Today’s speaker, Kerry Anderson, held our attention with a description of “The Era of the Entrepreneur”, first defining the term, and then differentiating between an inventor and an entrepreneur.
Kerry's brilliant slides gave examples of the qualities required to bring a concept from the idea stage to fruition as a viable proposition or enterprise.
Entrepreneurs were variously described as visionary, courageous, passionate, determined, problem solvers, opportunistic, innovative, agile, creative and collaborative.
With warmth and humour, Kerry described how success can happen: How do you milk a camel, and why would you want to?
Chris and Megaan Williams of Kyabram spotted a market for camel’s milk in the Middle-east community. They formed The Camel Milk Company, leading to a new product on the market.
Similarly, thanks to Toni Barton of Nulla Vale, you can now buy lamb bacon.
Poor NBN reception in the outback? Grant Sutton of Bendigo thought up solar powered repeater stations to augment the signal: now home-schooling is much more successful.
Kerry’s description of success stories in rural communities led us to the question of how to encourage entrepreneurship.
As usual her talk was followed by questions and examples of successful entrepreneurs, and the injunction “Never give up!”
Author of Entrepreneurship: It's Everybody's Business, Kerry Anderson is a businesswoman and community advocate from Central Victoria. Passionate about rural and regional Australia she is committed to changing the conversation from job seeking to job creation.
In a rapidly changing world that she refers to as the 'Era of the Entrepreneur', Kerry works with industry groups and rural communities across Australia. Renowned for her innovative and practical approach she facilitates engaging, authentic and relevant conversations encour
aging everyone to look at existing landscapes with fresh eyes to embrace change and create new opportunities.
Her journey commenced as a 2011 Victorian Rural Woman of the Year finalist when she launched an extensive research project that took her to the United States meeting with successful communities and educators.
Since 2013 Kerry has led the highly innovative Operation Next Gen and Be Your Own Boss programs working with rural towns and secondary schools to engage with young people and encourage entrepreneurs. These programs are offered Australia wide.
As a thought leader Kerry frequently represents the region at national and international forums and is invited to present at conferences here and overseas. In 2017 she was one of two Australians invited by the Kauffman Foundation to Kansas City bringing practitioners worldwide together to share best practice in building collaborative entrepreneurship ecosystems.
Kerry regularly writes a column for Inside Small Business, speaks on ABC Regional Radio, and shares positive stories about rural Australia through her popular blog and social media. Her book, Entrepreneurship: It's everybody's business, was published in 2016. Another is on the way!
In recognition of her extensive networks, knowledge, and passion for rural communities, Kerry was appointed to the Regional Development Australia Loddon Mallee Committee between 2012 and 2015. From 2016 to 2018 she was an expert adviser to the National Farm Cooperatives Pilot Project. She is currently serving on the Boards of Castlemaine Health and Working Heritage, appointed by the Victorian State Government.
In 2018 Kerry was named a Top 50 Australian Regional Agent of Change, and honoured with the 8point8 Regional Innovation Ecosystem Leader award.