We Need Advocacy for Entrepreneurs

Right to Start is Creating a Movement Nationwide

By Collin West

Victor Hwang, Founder of the Right to Start nonprofit, is the man who wants to save entrepreneurship. “Entrepreneurs have no voice in the national debate and yet, we know how important entrepreneurs are,” shared Victor.

There are millions of people who are unemployed or underemployed, and countless businesses that are struggling through this COVID-19 lockdown. But there is no advocacy for founders like there is for large multinational corporations.

Studies have shown that net job growth is almost completely reliant on companies younger than 5 years. In this interview, we go into the details of how Right to Start is helping build local, state, and national advocacy programs for small business owners and startup founders.

The 5% To Start Initiative

There are numerous government programs that support large companies and institutions. The consensus is that the government should be risk-averse and only work with known players. But Victor has a clever solution: “Instead of reworking the system, we should make a policy that requires 5% of government contracts should go to new folks, companies that have not had a government contract before. This is a small percent of the overall budget but opens up competition, which benefits everyone.”

The same logic can be applied to workforce training. The federal government spends tens of billions of dollars on workforce training programs (source). Again, instead of helping to develop corporate skills to take a job, 5% of resources should go to creating a new job. Training entrepreneurs could be a great way of creating new, high-paying jobs throughout the country.

Lastly, Right to Start is working to shift the economic development budget. Almost all of our current economic development activities go to tax breaks and subsidies for big business. Let’s think about how much benefit small business owners would receive by getting 5% of the economic development budget.

Starting a Movement

The Right to Start strategy involves changing minds, changing policies, and changing communities. “People know there are economic challenges, but most people don’t think of entrepreneurship as the answer,” said Victor Hwang. “We want our Field Guides, which cover economic development, labor laws, fundraising, employment, education, and more – to be used by mayors, city counsels, state leaders, all the way up to the White House.”

Today, they have engaged more than 100 politicians and their guides are being used to affect policy decisions. But this is just the start.

“People ask me what they can do and I always answer the same way,” stated Victor. “Don’t just complain about the problem, let’s create a plan. Let’s start a dialogue – today.”