The debate on whether entrepreneurship can be taught continues. Everybody agrees, however, on the fact that entrepreneurship programs can teach and provide emerging entrepreneurs with the technical tools to minimize the risks of creating, running, and expanding a business. One may not get the personal characteristics and visionary business talent found in college programs, but anybody can learn the basic techniques to effectively perform basic business operations--that is, to complement their own creativity, motivation, technical preparation, and business ideas.
An assessment of the personal drive and psychological preparation to start a business career path appears to be helpful for entrepreneurs. It helps to become aware of the personality traits and value-system around which people organize themselves to anticipate potential opportunities and limitations related to running a business. Newly established entrepreneurs need to know about financial analysis, accounting systems, and marketing, and must understand the practices for effective personnel management. Further, entrepreneurs must be aware of the role and opportunities brought about by global competition.
The challenge for postsecondary technical colleges is to design entrepreneurship courses in tune with the times both in terms of curriculum content and strategies to broaden their critical thinking skills. To this end, the use of business plans for instructional purposes appears to be a powerful tool in entrepreneurship development.
In visiting the various centers involved in the case studies of this research, it appears that the most successful approach to developing entrepreneurship skills is having a structured course, including real-life applications and experiences. Under this approach, the course of study can be structured into four major components, including start-up procedures, business and management skills, and marketing strategies. An additional component should include opportunities to learn about the intangible aspects of entrepreneurship in terms of preparation for expansion, growth, and evaluation of the personal value system.
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The difference between a two-year college-based educational approach
and education and training opportunities in business incubation is the formal
structure of the curriculum. Usually, business departments already have courses
dealing with some of the components outlined above. Often, though, available
courses are not tailored to meet the short-term needs of entrepreneurs who
would like to have both the opportunity to take individual courses or a
coherent sequence which would help them start a business. When asked what would
be a sound structure of coursework on entrepreneurship at the two-year college
level, an entrepreneur indicated that
It would be about five different things. One, how to research whether you think you have a viable product or service. The second one would be if you think you know how to determine where and who your market is. The third one would just be basically how to set up books and keep accounting and government records. And the fourth one would be to develop the overall business plan which really encompasses the other three. And the fifth one would be a psychological one to really talk to [students] about reasonable expectations.
In most cases, short courses on how to
start a business are available in continuing education programs. However, tying
these initial courses into a series of continuing or more formally structured
courses with a focus on entrepreneurship may assist students in developing an
understanding of all aspects of business development, including how to start up
a small business.
The course component on business and management skills is usually
available through business departments, although the focus may not be on small
business development. Again, tying these existing courses into a coherent
sequence of opportunities for students and the general public interested in
small business opportunities has practical and immediate applications.
The component on marketing strategies may already be available
through the business departments. The emphasis, though, should be in marketing
strategies for products and services produced by small businesses, which can be
weaved with business and management courses, and exposition to entrepreneurial
opportunities (e.g., through case studies and tours of small companies).
A critical aspect of an entrepreneurship course is the focus on
real-life cases where the tools of the trade and the value system coalesce to
develop an entrepreneurial vision. The constant emphasis on the intangible
aspects of entrepreneurship addressed through a study of a wide array of cases
provides students with multiple experiences about businesses which have
survived through tough times, improbable ideas that have blossomed into success
stories, and how apparent successes have turned into failures. Developing a
business plan based on a real business idea and bringing successful
entrepreneurs to the college to share their experiences with students will add
to a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of business development; that
is, students should realize there are things they can learn at the college to
minimize business development failure, but that, ultimately, success will
depend upon their value system and business vision.
Unlike education and training opportunities in business incubation, the formal nature of college-based programs calls for a more structured approach to identify content. Two steps have to be taken here. One deals with the process of identifying content and the other with the relevance of the content to the business environment which exists in the area:
It is convenient to shop around for curriculum materials to identify
content and refine ideas for structuring a course of study on entrepreneurship.
Contact two-year colleges and universities which are offering entrepreneurship
courses and request information about the curriculum structure and content. As
indicated by business incubator managers and entrepreneurs, the basic
ingredients of entrepreneurship are standard across the board. Business,
management, and marketing skills are staple topics in any course on
entrepreneurship. Variations on content, sequence, and emphasis are then
adjusted to the conditions and context of the business environment of
interest.
The second step on identifying content is to further scrutinize the
content to make it relevant to the contextual environment where business
development is taking place. For instance, if the goal is to promote the
diversification of the economy in a predominantly agricultural area, topics
should address and explore ways to accomplish that--as opposed to choosing
content that fits all situations. Another example would be a curriculum
structured to serve inner-city business development or one that may serve
business development on a reservation. In whatever case, the cultural setting
must be taken into consideration when identifying the content.
The delivery of instruction must emphasize authentic examples so that students can relate to practical applications and understand the implications for their business ideas. For this purpose, reliance on a variety of instructional approaches for delivery is necessary. These include using case studies, having diverse speakers, having opportunities for exposition in entrepreneurial environments, and using business plans.
As it has been emphasized throughout this document, an important
element of successful programs is the capacity to bring relevant information
into education and training opportunities. Courses at the two-year college
level should provide an emphasis on real-world information and materials so
students can relate to practical applications. One strategy is to use case
studies extensively to describe business development at the various stages from
start-up to expansion and growth. See strategies for delivery of education and
training opportunities in business incubation for similar ideas. Furthermore,
different modes of teaching should be used within the courses and seminars. The
most successful approach to these practical courses is group discussions
focusing on practical issues and specific discussion sessions for small groups
about problems relating to the topic at hand.
Bringing the experiences of successful entrepreneurs into the
classroom is another opportunity to enhance the instructional delivery. Again,
similar strategies have already been mentioned for education and training
opportunities in business incubation. However, for students with little
experience in business opportunities, the sharing of these experiences may be
even more relevant and inspirational than for entrepreneurs in business
incubation who are already developing their own experiences. Thus, careful
selection of guest speakers is essential to make sure that speakers have good
communication skills in order to engage students in meaningful discussions of
entrepreneurial experiences while delivering the message of interest.
To help identify individuals to teach in the structured courses or seminars, a technique that is effective is to have a "volunteer night," wherein potential staff are invited in from different organizations to discuss their involvement. Not only are these volunteers potential presenters or teachers, they are also possible consultants to work with the clients of the centers.
A third strategy is to provide students with opportunities for
exposition to entrepreneurial environments where they can learn first-hand
about the problems and considerations of owning a small business. See the
section on "Facilitating School-to-Work-to-Business Ownership Transition" on
page 41 for an outline of strategies.
The development of a business plan can be used in some cases as the
common thread interweaving the sequence of courses on entrepreneurship. This
business plan can be used as the first course on how to start a small business
and can be further refined through formal and informal feedback from guest
speakers and two-year college staff. This development of a business plan would
serve two purposes: First, it would give students a complete business plan at
the completion of the course or sequence of courses. Second, it may serve as an
evaluation of a client's idea for the feasibility of a business. The object of
the course is to walk participants through the development of their small
business plans which will help them decide on the feasibility of their
ventures.
The major components of a business plan (see the example on education and training opportunities in business incubation, developing a business plan on p. 24) can be aligned with the course structure and content to make sure topics are covered in detail. Through this approach, students should be able to develop their own business plans on a step-by-step basis by building upon material covered within and across courses. A key consideration is to encourage students to identify a business idea of their own and begin developing a business plan following the material covered in the courses. This strategy has proven to be the most successful approach to developing a meaningful understanding of all aspects of business development.
Since small and large corporations are currently being affected by global competition, an awareness of both opportunities and implications should be promoted among entrepreneurs. This concept and rationale also holds true for students enrolled in business and entrepreneurship courses.
Usually, there is a program somewhere in the two-year college with an
interest in international affairs--trade or relations, for instance. The
international component can be either offered as a separate course or
integrated into the program components outlined in the previous sections.
The completion of a course with an international focus can lead to an
enhanced curriculum option--for example, Associate of Science degree
program--for those who want to build an understanding of the opportunities and
implications brought about by global competition in addition to the original
sequence of business/entrepreneurship courses. These courses or seminars would
also be open to the public in general and particularly to the small business
owners already operating in the community.
When developing a course on international trade, consideration should
be given to working with the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade
Association. The course content or seminar offerings would be centered around
subject areas such as the following:
Various curriculum options can be offered to students interested in business and entrepreneurship courses. Depending upon the extent of their interest and willingness to develop an in-depth understanding of all aspects of business development, the following curriculum options should be available to them:
One approach is to offer courses which can be taken individually as
continuing educational opportunities, where students can come and be involved
in selected topics or courses while having no interest in earning diplomas or
certificates.
Another approach is to offer opportunities to pursue an associate's
degree in a business program area or a certification program through the
community/technical college. If the associate's degree program is followed in
one of the business areas, students can take their elective courses around
entrepreneurship topics that would develop an emphasis in small business.
Colleges that offer a selection of business associate's degree programs should
make available a number of courses that relate to business such as marketing,
business management, international marketing, business ethics, business
organizational structures, introduction to business, business law, managing
cultural differences, and entrepreneurship. The objective of the associate's
degree is to bring the academic and the technological together to make the
courses as practical as possible.
When an entrepreneurship course is offered in a college setting for
credit, it is recommended that it include a co-op or an internship component.
This co-op should have specific goals for the student. In addition, the
structure of such an offering must include a strong college component in the
form of site visitations and co-op student seminars to obtain interaction
between the students and active entrepreneurs.
If a certification program in entrepreneurship is offered by the
college, this should be for a specific time period or credits, usually the
equivalent of one semester in length and in specific areas such as sales,
marketing, business development, and management. An interesting approach to
this program would be an open-ended business planning course wherein students
could enter the course for as many times as they needed to develop a business
plan. In this format, the instructor is more of a consultant than a lecturer.
Credit hours could be assigned based on the number of projects students
complete within the class relative to their business plan. The classroom
setting would be flexible so students could come in at any time during the day
and work at their leisure in developing the business plan. This open-ended
approach, including an open lab concept, lends itself to the development of a
computer-based business plan.