Introduction to digital entrepreneurship
In last few years, during Covid period, world has changed, many businesses, especially small ones, started working or re-organized for work online. Digital work as digital entrepreneurship became very important part of our society in times of pandemic. Businesses moved from real to digital ones. Digital commerce became safe, efficient and „close to home“ version of many favorite shops and changed shopping concept. Even after pandemic is over, digital businesses will still be required more than before pandemic as people learned to use Digital shops more.
Popularity of creating digital businesses, on the other hand, is caused by ability of digital entrepreneurs to create digital businesses and do marketing easier and with less finances than real shops. There are cheap platforms (like Zairo) that can provide cheap access and help with creation of shop for low price, perfect even for beginner. Besides Europe needs more entrepreneurs, more innovation and more high-growth SMEs. That is why it is necessary to stimulate and support entrepreneurial mindsets and digital skills of young people through different educational programs, modules, online platforms that might be easily accessed from anywhere as long as there is a computer and internet connection.
Importance of digital skills and digital upskilling.
Technologies keep advancing, every day society faces more and more digitalization. Digital Skills is one of most important 21st Century Skills and it is a crucial skill in nowadays society, especially when you are creating digital business. Also if your business is small. Upskilling digital skills is in top priority list for small businesses. It helps to create online platforms faster, easier than a real business with less financial or human resources.
Besides it helps to promote products better, to reach wider group of people interested in product sold online and can help gain more followers, future clients and useful acquaintances, become more recognizable as a brand and even plan your daily tasks or communicate with your team or partners in a more efficient way (Asana, Trello, Zoom, Slack). As example, digital stories are of a big help in the world where people „scroll“ different pieces
of information with velocity of the light and information has to constantly be renewed. Digital stories and being able to produce them, gives a chance to small businesses to be closer to the client, communicate to them in a friendlier, closer way and keep the clients in a community of „followers“ or „likeminded“ people who buy similar kind of goods and share their values through it. Having digital community is an advantage for small businesses.
Story followers usually become loyal users and promote favorite products for people in their environment. That is how digital stories on Instagram or Facebook can become part of daily life of certain target groups and become the best tool of creating digital community and getting clients. However, not everyone is capable to make such stories and need basic knowledge on how to actually make a story like this.
Digital literacy requires at least some knowledge about business creation online, Social Media knowledge, basic knowledge about marketing online, however, it is not always the strong side of people who start their businesses online. Some entrepreneurs have difficulty with marketing and they can‘t reach well their target group, others don‘t have enough knowledge even how to start digital shop, even if they have their „unofficial“ business as a side activity, e.g. person is doing crafts as a hobby and sells some of their products but don‘t open their digital business because they don‘t have basics of digital skills. That proves that digital upskilling is very important for digital entrepreneurs.
YouGo and digital entrepreneurship
You Go project is focused on crafts women who will be creating their businesses online from the scratch. Such businesses require digital literacy. However, it might become a challenge if craftswomen who want to create their business are not digitally literate. Digital skill highly influences access to target group of such businesses and communication with clients, partners or networking. Not knowing at least basics of social media and some other useful apps and ways to create and maintain digital business might be challenging in these times where technology is everything. Therefore, it is important to share best experiences of crafts women about creation of digital businesses, digital marketing and access to target groups and other important questions. Educating crafts women of how to create digital businesses and how to manage them online will be a great asset to creation of quality businesses and spreading digital literacy.
To sum up, digitalization is touching our lives every day and spreading quickly. It is crucial to educate new generation of digital entrepreneurs to use digital skills in best way possible, motivate and support them or/and create communities of digital entrepreneurs supporting each other.
