It almost seems like a badge of honor to say that you own your own business. My parents have owned their own businesses and I've grown up with that type of mindset. I think that Entrepreneurship is something that is vital to our economy, but that much of the time the people who are the best entrepreneurs are from outside the system.
That said I have seen this trend of trying to 'teach' Entrepreneurship in schools. Here is an interesting article arguing that it should be taught in every school.
Owner-entrepreneurship education also tackles youth unemployment. The youth unemployment rate is brutal–16% to 25% since the market meltdown of 2008. Professor Andrew Hahn of Brandeis University notes: “Research shows the scarring effects of early unemployment. The lack of work experience among minority teens contributes to a host of more serious challenges in their early twenties.”
According to Hahn’s long-term study tracking NFTE alumni, “NFTE’s owner-entrepreneurship programs create jobs and are among the few strategies that work during these periods of massive youth joblessness.”
My issue is sure you can teach someone how to analyze profit/loss statements etc, but NOT how to take risks.
Moreover, I don't think you can teach will, determination and luck which are all huge factors when starting a business. Many people are not cut out for it and frankly I think that trying to create a system for it from an early age is foolish. Obviously there are a million ways to help out the education system, I don't think that's one of them.
There are 4 basic things that the article wants us to start teaching (and I worry more that we aren't already teaching these) in schools.
Engage young people in school by teaching math, reading, writing and communication within the motivating context of starting and operating a small business.
Teach young people about the market economy and how ownership leads to wealth creation.
Encourage an entrepreneurial mindset so our youth will succeed whether they pursue higher education, enter the workforce, or become entrepreneurs.
Make young people financially literate so they can save and invest to achieve goals like home ownership and retirement.
While I think people obviously need to make people more financially literate, I can't tell you how many people I know that don't understand what their interest rates are etc., I think most of those should be taught already to begin with. While a toolbox to be an entrepreneur is essential, trying to push tons of younger kids into it.. well.. I think isn't the best approach. Anyway, what say you guys? Can you teach people to be entrepreneurial, or is it something that must be learned the hard way?
Before I say anything, I want to let everyone know that I was a teaching assistant last year for a entrepreneurship/finance course.
Before I was a TA, I had the mentality of, "you can't teach entrepreneurship." I discussed this mentality with the professor and he explained that a lot of the entrepreneurial classes gave students a way to TRY their hand at starting a business while they are young. He explained some courses of the curriculum...one even gives the kids a couple grand to actually start their own business...give a lot of students the core knowledge they need to succeed on their own or accurately communicate with lawyers, bankers, accountants, etc.
The course I helped teach revolved around how to notice or create a great business opportunity, how to look at economic, financial, market, etc. conditions, how to utilize "sweat-equity" or bootstrapping to preserve your equity, how to pitch VCs and bankers (debt) for capital, how to create term sheets and how to exit (if you want to). We surveyed the students and EVERY single person who said they would LIKE to start a business said they couldn't because of their lack of funding. A lot of students who pick entrepreneurship as a major ARE entrepreneurial. I don't mean to romanticize it; however, it seemed very much like an art student studying art or a musician studying music or an actor getting a BFA.
I could also see entrepreneurship coming in handy in situations where you aren't necessarily "starting your own business." Imagine being too nervous to take on all financial risk, so you look for a job as a store manager or something of a similar capacity...it may be beneficial to have an entrepreneurial background in order to assume leadership, define responsibilities and attempt to increase sales, etc.
Sorry if this post is all over the place. I am multi-tasking like crazy. If you have a specific question I will do my best to answer it. To end this post... I believe being entrepreneurial is definitely something most people can do and that most will never do.
In The Entrepreneurial Mind, Timmons defines entrepreneurship as "the ability to create and build something from practically nothing."
This kind of education needs to start in grade school. If people learn that entrepreneurship is a set of tools you can use to create or improve upon something, you might see more innovation and new businesses. Is the econ grad student who figures out a way to teach supply and demand to freshman in 15 minutes instead of 2 hours an entrepreneur? You bet.
This is definitely true. If you asked one of the volunteer parents on my swim team if she was an entrepreneur I can almost guarantee she would say no. However, in the past five years, she has worked with a swim shop to get our team additional discounts and netted some $5,000/year in sponsorship from local businesses (including free wifi covering our entire pool). This kind of "hidden" entrepreneurship is just as important as someone who starts their own business.
I mowed lawns in high school. I made a few hundred bucks a summer to buy ice cream and video games. A friend of mine went from mowing lawns ALL DAY LONG to buying his own truck and advertising landscaping services to hiring others to support his landscaping business to buying multiple trucks and more workers to dropping out of high school his senior year because he had to run his business. He was a millionaire as a junior.
It comes down to dedication and conviction. Not common qualities among America's youth.
What is actually semi-surprising is America is one of the countries that are prime for entrepreneurship...yet a lot of youth "waste" their time. If you are one to believe that a "sense" for entrepreneurship is at all genetic, think about this: waves of immigrants have taken the risk of leaving their country, sometimes leaving everything behind, to start over. This seems like an ultimate form of risk taking for a chance at a reward. So, in essence, American citizens are descendants of risk-taking entrepreneurs.
I've found that the key to entrepreneurship is to just do it. Follow your passion and stop making excuses. I started my most recent gig after spurning a PE offer with a baby on the way and a large mortgage. It was pretty crazy looking back, but I was 100% confident in myself and if I failed, I was certain I could land something semi-decent somewhere else.
Perhaps the entitlement of safety is just as much an impediment as the entitlement of a welfare queen. Both are afraid of failure.
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