FINANCIAL CHALLENGES OF YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN KATHMANDU

Abstract

A major issue facing the world today is youth unemployment, which is especially bad in Nepal, where 38% of young people are unemployed and 75% are underemployed. This worrying circumstance raises the possibility that a large number of the nation's youth are impoverished. Due to the high rates of young unemployment and as a way to fight social exclusion and provide job possibilities, interest in youth entrepreneurship has increased. As a tactic to increase economic competitiveness and promote local and regional development, it has grown in importance on a worldwide scale. Youth who engage in entrepreneurship benefit from increased self-assurance, financial independence, and a reduction in poverty. Additionally, it stimulates economic growth and opens up job prospects. Even though entrepreneurship is known to have many advantages, young people in Kathmandu are reluctant to pursue jobs in business. The research is to evaluate the opportunities for youth entrepreneurship development in the community and identify the barriers that young entrepreneurs face while starting and growing their firms. With the use of self-administered questionnaires and a quantitative approach, the study used a descriptive research design. Among the 800 young entrepreneurs registered with FNCCI in different Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sectors in Kathmandu, a random sample of 215 subjects was chosen. MS-Excel and the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) were used to analyze participant data. With 215 of the 250 issued surveys being returned and 35 respondents unable to make a response, the response rate was 87%. The Google questionnaire forms were used to ask 150 questions in total. Only 130 of the respondents responded to it, while 20 did not react at all. Likewise, 100 surveys were distributed by going door to door with Young Entrepreneurs. Only 85 of them responded to the questionnaire, and 15 of them were unable to do so. The study's conclusions, which are displayed in tables, bars, and pie charts, show that young people in Kathmandu want to pursue entrepreneurship even in the face of current barriers. Lack of support networks, inefficient government initiatives, financial limitations, ambiguous registration procedures, a lack of necessary skills, and a lack of resources are some of these challenges. Youth have an inspiring zeal for entrepreneurial activity in spite of these obstacles. The study emphasizes the need for focused interventions and suggestions to improve the development of young entrepreneurship in Kathmandu. These findings have broad ramifications for those involved in promoting opportunity and economic growth in the community. Keywords: Youth, Entrepreneurship, Obstacles, Current Challenges, Prospects, Financial Challenges, Youth entrepreneurship Developmen