Myanmar, a country that continues to get international coverage for its development and conflict, has some very important years ahead. The opportunities and challenges, which we’ve previously outlined, are tremendous.

To tackle these challenges, Myanmar needs to view the decade through the lens of an engineer: take the big problem – Myanmar’s infrastructure, transportation, productivity, social conflict, etc – and break them down into smaller problems.

To be intentionally simplistic, the general challenges of Myanmar can be broken down into the two general buckets of the public and private sector. Each of these buckets is required for the other to succeed. Without each other, they cannot live to their potential.

The Public Sector: Improving Government Policy

As with all countries, effective policy that continues to improve upon itself is key to the success of Myanmar’s entrepreneurs. Just like a product that requires a feedback loop, government and policy makers need a feedback loop to constantly try and improve upon existing or new laws. A starting point for these conversations comes from listening to the business community.

A recent report from Roland Berger lays in clear terms some of the individual challenges that businesses in Myanmar face. It shows that at least 3 out of every 4 businesses agrees the unpredictable legislative environments, unclear government economic policy, and lack of skills in the labor market are challenges they face in Myanmar. One thing is clear: good policy can make a world of difference for entrepreneurs.

For entrepreneurs to succeed, a mix of experience, capital, and knowledge is required both locally and internationally. This means loosening regulations on FDI.

Women and the youth will be key to economic growth in Myanmar.

For entrepreneurs to succeed, the government needs to clearly define and communicate economic policy and regulation. No start-up can afford to put their entire budget into a lawyer. Transparent, easy-to-understand, simple, and effective laws provide a more level playing field for entrepreneurs.

For entrepreneurs to succeed, the government needs to ensure the youth will succeed. As the UNFPA finds, “In the next four years, one million new jobs are needed to ensure employment for Myanmar’s large youth population. From 2016 to 2030, 3.7 million new jobs are needed simply to keep employment at current levels.”

For entrepreneurs to succeed, the government must help women to succeed. Although Myanmar has 2 million more women than men, only 12.9 million women are employed compared to 20.3 million men.

For entrepreneurs to succeed, traffic and transportation needs to be eased to make way for logistics, delivery, and workforce efficiency (folks can’t work if they’re in stuck in traffic). Some great steps have already been taken. Smart traffic lights are a great start. Still, any effort to improve traffic or transportation must be executed well or else trouble will follow.

KIA soldiers praying. They are one of numerous armed groups waging in conflict in Myanma.

And, it goes without saying, for entrepreneurs to succeed, Myanmar needs to be a country at peace. I am not an expert on the immensely complex and nuanced topic of conflict in Myanmar, and I will leave it to far smarter individuals to explain the details, but there is one thing that most agree on: if Myanmar is not at peace, it can never reach its potential.

However, national policy shouldn’t be expected to be, nor can it be, a magic wand for businesses. Filip Lauwerysen, Executive Director of EuroCham Myanmar, stated in a local interview, “It is important to have local governments that dare to make decisions and take responsibility to develop their territory. Central governments should hold local governments responsible for taking initiatives to create growth instead of forwarding all requests to the capital.” This is especially important for start-ups, which may need permits or licenses from their local government officials.

Finally, government can continue to encourage and, better yet, accelerate infrastructure investment. The penetration rate for electricity is still below 40% in Myanmar. The government's goal of boosting the country's power-penetration rate to 100% by 2030 is a worthy goal, but it’ll need to provide support with reliable, transparent, and sound data and coordination with the development sector.

Start-Ups – Leveraging the New Myanmar

It’s too easy to put all solutions on the government. No one should expect any government to be the solution to all problems. Instead, governments should be held accountable to improving the general environment and providing an ecosystem which allows entrepreneurs to focus on their startups.

Entrepreneurs have a huge role to play. Access to the internet, smartphone penetration, mobile subscriptions, and rising income levels suddenly give entrepreneurs a platform to launch a company. Savvy entrepreneurs can leverage and use it as a springboard to identify problems and implement solutions that scale.

When lack of reliable electricity is an issue, build off-grid solar.

When lack of insurance prevents risk-taking and burdens poor families, bring micro-insurance.

When the vast majority remains financially excluded, build mobile money. [Full disclosure: I work for Wave Money.]

When garment factories lack reliable systems, build a production management system.

Smartphone penetration is high in Myanmar, but digital literacy remains low.

The point is simple: governments and the development sector play an important role for Myanmar’s continued development, but entrepreneurs are the future. Only they can provide sustainable, local growth that directly impacts their environment through job creation and problem solving.

Larger companies have direct roles to play as well. Take for example digital literacy. Although smartphone penetration is high, digital literacy remains low. The lack of digital literacy has had a tough impact for Myanmar and entrepreneurs and businesses can do their part to bring digital literacy to Myanmar. Telenor’s “light houses” are just one example of how companies can begin to address a social problem they see in their communities. [Full disclosure: Wave Money is a joint venture of Telenor.]

A proper design process can ensure startups are building products with the customer in mind.

Entrepreneurs may not have CSR budgets, but they do have one tool that they must use: human-centered-design. Human-centered-design starts with the people and ends with specific solutions that addresses their needs. This is critical, because in a market where most people have just been introduced to a variety of services and products, a design process that starts with their needs and perceptions can make their experience simple and easy.

At Wave Money, for example, we’ve used the human-centered-design process for our customer app, working with both rural and urban customers to create a user-interface that is easy to understand for the people of Myanmar. This is huge, because if start-ups really care about growth hacking, they’ll know the starting point is creating a product that people understand.

If It Was Easy, Everyone Would Do It

Nothing valuable, especially a startup, comes easy. The challenges in Myanmar are real. Anyone serious about business in the country will tell you it will require grit, relentless determination, a lot of hard work, and luck. That’s before you get into a discussion on the money you’ll need.

But with that comes an opportunity to tackle one of the most unique and opportune markets in the world. Millions of people on their smartphones with rising incomes looking for startups to solve their pain point. If it was easy, everyone would do it.

The entrepreneurs who survive in this market won’t be the ones who give up when the electricity goes out or the 3G goes out. The ones who survive will be the ones who approach problems with a combination of engineering and design: breaking big problems into solvable small ones, all while keeping the customer at the center. Mix into that equation a little luck and a lot of elbow grease and you may just have a startup that both overcomes and addresses the challenges in Myanmar.