Startups are changing the world every single day. In 2020, 672,890 new businesses were founded. That’s nearly 2,000 per day! In this uncertain era, we’re currently living in, there are millions of problems that are arising all the time. Startups offer solutions to these problems. Issues such as climate change, sustainability, gender equality and the economy all benefit from incredible founders. Twenty years ago, startups were exciting young businesses experimenting with ideas and creating new technology. Now, they are needed.
How are startups changing the world?
We only need to look at the big businesses of today to see how startups change our lives. How would we stalk our favourite celebrities without Instagram? How would we keep in touch with our distant families during lockdown without Facetime or Zoom? These businesses might be giants in their industries now, but once they were just like any other startup.
Since 2017, startups have contributed to a 10% increase in global job opportunities! Many students and graduates rely on startups to provide them with internships and work experience needed for them to get started in their careers. Without them, many young people would have far fewer ways into the tech sector and the business industry.
Startups also contribute millions of pounds every year to the UK economy. In fact, in 2020, the Virgin Startup Report highlighted that startups give £196 billion to our economy! This is highlighted by the Government's desire to support startups, although many argue that more could be done to help those starting out in business. If we want to continue to grow our economy, we need to put startups at the very centre of it.
The sky’s the limit with startups. Startups have the power to not only influence their customers but entire societies and cultures. Police forces now use Twitter and Instagram accounts to release important information to the public, DVDs and CDs have largely been abandoned for online streaming services, and millions of people are now able to track their periods through apps such as ‘flow’ and ‘clue.’
Startups are not going anywhere. Even in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, they continue to grow. In the first half of 2021, 80 businesses were registered every hour in the UK! Their adaptability makes startups bulletproof to changing economies, cultures and ways of living. Startups are all about predictions, and it’s not hard to predict that they’ll be changing the world for many, many more years to come.
How to create a startup that will change the world
Before you create a startup, think of a problem. If you have a solution to that problem, you’ve got yourself a business. For example, Umbrella was created when its founder, Nancy Roberts, recognised that companies have poor-quality diversity initiatives with no real-life positive outcomes. There are problems in every corner of the world, and thousands of opportunities to make our world a better place!
