In March this year the Economist published a special issue on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship.  Its message: entrepreneurs will emerge as the heroes of the economic downturn. While times are tough, there are opportunities in every crisis and entrepreneurs are better-placed than anyone to create the "next big thing" that propels us out of recession.  Innovations will be generated, jobs and wealth created and a bright future of positive and sustainable development will be assured.

Are entrepreneurs really able to achieve the change that the rest of the world hopes for?  For the last three months I have been grappling with this problem as part of a research project for the International Labour Organisation and trying to get a clear picture of what is happening around the world is at best difficult and at times impossible. 

The messages are mixed.  Public perceptions of entrepreneurs seem damaged: it was the greed of entrepreneurs in the financial sector that created the problem in the first place so why should people who are now losing their jobs feel sorry for them?  Entrepreneurs needing capital to support their technology-based businesses or who are heavily exposed to debt or export markets are increasingly beleagured and while recruitment may be easy, retaining skilled workers in a time when demand is depressed is tough and dependent on the speed of recovery in market conditions. Family entrepreneurs, according to the OECD, are raiding their domestic coffers to plug finance gaps.

Yet alongside this, many people I've spoken to over the course of the research are saying that the start-ups that do survive will be stronger and built on more robust business models that guarantee their sustainability in the future.  As markets start to pick up, and there is every sign that they are doing so, there will be big opportunities for growth if you have played your card right during the downturn.