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 Bangladesh University of Professionals

Research Proposal on “Youth entrepreneurship& Sustainability in

Bangladesh”
Course Name: Macroeconomics
Course Code: ACT- 2204
Date of Submission: 4th October, 2020

Submitted To:
Mr. Ratan Ghosh
Lecturer
Department of Accounting & Information Systems
Faculty of Business Studies
Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP)

Submitted by:
Team: Gravity
Name ID
Ashib-Al-Galib 19211007
AnonnaFariha 19211055
KaziTanzeemTousif 19211065
Jannatul Maua 19211077
Towkir Ahmed 19211093
Section: A
Accounting and Information Systems
Bangladesh University of Professionals
 Research Proposal
On
“Youth entrepreneurship& Sustainability in Bangladesh”

No Title Page No
1 Letter of Transmittal i
2 Acknowledgement ii
3 Abstract iii
4 Table of Contents iv
4th November 2020
Mr. Ratan Ghosh
Lecturer
Department of Accounting & Information Systems
Faculty of Business Studies
Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP)

Subject: Youth entrepreneurship& Sustainability in Bangladesh

Sir,
With due respect and honor, we would like to let you know that we are very pleased to
submit this Research proposal on ““Youth Entrepreneurship & Sustainability in
Bangladesh””
Through our research, we will try to find out the problems and some related solutions so that
“Youth Entrepreneurship & Sustainability in Bangladesh” are known and will keep a
significant role in the economy of Bangladesh.
Therefore, we would hope to see that you will give a thorough view on our term paper on
“Youth Entrepreneurship & Sustainability in Bangladesh”
Sincerely yours,

Ashib-Al-Galib (19211007)
AnonnaFariha (19211055)
KaziTanzeemTousif (19211065)
Jannatul Maua (19211077)
Towkir Ahmed (19211093)

Batch: AIS-4 (2019)

Department of Accounting and Information Systems,
Faculty of Business Studies,
Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP)
 Acknowledgement
In real sense, a project is a combined effort of student skill and knowledge under the precious
guidance of their mentors. Thus, any project can’t be accomplished to one’s satisfaction
without proper guidance and the total cooperation of all those involved in the project. So, we
are very thankful to the entire kind person who has helped us immensely during our data
collection. We express our deep gratitude and sincere thanks to Almighty Allah for providing
us enough strength to make this report successful and our respected faculty Mr. Ratan Ghosh.
Abstract
Entrepreneurship is the business efforts of an individual or group for earning profit and
ensuring economic empowerment. Bangladesh is a developing with increasing young
entrepreneurs. This paper shows that how young generation helping the economy by reducing
unemployment problem of Bangladesh and what problems they are facing. The possible
outcomes of increasing entrepreneurs as well as the supports they are having from the
government such as trainings to sustain. Also, shows us the impact of present situation on
self-employed people.
This study also recognizes the key reasons that inspired them to start their own business at
younger age. It shows that young entrepreneurs face many problems and issues for young
people in starting and doing their business such as lack of access to capital and credit, lack of
confidence between suppliers and consumers, lack of expertise and skill. Government giving
the opportunity to take training by renowned people from different institutions.
 Table of Contents
No Contents Page No
1 Introduction
2 Objective of the Study
3 Problem Statement
4 Research Questions
5 Literature Review
6 Research Methodology
7 Limitations
8 Analysis and Discussion
9 Findings, Recommendation and Conclusion
10 Reference
11 Disclaimer

Introduction

Youth is the Future of every nation & inheritors of the earth tomorrow. This statement stands
true in every sense. When a country has a healthy youth population, you will find the country
making headway in terms of overall development and progress. A country with high aging
population and lower youth population has a lot of problems to content with that can slow its
growth. The world today has transited into a ‘Technology Era’. Technology has enabled
progress in all fields and all societies. Technological revolution has changed the face of lives
of people bringing healthcare, information and connectivity to even the most remote areas
that were hereto isolated. One of the major challenges faced by most of the countries in the
world today is to do with Youth unemployment. The overall unemployment rate is growing at
an alarming speed. Amongst the unemployed, the unemployment of youth seems to be
alarming. In this paper we are going to answer some questions regarding youth
entrepreneurship and the sustainability as well as the concept of youth entrepreneurships. As
well as writing analysis from perspective of different entrepreneurs in Bangladesh.

Objective of the Study

An objective of this study is to focus the issues and constraints affecting the underprivileged
youth entrepreneurs in sustainable Bangladesh. Discuss the problems and possibilities to
development and reduce the problems through entrepreneurship.

Problem Statement
Reducing unemployment of youth has become one of the most difficult challenges for
Bangladesh where youths constitute one third of total population. Youth in a country is the
most viable and potential human resource not only in population structure but also in social
structure. Not only in Bangladesh but also in worldwide youths are facing major challenges.
They are: Lack of employment opportunities, Failure to succeed in education system, Issues
related to body image, Family problems, Substance abuse, Pressures of materialism, Lack of
affordable housing, Negative stereotyping, Pressures of 24-hour social networking, Crimes
etc.
These all are common in terms of challenges facing youth in general. In the entrepreneurship
scene of our country, challenges vary from entrepreneurs to entrepreneurs following some
criteria. Each and every aspiring entrepreneur faces a different dilemma from their side. So, it
becomes difficult to judge and conclude stipulating the particular challenges. In our country’s
perspective, no doubt, funding is the greatest challenge for entrepreneurs rather than in other
developed countries, although funding seldom determines the success of a venture according
to various successful entrepreneurs. So, it can be deemed that seed money is the fact for
venturing a business but not the key stuff. There are so far 7 Million small entrepreneurs in
the country. It sounds good to learn a massive amount of participation in entrepreneurship
seemingly, but the amount frustrates with the world ranking of entrepreneurship whereof
Bangladesh places itself in the 133rd position in Global Entrepreneurship index 2017
among137 countries.
Research Questions

 How will the youth entrepreneurship affect our economy development?

 What entrepreneurs can offer to their country?
 How can we overcome the challenges?
 What can the government do to encourage more entrepreneurship initiatives among
youth?
 The possible fields for start-ups.
 As corona pandemic has rattled the economy all over the world, each and every institute
and organization is suffering. Does leadership become a challenge during such dire
situation?
 As we are aware of the situation already, economy is not healthy right now and
unemployment could be unprecedented. What advice should be given for the youth who
could be direct victims of the situation?
 Policy makers are claiming that new investment for youths is increasing and this has been
possible for political stability in the country. Does that make sense?

Literature review

The core concept behind youth entrepreneurships is to inspire young people to think outside
the box, to come up with interesting concepts, innovation and solutions to current challenges,
and then to help them turn them into sustainable business ventures, giving then an early start
in entrepreneurship. Out of academic classes and job experiences, good ideas do not always
have to come. Scientifically proved to be more innovative and willing to come up with new
ideas then old ones young brains have been and experienced mindsets. On global and national
agendas achieving the sustainable development goals, tackling youth unemployment and
fostering entrepreneurship are all top topics.
It is not enough to provide young people with a great degree and money for them to pursue
entrepreneurship. Their ideas need to be crated and mentored. With the development of
technology, many jobs will be redundant. For example, many well educated young people are
employed in the teller section of our banks where they have very little to contribute, and
these jobs will soon be performed by machines as we see in the developed countries.
Therefore, our parents need to come out of the traditional mindset and encourage their
children to learn the skills of the future. In our rural areas, there are many craftsmen who
have the talent to produce high-quality products that can be exported, and thus a huge amount
of foreign currency can be earned. We need to create a conducive environment for these
grassroots entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurship can impact the economy of a country in diverse ways. it is through
entrepreneurship that important innovations enter the market leading to new products or
production process which eventually increases efficiency through bringing competition in the
market. Various factors have deterred emerging entrepreneurs from successfully starting their
own business. Such as high and multiple taxes, lack of funding, electricity, and security. In
such environments, starting and sustaining a small business could be very tedious and only
few entrepreneurs with extra personal qualities can survive. Creativity and a strong work
ethic are vital as well as being detail-oriented and willing to research thoroughly and accept
risks. Bangladesh has many sectors from which a person can start his/her work as an
entrepreneur. About 80% of the young people in Bangladesh are unemployed. This also
increases the unemployment rate every year.
The problems young entrepreneurs faces are Socio-Cultural Factors as Inhibitors to
Entrepreneurship, Economic & Political Factors, Policy framework, Industry Support &
Patronage, Education System & Orientation, Finance & Business Support etc. the social and
cultural outlook of the societies may not encourage initiatives and entrepreneurship. Many
societies expect the youth to obtain education that enables them to get a job and earn salary to
support the family. Economic compulsions too can push the families to encourage youth to
look for jobs and not look at opportunities. In some cases certain caste or class of people are
habituated to practicing certain occupations and thus entrepreneurship becomes a prerogative
of certain sections of the society. Some other societies are risk averse and tend to play safe,
while many communities believe in their children pursuing defence services opportunities or
social service opportunities and so on. Economies which are not growing are grappling with
huge unemployment problems and this is affecting the youth too. When the economy is down
and the business is not doing well, there will be no opportunities for small entrepreneurs to
provide services to support the economy and business.

Government policy and framework in the country helps identify and build the base for youth
entrepreneurship. The policies need to encourage and provide opportunities as well as
assistance and environment to give impetus to youth entrepreneurship and have got to be
implemented at national, regional and local levels. Policy directives will need to engage the
business, banking, educational and other sectors to be able to deliver definitive steps to
encouraging and aiding youth entrepreneurship. Lack of such policy framework can hinder
the growth and initiative in the youth. In any industry, it is largely the business sector that
provides opportunities for support services and creating new networks of business
enterprises. Similar to their role in social responsibility, Industry can create a very strong
platform to help develop the youth and give them the support and guidance as well as
opportunities to the youth. In society where the industry enterprise is not very significant or
not very active, there can be no encouragement for youth entrepreneurship.

Today the education system is geared to enabling the youth to pass out with their
qualifications based on academic knowledge and prepare for seeking a job. There is little or
no focus on building and equipping the students with leadership, building awareness and
giving them training for entrepreneurship. Of late there is a trend to introduce specialised
courses and training modules on entrepreneurship in many of the universities. In most cases
the students do not attempt to think out of the box as they are not equipped with the necessary
skills. One other biggest hurdle faced by each and every entrepreneur is the lack of financial
backup and funding as well as guidance required to incubate new business. Most often those
who attempt to start any enterprise do so borrowing from family and friends and dipping into
their saving. After a while the business starts to suffer due to lack of funds and they end up in
a debt trap. Banking and financial assistance should be made available easily and this can
happen only with the active support and engagement by the Government. Nowadays venture
capitalists are funding new enterprises. However this is available to very few and not to the
larger sections of the society.

Research Methodology
The study is primarily based on secondary data. It doesn’t attempt to deal with primary
sources such as questionnaire for survey purposes to assess the impact of the crisis at the
grass roots level. The major sources of data articles and publications of various authors and
organizations were obtained from academic journals, newspapers, working papers, research
studies, and Internet sources. The exact sources will be mentioned in the citations inside the
paper as well as in the list of references.

Limitations

In this current situation, we must have to face some problems-

 It will be quite impossible to meet and get an interview with someone so there will be a
lacking of primary data.
 The availability of secondary data sources is not that rich.
So we had to face problem while collecting data.

Analysis and Discussion

Combination of transparency, prudence, empathy, timing and courage is very important when
you are in a leadership role. Especially, in a crisis situation like this. When we are in a
leadership role, we have to deal with people from various backgrounds. If we are secretive,
narcissistic and tend to make impulsive decision, it might create differences within the
organization. We should remember that we cannot make everyone happy at the same time. As
for the pandemic that we are facing right now, it does make leadership challenging in terms
of how an organization would go forward with its activities for the year and how it would
keep its people engaged and motivated.

To fight unemployment, youths must have a greater say in the policies that directly affect
them. They need to be active participants in every sector, be it in food crisis, mobilizing
farmers, taking business virtual, harnessing agricultural data, workforce training, healthcare
support, turning waste materials into different products, making masks and also, use of social
media in the positive way. Entrepreneurs have a lot to offer to their country of residence. An
entrepreneur can do the following for his country; Create jobs, Provide services and products
needed in the country, Create wealth (For themselves and their country).

If we see one or two generation back, youths wanted to become doctors, engineers or
government employees. But this mentality has changed with time. Government has
constantly encouraged entrepreneurship and promoted trainings and system that support new
entrepreneurs. Bangladesh was lagging behind in SME development a few years back. But
today, new initiatives are enabling entrepreneurships through various accelerator/incubator
programs and it has been realized that entrepreneurship is the gateway to sustainability. It is
becoming increasingly important as it creates positive impact on the locality and changes the
lives of the people. Nowadays while doing business, policies force the entity to care about
people and planet before profit. So political stability in the country does play a vital role.
Entrepreneurs are frequently thought of as national assets to be cultivated, motivated, and
remunerated to the greatest possible extent. Great entrepreneurs have the ability to change the
way we live and work. If successful, their innovations may improve standards of living, and
in addition to creating wealth with entrepreneurial ventures, they also create jobs and
contribute to a growing economy. New products and services created by entrepreneurs can
produce a cascading effect, where it stimulates related businesses or sectors that need to
support the new venture, furthering economic development. They pay taxes to sell, import
their products. By doing that they are contributing in the country economy. Hand crafts,
export-import, are becoming most wanted way to be self employed.

Entrepreneurial efficiency is an essential for increasing the phase of production. This related
factor is considered as the fundamental force of industrialization. We recognize that
investment ventures require entrepreneurship and wealth association. In the phase of
industrial these supports should be incorporated. Youth entrepreneurs shared the following
opinions in the focus group discussions:
 Public capital should be geared towards the phase of industrialization. This social
mindset and mind frame should be altered for this.
 Underprivileged emerging entrepreneurs need community support.
 Individual family commitment should be awarded for enterprise initiative.
Inherent partnerships with development intervention are components of venture projects. The
following factors are impending the growth of young entrepreneur were seen by participants
in focus group discussions:
 Financial capital as a fund for floatation
 Marketability of production or services
 Competition risk
 Sustainability of alternatives for productions etc.
There’s no doubt that small businesses will be the hardest hit from the current COVID-19
pandemic. The bigger businesses have a better chance of surviving; however, small
businesses tend to live only with a few months of cash flow (at most), so when something as
significant as this hits, it can be devastating not only for the small business owner, but also
for the employees they support. So, how can small businesses survive the turbulent times
coming ahead in 2020? So a person should think and plan for this situation.

Governments around the world are already putting together initiatives to support small
business owners, and this is something that is evolving on a daily basis. Be up to date with
how your governments can help cut costs, as well as other important institutions, such as
banks that also have a social responsibility. If you’re registered in more than one market,
explore support options in both markets. 

Germany now ranks as the top Entrepreneurship country in terms of government support,
financing and policies. Japan and the USA are coming second and third respectively. This
type of financial capital is provided to early-stage, high-potential and riskier start-up
companies. These countries’ economies are ranking very high because they understand the
impact entrepreneurs play on the growth of their economy. Their GDP is always on the
increase. India started to advertise the small business of their country and entrepreneurs to
increase their economic condition. Every developed and developing country focuses on their
young people those who want to be self employed.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said in a conference "In our incentive packages, we've taken
measures to extend financial assistance to various small businessmen by providing them with
loans at low interest. But I think our private banks need to be a little more sincere in this
regard. Some 35 commercial banks under Bangladesh Association of Banks (BAB) provided
25, 95,000 blankets to the Prime Minister's Relief and Welfare Fund to help the poor during
the upcoming winter.

Findings
Bangladesh is a developing country. Our government is focusing on every sectors and
opportunity for development, as well as on the young generation. Our prime minister is
continuously encouraging the young to be self-employed. She is encouraging to be freelancer
and become entrepreneurs. Bangladesh government is letting many organizations to create a
floor for entrepreneurship training. BRAC, SME, LEAD etc organizations are creating path
for young generation. Universities are playing a vital role for the young. Seminars also help
to understand a difficult market. Entrepreneurs are creating new job opportunities. They are
creating new definition of “Work from home”. As well as they are developing the economy.

Our government is giving incentives to the young entrepreneurs. Banks asked to provide
loans to small businesses sincerely, at low interest. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the
private banks to be more sincere in providing loans at low interest to small business
enterprises to offset the Covid-19 fallout. So it is quite obvious that soon there will be a start-
up capital for every young entrepreneur to start their innovative ideas. The pandemic
damaged the SME sector worldwide, but it also created a new opportunity for technology-
based SMEs and sub-contracting business in Bangladesh to flourish.

Recommendations

New skilled trades should be identified. Their demand-supply analysis and gap determination
are required. It is very important to ensure proper and careful selection of entrepreneurs as
trade skills are highly related to an entrepreneur's own ability, aptitude, and family tradition.
Young entrepreneurs should adopt a Forward-Thinking Attitude. Their vision should include:

 mission statement
 The products or services they will offer
 their business niche
 Ways to find prospects
 Marketing strategies
 Problems they will solve
 Ways to position themselves against their competitors

Conduct Frequent SWOT Analyses of Your Business System. A SWOT (strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is an examination of the internal and external
areas of the business. This exercise aims to identify areas that are working and those that are
not. We know that many government organizations like Bangladesh Industrial Development
Authority (BIDA), Ministry of Youth and Sports (MOYS), Small and Medium Enterprise
Foundation (SMEF), Bangladesh Industrial Technical Assistance Centre (BITAC), and
Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) are engaged in
entrepreneurship development services. We should contemplate on whether we can assign the
whole program of entrepreneurship development to any separately formed national body for
the benefits of synchronization and better goal-congruence.

One should choose his/her field wisely. There is some field from where a person can start
his/her work.  Food Processing , Rice Farming Textile and Garment Manufacturing,
Fruits Plantation, Seafood and Fish Business, handcrafts, products based on the places
can also be included in this.

Conclusion
Rapid transformation of the young population, in particular, into productive forces is the
crying need of the country. Unemployment rate among the educated youth has assumed an
alarming proportion. The government lays more emphasis on job creators rather than job
seekers and has a strategy to generate self-employment opportunities. We need quick
economic recovery in terms of GDP growth lost due to the impacts of COVID-19. More and
more business enterprises need to be set up to magnify the growth making capacity. It is very
crucial to increase the momentum of, and to improve the effectiveness of entrepreneurship
development (ED). It is the government that should assume the total responsibility for
entrepreneurship development. We observe that entrepreneurs are being developed by several
government organizations under different programs.
Entrepreneurship development program should be started with a digital registration process.
Orientation and training program would be the core strategy to develop potential
entrepreneurs. Unless registered, none can attend the training program. Primary registration
of trainee entrepreneurs should be introduced nationally by the government.
Reference
https://www.financialexpress.com/
https://www.entrepreneur.com/

Disclaimers