Barcelona has been the home and pioneer of entrepreneurship; From its origins the people of the Catalan region have been known for their unique innovativeness and sense of strong business values. Simply put, an entrepreneur is someone who creates a venture that delivers value to a potential consumer.
To help expand on the entrepreneurial spirit, Barcelona Activa, which is a governmental company, helps entrepreneurs plan, experiment, and launch their ideas. As a part of our program, we visited Barcelona Activa and got to see what really goes on behind their walls. Upon our arrival, we were introduced to one of the directors of the company. He gave us a tour around their facility. On this tour, we saw a UX Lab, which are labs where the entrepreneurs can conduct consumer testing and interviews. We also got to see classrooms taught by people who are successful business men and women and also lawyers. These classes were interesting because we got to see how the many different elements of business and interdisciplinary fields, such as law, intersect and are relevant to learning entrepreneurship.
From this visit, I fell in love with the idea of learning through experimentation and learning from your failures, which are all lessons vital to the entrepreneur. I reflected on the learnings I took from past experiences and the company visit and realized the importance of Barcelona and the overall Catalan region to the Spanish economy. I commend the Spanish government in putting funds into a company like Barcelona Activa because it allows its entrepreneurial citizens to contribute to the success of their region, and it also allows them to lead by example for the future generations of entrepreneurs to come.
All around the city of Barcelona one can find the region’s entrepreneurial spirit manifested in all the different types of business ventures present in the city such as the famous fashion powerhouse Zara,the many museums of the region’s rich history, night clubs, and even traditionally fermented wine.
I hope to one day launch a successful business that not only generates money but helps boost the economy of a country struggling economically. One of those countries, includes my home, South Sudan. The success of the Catalan region’s economy and strong entrepreneurial mindset has motivated me to begin thinking of entrepreneurial ventures that well help South Sudanese boost our economy and create a sustainable entrepreneurial environment. Like the fortified and shared Spanish sentiment for business ventures, I hope a campaign for more entrepreneurship in South Sudan will foster the same success.
