Transcriber: omar idmassaoud Reviewer: Maurício Kakuei Tanaka
So I know you’re probably bored of hearing about people talk about COVID right now,
but who knew it would have made us entrepreneurs?
The pandemic has turned people’s outlook on life inside out,
and heavily impacted area was, of course, the economy and the workplace followed.
The business world has changed as we know it,
and as the lockdowns rolled in,
everything seemed to suffer.
However, entrepreneurship has escalated and adapted to the new world.
The definition of an entrepreneur is:
“An individual who creates their own business
bearing financial risk and hope for profit.”
They are commonly seen as an innovator,
a source of new ideas, goods, services and, of course, business.
Entrepreneurs find challenges exhilarating,
and risks are part of their everyday job.
Instead of seeing this barrier, they’ll see an opportunity.
So perhaps in their eyes, the pandemic was seen as an opportunity.
During COVID, there’s been a massive surge in the amount of start-up businesses.
And in a study,
according to researchers at the Peterson Institute for International Economics,
it was found that Americans started 4.4 million businesses last year.
That is a 24 percent increase to that of the previous year,
which shows that businesses are at an all-time high.
It is also relevant and apparent that as everyone was trapped at home,
many businesses were set up online,
and so the online business community has also expanded.
This time now spent online has meant that ...
the power of advertising on social media has expanded,
and people and businesses are now able to reach a wide audience
with more efficiency.
Also, without the cost of running a shop on the high street
or having a stall at a market,
having a business set up online
can actually be overall more cost-efficient.
And now, speaking of online,
have you noticed your screen time increase over the last year?
Well, the average adult in the UK now spends over four hours a day online,
which is just under a quarter of an adult's waking day.
These four hours seen in 2020 is in comparison to three hours in 2018.
And this is an absolute record as well and has been the most online growth ever.
And now that adults have spent more time online,
it means that businesses are able to attract more attention,
and thus they can obtain more growth.
So through an increase in risk, time, creativity, and, of course, online growth,
businesses and entrepreneurship is clearly on the rise.
Now, this rise in entrepreneurship
can be seen from a closer to home perspective,
as students within our own school community
have set up their own businesses during the lockdowns.
One example being Olivia’s Custom Designs,
where she uses her love for art and fashion and painting
to customize shoes and sells them.
And, of course, she’s even collaborated with social media influencers,
which is a great achievement.
And another example is Focaccia and More,
where Soleil has used her love for making focaccia.
And she’s even given 25 percent of her earnings to the NHS.
So, these are just two examples of people within our own community
who have set up businesses online,
and they even have large social media followings,
which shows that the lockdowns and the pandemic
have actually done very good.
And, of course, the pandemic has had devastating impacts on our lives.
And it really has changed people's way of living.
But I find it interesting to look at the other side
and see just how a bit of boredom allows this surge in creative ideas.
And now business applications are at an all-time high.
And this explosion in business really shows people to be true risk-takers
and shows that they have innovation and initiative and work.
So, as the pandemic comes to an end,
I hope that creativity is still evident in business and, of course, in the world.
And so whenever you’re bored
or if you have a bit of time on your hands,
I hope you can find your spark of creativity.
Because you never know, maybe you’ll be the next entrepreneur.
(Applause)
(Cheers)