With graduate season approaching at this time of the year, the senior college students are now facing the critical issue of seeking for jobs. While the weak labor market in Taiwan has made jobs with stable salaries more attractive than ever for some college graduates-to-be, others cannot be satisfied by a fixed number of income. Therefore, starting one’s own business has become another option.
As the world is rapidly changing, the idea of innovation and entrepreneurship is the key to success in this age of global competition, thereby blossoming more than ever. To encourage creativity, the Youth Development Administration, Ministry of Education（教育部青年發展署）has carried out a project called U-start about College Graduates’ Entrepreneurship（大專畢業生創業服務計畫）. The project grants young people with the experimental field, funds, and other necessities to implement innovative ideas. Hopefully, it will help nurture entrepreneurial talents for the rising demand of the industry and promote more employment chances.
Social Influence Assess Workshop, an event co-organized by the Agency of Workforce Development（勞動力發展署）and Asia Pacific Research Foundation（亞太綜合研究院）, was held to call for the development of social enterprises（社會企業）by entrepreneurs. It was hosted by Jia-lin Wu（吳佳霖）, the secretary-general at The Chinese Non-profit Organization Development Association（中華非營利組織發展協會）. Social enterprise by definition means that a company not only pursues economic interests but also takes social responsibilities. “To start up a business, you need to have professional skills first. But what’s equally important is that you provide a model in your company. Only when you combine both can you establish a business successfully,” Wu said.
Committed to advocating social enterprise, Wu believes that service is more than just the actual behavior of serving customers; the spirit of service lies in a deep concern for other people’s needs. It is not too late to join social enterprises! “When you want to start a business, try finding key factors of success from the stories of accomplished entrepreneurs. It may give you some inspirations as well as guidance,” Wu said. Starting a new business is a way to earn a living, but it is never simple. Exploration on your own is surely fine, but when there are difficulties, don’t forget to seek help from the government or non-governmental organizations.
