The Government Needs To Work Harder To Encourage Startup Business Progress

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Public policy observer from Jenderal Sudirman University (Unsoed) Purwokerto Slamet Rosyadi assesses that the government needs to work even harder to encourage the progress of startup businesses or start-ups. "The government's mindset must be equated with the interests of start-ups," he said in Purwokerto, Banyumas Regency, Central Java, quoted from Antara, Saturday, October 29. The Coordinator of the Unsoed Public Administration Master's Study Program, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP), admitted that currently the government has issued a policy that provides convenience for startups and MSMEs in accessing capital. He said the ease of access to capital is one of the most important things for the development of start-ups and MSMEs. According to him, this is due to one of the obstacles in the development of MSMEs is the lack of opportunity to get access to capital with light requirements and flexible installment burdens. "Public policy, giving access to capital to startups is definitely a risk because the name of the business will not automatically be successful instantly," he said. However, he said, of all that, the most important thing is assistance for MSME actors, especially startups. Furthermore, Slamet said the startup business requires an integrated mentoring model. "Not only access to capital but also market access, so startups can reach consumers. Governments or stakeholders need to bridge startups with markets," he said. He also explained the results of his study related to assistance carried out by stakeholders towards MSMEs. In the study, it was found that the mentoring approach had not been carried out properly in an integrated manner, both in terms of content and the involvement of other actors as assistants. In addition, the role of assistant is mostly carried out by consultants whose social capacity is not well known by MSME actors, as well as the lack of involvement of wider stakeholders in mentoring models, transferable resources to MSMEs, and adding social networks for SMEs. "Therefore, the integrated mentoring model is interpreted as a multi-stakeholder collaboration to combine their experience and expertise to help solve MSME problems," he said. In the context of the creative economy, he said, multi-stakeholder collaboration includes academics, businesses, governments, communities, and the media or Penta Helix. "These various stakeholders can facilitate the flow of resources to MSMEs such as the latest knowledge and technology, social and media support, the spirit of entrepreneurship, pro-business policies, partnerships, and market information," said Slamet.