By Francisco Suárez, Corporate Affairs Director, FEMSA 
On February 27, 2014 at the TEDxCamelinasAve in the city of Morelia, Mexico,
Coca-Cola FEMSA’s Corporate Affairs Director, Francisco Suárez, former Sustainability Director of FEMSA, gave a talk entitled “Entrepreneurship, a vehicle for sustainability.”
TEDxCamelinasAve was launched by a group of young people in Morelia who wanted to leverage the TED[1] global platform to make a space for dialogue, creativity, and action to enhance the social, economic, and environmental development of their local communities.
The world is facing vast environmental and social challenges: the problems are only growing in importance and are having deep repercussions both for our way of life as we know it today as well as for how we have to adapt and plan for the future. Global projections by 2030 – just 15 years away – show a 40% growth in the demand for fresh water[2], and a population of 8.4 billion, escalating food prices by 70% to 90% while expanding poverty.[3] Climate change will just exacerbate these risks.
And Mexico’s young people are facing particular difficulty: in addition to entering a weak economic market, they are also seeking a better country and community, calling for and working toward better conditions for all. In face of these crises, corporations must be engaged directly in solving them because we need the innovation and resources that business can mobilize so as to create solutions that have great impact and scalability. Entrepreneurship is particularly critical as new businesses are the most effective job creators and the most important source of new ideas and approaches. And young people are the most prolific entrepreneurs.
Unfortunately, however, according to the 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Report, 55% of the enterprises created annually in Mexico fail by the end of their first year. This figure is too high, especially considering that the country’s annual nascent entrepreneurship rate is only approximately 12%[4].
To address this area of critical need and potential benefit to Mexico, in 2013, FEMSA, in partnership with 25 other organizations in Mexico, concluded the first mapping of the Impact Investing Ecosystem. Standing out in the results of this study was the high level of commitment, conviction and responsibility of both individuals, and institutions to transform Mexico and enhance its people’s quality of life through entrepreneurship. However, the study also identified three important areas of opportunity, with a specific need for:
- Entrepreneurial support that is not currently included in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, such as early-stage risk capital.
- A solid connection between entrepreneurial ideas and the corresponding businesses, especially in light of the challenges we face as a society.
- Connections between the ecosystem’s participating allies in order to overcome inefficiencies and high costs for participants. We have to take advantage of the progress and advantages of the Digital Revolution and the ease of access to information.
Entrepreneurship is “converting ideas into actions” and ensuring that they remain, over time, sustainable; to do so, they must generate economic, social, and environmental value simultaneously. We at FEMSA are committed to continuing to enable the creation of ideas to make sure the number of entrepreneurial startups grows and that those companies succeed; to supporting young people so that they can become agents of change; and to strengthening strategic alliances that catalyze innovative entrepreneurial projects that have great social impact and make it easier for the entrepreneur.
FEMSA is working to grow a supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem in Mexico in three specific ways:
1) First, through FEMSA’s own operations: We directly benefit our communities and beyond through our environmental and social programs – we want to be an environmentally restorative company, not just reducing our impact, but contributing to the betterment of our planet. Click here for more information.
2) Second, FEMSA as a marketplace for social entrepreneurs. Through internal innovation, sparking the creation of new companies within the FEMSA family to solve our needs. In addition, and perhaps more importantly, FEMSA as a market for social businesses launched beyond our walls. Throughout our supply chain and directly in our home operations, we seek product and service solutions from social businesses.
3) Finally, with collaboration across sectors: among business, government, and civil society. By investing in efforts alongside government and civil society, each of our resources can build greater results.
Since 2011, FEMSA has been making contributions on several fronts in the area of social entrepreneurship through the program “Youth with Value.” FEMSA and Ashoka have partnered as the main allies in this initiative to help young people between 14 and 24 years of age to create, develop, and lead social entrepreneurship projects, becoming change makers in their communities. In Mexico the program has supported 340 projects to date and 130 projects are in progress this year.
During 2014, we launched our entrepreneurship acceleration program in Mexico City and Monterrey in collaboration with “The Pool” and “Impact HUB Monterrey,” through which 20 new projects will gain a better business model, focus on innovation, social impact and job creation, and generate benefits for future generations. The 20 new projects are aligned to the focus areas of our sustainability strategy in topics such as energy, water, waste management, community development, and healthy lifestyles.
How can each of us add value, no matter our role in society?
As an entrepreneur: Look for an opportunity, need or problem that you are really passionate about changing. Organize yourself and persuade others to follow you, so you can grow your team. Always seek to be sustainable.
As an academic: Train and inform others about different businesses and products to be made. Educate entrepreneurs in order to shorten their learning curve. Explain to your students how sustainable entrepreneurship can change the world.
As a businessperson: Teach others how to create business models, and how to plan and execute. Make sure your company invests in meaningful, sustainable entrepreneurial projects that bring people together and contribute to protecting the environment. Help others to plan out the route and open doors so that their products and ideas come to fruition.
As a public officer: Help to create an environment that promotes entrepreneurship. Include programs to promote entrepreneurship and access to financing in your agenda.
As an NGO: Leverage the value of good ideas and develop new ways to scale startup businesses. Help young people who are looking for content to create new ideas.
As part of the communication media: Spread the word, so that more companies join the entrepreneurial effort, creating their own initiatives and partnering with NGOs and other institutions.
So join us at FEMSA as we work to convert ideas into actions; we are all responsible for assuring that entrepreneurship becomes a way of life, benefiting our companies, our communities, our nations, and our planet.
Francisco Suarez at TEDxCamelinasAve:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CsSnhCHsFc
FEMSA’s Jóvenes Con Valor initiative:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_ruu3qgwDE
For English subtitles, press “CC” on the video player.
[1] TED. http://www.ted.com. TED is a global foundation dedicated to “spreading great ideas,” usually through short, powerful talks with a particular emphasis on education, culture, technology, science and leadership. TEDx gives communities, organizations and individuals a chance to promote dialog through TED-type events at the local level.
[2]Source: KPMG INTERNATIONAL COORPERATIVE: “Expect the Unexpected: Building business value in a changing world” < https://www.kpmg.com/dutchcaribbean/en/Documents/KPMG%20Expect_the_Unexpected_ExctveSmmry_FINAL_WebAccessible.pdf> Publication date: February 2012
[3]Ibid
[4] 2013 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Consortium http://www.gemconsortium.org/docs/download/3106