The fifth annual World Entrepreneurship Forum was held in Lyon, France last weekend (October 24-27), bringing together freelancers, small business owners, policy-makers and stakeholders to focus on new developments and sustainability. The main topic of discussion over the weekend was the idea of an “entrepreneurial ecosystem” in which small businesses could prosper and encourage more start-ups to flourish.

The ways in which ecosystems change, how ready entrepreneurs are to adapt to them, and whether innovative ideas could still be successful in a saturated market were all major questions raised. Businesses who take advantage of both online media and networking aids such as business cards and print posters have the largest customer reach, while on a global scale the number of self-employed business owners is increasing, creating a more competitive market.

Speaking about the rise in small businesses and the importance of maintaining a healthy economy, Tugrul Atamer, vice-president of EMLYON Business School and one of the founding co-presidents of the forum commented: “In the coming years, the world will be facing the most important discontinuities and challenges of our history since the first industrial revolution and only entrepreneurs can turn these challenges into opportunities.”