Seite - 289 - in Digital Entrepreneurship - Impact on Business and Society

theywere the time and effort she devoted to growher store. The founder says that it’smuch cheaper for one to open an online shop than a brick-and-mortar store, to save oneself from the additional costs it incurs, such as rent and electricity bills. 6. Social Issues: The terms “young” and “female” are certainly not the standard and typical notions that come to Lebanese citizens’mindswhen they think of entrepreneurship. Lynn finds it puzzling that the Lebanese don’t find being accomplished at a relatively young age usual or normal. Moreover, gender discrimination is an issue that forms a barrier to women’s success in digital entrepreneurship. Lebanon, though can be regarded as amodern country, is still part of theMiddleEast,where traditionalmale-dominatingmindsets and societies areprevalent. Peopleviewwomen’sworkas an “attempt,” rather than legitimate, added value to society, and this could be demotivating for female entrepreneurs. Lynn says, “in some aspect, I can still sense that because I’m a woman, sincewhatever I do, people will still thinkmy job is less competent than that of men’s. Nevertheless, I’m glad that my team and I are still achieving something.” Furthermore, Lynn says, “obviously, I feel a sense of achievement, being a 24-year-old entrepreneur, but people often get shocked when I tell them aboutmy career and academic path, consideringmy young age.” 4 Discussion andConclusion Westarted this chapter by highlighting thatwe know little about the obstacles and opportunities encountered by digital entrepreneurs embedded in developing coun- tries. Through our study, we unpack these obstacles and opportunities and we present a comprehensive framework highlighting them (see Table 1). As shown in Table 1, digital entrepreneurs encounter a variety of challenges when operating in developing countries. These challenges include a deficit in funding, lack of policies and regulations that protect and support e-commerce and digital entrepreneurs, deficiency in digitally competent and experienced labor capital, lack of adequate online payment systems, and cultural differences among target audiences.Digital entrepreneurs indevelopingcountries face thechallengeof inaccessibility to thenecessary funds, due to the scarcity of venture capitalmarkets and “business angels.” The state hasn’t established laws that provide security for digital entrepreneurs. Syndicates organizing the work of digital entrepreneurs are absent and digital entrepreneurs are left to gather financial resources through crowdfunding, investors, or through family supported funds.Themainobstacles for the successofdigital entrepreneurship indevelopingcountries are the lackofdigital competence, the lack of adequate skills of the workforce, and the lack of infor- mation about appropriate laws and regulations. Therefore, recruiting the right human capital with the right skill-set, background and education (self-teaching or 298 G. Samara and J. Terzian