100% for the urban context.
Therefore, it was possible to show the great interest of young entrepreneurs; a population that seeks concrete solutions to the problem. New models of entrepreneurship involving the poorest people are therefore required. Colombia is immersed in a country of laws, decrees, sentences and scarce immediate necessary solutions, practical for the problems experienced by the displaced; which are getting bigger every day (Córtez-Gómez, 2018).
Discussion of Results
The results presented above allow us to recognize the importance of implementing training programs in entrepreneurship based on the understanding of the realities of entrepreneurs, especially if it refers to young people in a vulnerable condition. The study shows in the diagnostic phase that the perception of entrepreneurship by young people from the urban and rural context responds to the dynamics of their vulnerable context and armed conflict, where training needs are evident to enhance the entrepreneurial ideas that they have managed to develop. In accordance with the above, the following findings are presented as a discussion:
Perception on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial training
• Factor 1. Perception of business idea and entrepreneurship
Faced with this factor, young people focus the concept towards business, which, although it is true, is not far away, it is necessary to recognize the need to conceive conscious and planned ventures. In the face of a vulnerable environment, there is an urgent need for young entrepreneurs to come up with strategies that will enable them to respond to the constantly changing environment.
Thus, some young people have the perception of entrepreneurship as the development of a project and employment generation, because the opportunities to achieve it are complex; making entrepreneurship becomes the only option to grow and improve living conditions. Situation related to the study of Minialai et al. (2018), those who affirm that many of the young entrepreneurs decide to be so because they are unemployed, so that more than an option is a necessity. Therefore, they seek to achieve autonomy in a difficult environment.
It is important, as Orrego-Correa (2014) says, to strengthen their perception from a perspective that involves a well-being not only economic but social of a community; in turn, culture is established as an important variable for the development of an entrepreneurial idea, as well as for its execution. This means that the entrepreneur will be able to identify opportunities and gather sufficient resources to develop their entrepreneurship with responses to the needs of their region.
In terms of motivation, young people are oriented towards the perception of convenience or desirability and not towards innovation and risk-taking. According to the business event model proposed by Marulanda et al. (2018) they are the result of the person’s position as a product of culture, socioeconomic structure, family, education, and influential people. However, the authors emphasize that this type of venture does not generate much impact on the economy of countries, as it is not associated with innovation.
On the other hand, this study highlights that there is a greater preponderance to develop enterprises by necessity. This result is related to the research of Almagro-Gaviria and Manzano-Soto (2016) who had the purpose of promoting the development of entrepreneurial skills in vulnerable young people.
The response to the research denoted enterprises by necessity with low indicators of emergence and development. In this regard, Pico (2017) points out that it is relevant to turn the need into an opportunity, identifying key aspects for the search for sustainability since gestated by need do not necessarily have potential growth. Therefore, the entrepreneurial orientation towards a window of opportunity in the training field is a fundamental step that must place the individual in the search to generate an entrepreneurship that evidences the opportunity to accompany the available resources and the necessary scope to achieve success.
• Factor 2. Entrepreneurs’ knowledge and skills
The results show that young people have received training in entrepreneurship, although they respond to a knowledge focused on the technicality of economic activity. It does not go beyond the inclusion of concepts in the global scope of the organization or in any of its areas. The low knowledge in the field of entrepreneurship is related to the study by González and Rodríguez (2008) who, when assessing entrepreneurship in young students of 6 university schools under the premise that Law 1014 of 2006 promotes entrepreneurial activity in educational institutions. The study perceived a lack of formative studies on the subject, despite the potential to achieve sustainable entrepreneurial ideas. If there are significant training gaps in young people with access to education, the picture is more complex in young people forced to face a vulnerable environment such as the population being researched.
According to Orrego-Correa (2015) learning in entrepreneurship starts from the intervention of government entities to train in entrepreneurial skills based on the self-knowledge, self-assessment and self-determination of entrepreneurial subjects. For research purposes, it is remarkable conceptual gaps expressed previously in Table 2 where the entrepreneurial concepts acquired by young people are their own arise from conceptual tools lacking a theoretical-practical support that guides the sustainability of their ventures.
As for their skills and as described above, leadership stands out, in the urban context and knowledge of economic activity: ability to sell and good technique for the production of their products from the rural environment.
In this sense, it is pertinent to rethink the strategy to consolidate sustainable enterprises and, therefore, we must speak of constant and planned learning. It is to speak of education for entrepreneurship in vulnerable contexts where the strategy is not the same as that of a young person who has the opportunity to access higher education. On the contrary, it is a strategy focused on each context from the rural and urban areas to achieve favorable results. There is an urgent need to refer training for entrepreneurs according to the types of companies given that their needs depend on the specific variables of the environment.
Faced with this last aspect, Feijó, Feijó and Bravo (2019) assert, for example, how the family context significantly affects the exercise of entrepreneurship. According to this, it states that the role of the family is an important factor in the creation of a business and is considered a strong influencer when the father or mother has a business of their own, since these absorb family interests and characteristics of the family environment such as behavior, activities, examples of parents, influence the formation of values of young people.
Therefore, it is relevant to consider all the elements of the young person’s context to start talking about entrepreneurship education.
It is necessary to work from training, the development of other skills that characterize the entrepreneur. According to Vázquez (2015), the entrepreneur is related to: the initiative and search for opportunity, perseverance, the search for quality and efficiency, the ability to take calculated risks, the establishment of objectives and goals, the search for information and independence, autonomy and self-control. Likewise, this characteristic Alcaraz (2011), when quoting Kao, mentions total commitment, ability to achieve goals, orientation to goals and opportunities, initiative and responsibility, self-confidence, high levels of energy, high internal control, calculated risk-taking, low need for status and power and tolerance of change, among others.
In view of this, it is attributed that entrepreneurship constitutes a cultural phenomenon that encompasses behaviors, values, beliefs and modes of action, oriented to the generation of social well-being.
• Factor 3. Limitations of undertaking
The results of factor 3 agree that the main limitation for the development of enterprises is the lack of resources where the training need is prevalent to achieve entrepreneurs capable of managing resources, with knowledge and skills regarding the management of their enterprises.
According to Ajzen’s planned behavior model, the intention to undertake according to Rodríguez and Prieto (2009) are influenced by the combination of three variables: Attitude: “The attitude corresponds to the degree to which the individual evaluates, in a favorable or unfavorable way, a personal behavior that concerns him. That is, how attracted he is to the creation of a company” (p. 3); Subjective norm: Also called social norm, it is the degree of incidence imposed by the social environment of the individual to undertake; and Perceived behavioral control: “It is the measure of the degree of difficulty that the individual assumes in the environment to create the potential for the realization of a specific behavior, in this case, to undertake” (p. 4). It also relates to the level of confidence to perform a given task and achieve the proposed goal.
This theory of planned behavior allows to evidence the elements that influence the individual to be an entrepreneur. The decision to undertake is not only determined by the conditions of the context in which the entrepreneur operates, but also the beliefs he has about himself and his ability to carry them out. Therefore, it is necessary to work on the three factors mentioned in this article, starting by providing an adequate concept of entrepreneurship that is based, not only on the need to obtain sources of income, but also on building a solution and opportunities for society, generating employment and economic development in the community and its environment. Given the above, it is relevant to transform enterprises by necessity into opportunity.
In this regard, Pico (2017) who analyzed entrepreneurships out of necessity, affirms that it is necessary to correctly direct ideas, based on the needs of the individual. Thus, the proposal is to turn the need into opportunity, identifying key aspects to start the business, achieving sustainability, so that in turn it can maximize the benefits of both individuals and the entrepreneur.
Likewise, he evidences in his research that many of the ventures fail to consolidate or reach the completion of the first year, due to the lack of planning and search for opportunities that generate a path and a goal to pursue.
On the other hand, factor 2, related to knowledge and conceptual gaps, is relevant to estimate efforts for the search for comprehensive training as a strategy to achieve successful and sustainable ventures over time; in addition to creating motivational components that contribute to the limitations presented.
Pilot program implementation
The research was able to show a positive impact against the implementation of the pilot program. A new vision on the perception of entrepreneurship was achieved with a more structured concept according to the position of Méndez (2019) as indicated above.
The application of administrative concepts such as the business model and the projection of ventures by opportunity allowed a positive influence on the development of conceptual competencies to project sustainable ventures given that these administrative tools were applied to their entrepreneurial ideas from an exercise of socialization and feedback.
In the diagnosis, entrepreneurships were evidenced by necessity given the vulnerable condition in which young people find themselves. These consist of materializing a business idea in which there is not necessarily potential growth (Pico, 2017).
However, the vision of entrepreneurs proposed by the program is aimed at making visible opportunities such as business sustainability and employment generation. The current reality entails in its analysis that a well executed enterprise could become a potential business with many opportunities that lead it to position itself in the market and therefore achieve business success (Pico, 2017).
On the other hand, the development of soft skills such as communication and initiative was strengthened. According to the position of Guerra-Báez (2019) in many cases it does not occur in childhood or adolescence given that educational models have focused their efforts on the development of cognitive skills that involve skills for problem solving, decision-making, critical thinking, self-assessment, decision-making, and understanding of consequences; especially if it refers to young people permeated by a context of armed conflict who have been away from academic classrooms.
It is therefore relevant to focus efforts to achieve changes in the habits and behaviors of entrepreneurs for the development of soft skills. In this sense, government entities become catalysts to focus on young people who are economically and socially vulnerable; long-term and far-reaching educational programs allow the development of these skills to materialize.
Conclusions
As expressed in this document, one of the purposes of the study is the learning experience in the field of strengthening youth entrepreneurship from two contexts: urban and rural. It is of interest in the academic field given the possibility of learning from this exercise through the experiences of young people who face daily situations that strengthen and limit their ventures in the region of Cauca.
From their vulnerable condition raised in an environment of armed conflict, the sectors face wide-ranging challenges, which invite to generate sustainable alternatives to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem which implies the promotion of collaborative work that not only involves actions of government entities but also, under the triple helix University-Business-State.
The study was able to identify that resource management is an imperative need for the sustainability of young people’s businesses and that they have dissimilar training needs for both the urban and rural context given their entrepreneurial experience.
Regarding the evaluation of variables in the study such as: perception, knowledge and skills; and limitation of their ventures, young people with great potential to undertake, but with training limitations that inhibit sustainable ventures, are evidenced. However, the pilot program guided the improvement of its entrepreneurial projects where it is recognized that this type of training processes allow to enhance their creativity and their need for achievement.
The above, in order that the young entrepreneur can improve and strengthen their entrepreneurship, not with the premise of considering that the entrepreneurial programs arise only, after the hopelessness of not finding employment for a long period of time, and as described Almagro-Gaviria and Manzano-Soto (2016), believing that undertaking with this type of aid, will facilitate the reconciliation of their work and personal life. It is therefore clear that it should be conceived as the basis for achieving sustainable entrepreneurial ideas that, supported by the opportunity for training, can have useful tools, to adequately respond to the difficulties inherent in the context.
By virtue of the use of the case study, it is important to note that the results proposed here do not ensure universal validity compared to the promotion of entrepreneurship in young entrepreneurs; instead, it collects work fronts that deserve a more representative approach in the future, therefore, it is a promising line of research on the training of young entrepreneurs exposed to a vulnerable context.
Declaration of Authorship
Potes-Ordoñez: Conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, research, writing- original draft, visualization, project management, acquisition of funds.
Cerón-Ríos: Methodology, validation, formal analysis, writing-review and editing, visualization.
Sandoval-Zúñiga: Writing-Proofreading and editing.
Acknowledments
The authors inform that the present research results come from the research project called: Measurement of the Impact of significant education in entrepreneurship, and employability for economically vulnerable youth from the Popayán plateau attached to the Faculty of Economic, Accounting and Administrative Sciences-program of Business Administration of the University Foundation of Popayán.
The authors thank the Research, Development and Innovation System of the Fundación Universitaria de Popayán for financing the project, which allowed this study to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Likewise, to the young people of the communities of the municipalities of Cajibio and Timbio who allowed the researchers to know the reality of their undertakings.
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Biodata
Laura Beatriz Potes Ordoñez. Master in Organization Management, Business Administrator, both degrees from Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia. Full-time lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, Accounting and Administrative Sciences of the Fundación Universitaria de Popayán (Colombia). Author of the “Preponderant Ideas on Corporate Social Responsibility CSR” book chapter. Research lecturer belonging to the group IDEESE-Business Development, Innovation and ICT. Teacher outstanding for the promotion of institutional research and research excellence. Research interests in entrepreneurship and Corporate Social Responsibility issues. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3654-4726
Gineth Magaly Cerón Rios. Engineer in Electronics and Telecommunications with a Master’s and PhD in Telematics Engineering all the studies carried out at the Universidad del Cauca (Colombia). Currently Research Professor at the Universidad del Cauca, member of the GIT telematics engineering group recognized by Colciencias A1. In addition, she played the role of ICT coordinator in the “Consolidation of Capacities of Science, Technology and Innovation for the Strengthening of Rural Economies in the Ancestral Territories of the Kokonuko - Puchicanga People” Project financed with resources from the General Royalty System. She was awarded a scholarship from Colciencias and Colfuturo (Colombia) for Doctorates. Research interests: strengthening vulnerable communities in creative processes, where new technologies are included, supporting innovative ideas and ventures. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9979-2137
Oscar Raúl Sandoval Zúñiga. Candidate for a PhD in Anthropology, Master in Studies on Latin American Political Problems, Specialist in Public Accounting from Universidad del Cauca (Colombia). Research lecturer and member of the Minka Research Group of the Fundación Universitaria de Popayán. Consultant of Science, Technology and Innovation projects in various public and private entities. In addition, he plays the role of director of the “Consolidation of Capacities of Science, Technology and Innovation for the Strengthening of Rural Economies in the Ancestral Territories of the Kokonuko - Puchicanga People” Project, financed with resources from the General Royalty System. Research interests: rural economies, projects in indigenous communities. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7495-9391