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Young Entrepreneurs

Being your own boss in

Latin America: Challenges,
myths, and reality
Gustavo Fernández y Calderón

E
ntrepreneurship is the pro-
cess of designing, launch-
ing, and running a new busi-
ness, which initially results
in small businesses. The
people who create these businesses
are called entrepreneurs. Entrepre-
neurship has been de­­scribed as the
“capacity and willingness to devel-
op, organize and manage a business
venture along with any of its risks
in order to make a profit.” Although
definitions of entrepreneurship typi-
cally focus on the launching and run-
ning of businesses, due to the high
risks involved in launching a start-up,
a significant proportion of start-up
businesses are forced to close due to
lack of funding, bad business deci-
sions, an economic crisis, lack of mar-
ket demand, or a combination of some
or all of these factors.
Being an entrepreneur is a process
that requires the ability to lead other
©iStockphoto.com/erhui1979
people, prioritize tasks to increase
efficiency, and put the available re-
sources to the best possible use. exit from the market of existing com- neurs: Many Firms but Little Innova-
However, these skills are not enough. panies and the innovation of those tion,” the future of the region will de­­
Generally, successful entrepreneurs already established, which in turn pend on reaching a greater number of
thrive when the economic and insti- promotes economic development. transformational entrepreneurs than
tutional environment is favorable and at present.
boosts innovation. When the environ- The real history But why focus on innovation? Be-
ment is propitious, entrepreneurs Latin America and the Caribbean cause the entrepreneur must inno-
take the risk and invest in innovation. are regions of entrepreneurs. The vate with some improvement or new
Thus, they stimulate productivity by per capita rate of business owners is product in the industry. According to
altering the dynamics of entry and higher than in other regions with the World Bank report, it is appar-
similar income levels. Even so, and ent that in countries such as Bolivia,
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MPOT.2018.2865059
according to a report from the World Paraguay, El Salvador, Honduras,
Date of publication: 12 November 2018 Bank, “Latin American Entrepre- Guatemala, and Peru, the number of

40 ■ N o v e m b e r / D e c ember 2018 IEEE Potentials 0278-6648/18©2018IEEE

patents per million inhabitants is less
than one, well below what it should be
for the country’s level of development.
Entrepreneurs may arise to opti-
mize the industrial processes and to
make an improvement in the work
environment. The social and political
aspects that force big companies to
make budget cuts, reductions in staff,
and lower operating costs for the proj-
ects they undertake often open a way
for others to be able to start as a small
or medium company. Large firms will
then outsource these projects, and
the smaller firms will be able to grow
in the industry and become competi-
tive in the marketplace.
But what happens in developing
countries where government support
for entrepreneurship is inadequate,
and where there is no investment
security? This is where the known
concepts of entrepreneurship are
not adjusted in practice, where tax
policies, instead of promoting entre-
preneurship, become a burden for
these projects. This leads to severe
undermining of innovative practices,
because the goal of an entrepreneur
is to make the company profitable
and competitive.
Thus, it is possible to pinpoint
where the failure in support begins:
in state policies to promote innova-
tion and research and provide op-
portunities to the entrepreneur. If
we look at the starting point of many
entrepreneurs who are now a part of
large firms and corporations, sup-
port and facilities were more abun-
dant than they currently are in
Latin America. Many of these entre-
preneurs saw their garage ventures
turn into a large business, and this
too could be our goal as young en-
trepreneurs. But this lack of govern-
ment support does not mean that we
are limited. As young entrepreneurs,
we can grow. However, we currently
have new challenges to meet to grow
young companies.
The light at the
end of the tunnel
Experts and young entrepreneurs
agree that the road to entrepreneur-
ship is full of obstacles, and the main
one is linked to a great cultural bar-
IEEE Potentials November/December 2018 ■ 41
Successful entrepreneurs thrive when the
economic and institutional environment
is favorable and boosts innovation.
rier that we experience in Latin
America: fear of risk and failure. To
undertake entrepreneurship, the
first thing that one must overcome
The author, on site, during the supervision
and installation of hybrid fiber–coaxial
nodes at El Alto, La Paz, Bolivia.
Taking measurements for the main distri-
bution frame radio, Uyuni Base, Bolivia,
2016.
is the fear of failure. Failure should
not be seen as the end of the dream
but as one step on a learning ladder.
Moreover, fear of failure starts at
home, because in most families, par-
ents are the first to ask what will
happen if the company does not suc-
ceed. This is only the first in­­stance,
and sadly it continues and is worse
in universities.
There are few universities that
teach us that a future young profes-
sional can become his or her own
boss, because most teach students to
develop as professionals who are part
of a company and possibly the leader
of one. Obviously, making a decision
to start a company is not easy, which
is compounded when you do not have
the necessary knowledge to work in
other companies.
It is best to first be a part of one or
many companies to gain an under-
standing about how your business
can be formed. Each young profes-
sional must first forge and accentu-
ate his or her knowledge; know how
to evolve in a technical environment,
then in an administrative environ-
ment; learn how to manage projects
and deal with clients; and so on.
The role of universities
Is it possible that universities act as
agents that foster entrepreneurship
and innovation? The answer is that
they have the potential to create tech-
nology parks that allow interaction
with the most innovative companies
in each country with the new ven-
tures that are born from universi-
ties. Moreover, the trend is that more
universities in Latin America have
business incubators that allow their
students to increase the chances of
success for their businesses and thus
reduce the business mortality rate.
Ac adem ic rese a rch i n L at i n
America is scarce, and where it does
exist, it does not have a practical
orientation. This hinders not only
private financing of the research but
 also its application. While recogniz-
ing the importance of theoretical re-
search, it is very important that uni-
versities begin to measure the ability
to apply the research conducted by
their teachers and students to start
managing patents and records that
can be marketed.
This is where we can once again
take into account the concepts previ-
ously mentioned related to entrepre-
neurship and innovation. We must
begin to generate a balanced take on
entrepreneurship with innovative
ideas that generate a change in the in-
dustry, because the young profession-
al would already have the necessary
skills and the support of his or her uni-
The installation sites in Bolivia, 2016.
versity to be able to continue projects.
In my professional experience, I
must thank my alma mater, because
halfway through my professional de-
velopment, it began to reinforce com-
petences and self-regulation to train
us as future entrepreneurs. This ig-
nited my curiosity and drive to be-
come self-taught in the field that is
entrepreneurship.

My opinion as an entrepreneur
My journey as an entrepreneur went
from the idea of having my own com-
pany, formed in my last years of uni-
versity, to the reality of achieving the
dream of having my own company
and being my own boss after five
years of working in the telecommuni-
cations industry. However, to under-
The installation of 100 km of optical fiber at San Jorge de Trinidad, Department take such a project, it is necessary to
of Beni, Bolivia. surround oneself with people who
want to do the same. This means
investing, and that is where I strug-
gled at the beginning. My partners
were not appropriate at first, and
instead of promoting our company,
they were a burden, and a 180° change
was necessary. I decided to put a stop
to this partnership and make a
change, which is where I learned my
first lesson. I did not take this circum-
stance as a deterrent to moving for-
ward. Instead, I learned to see the pos-
itive even in the worst that can hap-
pen to you.
The second life lesson I learned
is to always keep the thin line that
The supervision of direct-to-home satellite television reception at Chacaltaya, e xists between being friends and
­
La Paz, Bolivia. ­being partners. Today our company

42 ■ N o v e m b e r / D e c ember 2018 IEEE Potentials

A visit to the satellite Earth station Tupak Katari as the technical expert for the Interna-
tional Organization for Standardization certification.
has only two partners, my wife and I.
Some may ask, if friends as partners
does not work, how can you involve
the family in the business? The an-
swer is that I learned to always keep
the thin line between friends, family,
and business visible, with two very
important elements in this equation:
communication and coordination.
Thanks to these lessons along the
way and my learning how to make a
radical decision for the good of entre-
preneurship, our business was able
to move forward and become known
as a solid company in the market.
Today, we work with international
vendors, national telecommunica-
tions operators, government entities,
private companies, and individual
clients. Our company is also a sales
channel for equipment brands for
networking, security, and access. We
provide telecommunication materials,
such as copper, fiber optics, and wire-
less equipment. A new activity for our
company is to provide training aimed
at professionals and students.
Our company has the mission of
continuing to innovate to optimize
and improve the quality of service to
our customers but also to improve
the quality and work environment of
our team. A wise decision was that
although our company has a head-
quarters, each member of our work
team has the option to work from
his or her home and to come to our
headquarters only for the weekly
IEEE Potentials November/December 2018 ■ 43
meetings, something uncommon in
Latin America. That helped to keep
staff and create that conviction to
wear the colors of the company.
At the same time, a personal mis-
sion of mine is that as a university
teacher, I always try to motivate my
students to be self-taught and have
that curiosity to investigate how to
be an entrepreneur. I teach in pairs
to help students create projects with
new technologies and begin new re-
search, and I encourage students get
involved with the IEEE and other sci-
entific societies. I hope to help bring
about a change in future generations
of new professionals.
Conclusion
Very few dare to undertake a dream
or an idea, and even fewer innovate.
As an entrepreneur, I had that curi-
osity, and I worked through the dis-
comfort to start a business. I have
the advantage of knowing that some
solutions already exist and the best
we can do is innovate in the added
value. This can be the difference
between being successful and differ-
ent from the rest or continuing to
belong to the group.
In each of us there is an entrepre-
neur, an innovator who is waiting to
act at the right time. Entrepreneurs
must equip themselves with all of
the tools to make this initial leap.
A great step we already made was
to join the IEEE. It helped improve
The installation and expansion of an external
plant network for a fiber-optic network.
our skills, provide innovative ideas,
and keep us up to date with develop-
ments in the field.
The best advice I can give is to
compromise with your ideas and your
goals, maintain communication and
coordination of your projects, and
know how to respect the fine line of
business and friendship. The most
important thing is not to be afraid of
failure and to learn from the mistakes
you make; there is no better school
than that.
Read more about it
• D. Lederman, J. Messi n a,
S. Pienknagura, and J. Rigolini.
(2014, Jan.). Latin American entre-
preneurs: Many firms but little in-
novation. World Bank. Washing-
ton, DC. [Online]. Available: http://
documents.worldbank.org/curated/
en/800041468015024160/Latin-
American-entrepreneurs-many-firms-
but-little-innovation
About the author
Gustavo Fernández y Calderón
(gusferycal@ieee.org) earned his mas-
ter’s degree in telecommunications
and telematics at the Universidad
Catolica Boliviana, La Paz, Bolivia, in
2010. Since 2012, he has been the
chief executive officer of the engineer-
ing services company Grupo ADGUS
Soluciones Generales de Inegenieria
Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limita-
da. He is a Member of the IEEE.