The Business of Educating Entrepreneurs
April 12th 2007 04:41
What kind of education best prepares a person for an entrepreneural career? Is it true that the best entrepreneurs are those who have missed the "bus" of a conventional education? These are some questions some business-minded young people want to know.
Famous American author Horatio Alger, in his serial "Pluck and Luck" created the stereotype of poor, uneducated folk who make it big through honest, hard work, overcoming the obstacles posed by lack of education. These kind of business persons were truer of early entrepreneurs than today's crop of successful business people we have today.
A survey shows that average entrepreneurs who have a degree in business administration, commerce, marketing, accounting or a related course is helpful, but not essential to success in business. Clearly, education is a pre-requisite to business entry because, after all, entrepreneurs have to know how to read, write, and compute and analyse numbers, but is not all that important. Other factors appears to be closely linked with entrepreneurship. One is technical training. A person who starts a business based on some vocational or trade skills, has a good chances of succeeding. Short-term training programs or EDP are something else. These programs are designed to simulate the so-called enterprise culture- a culture found by sociologists to lead to enterprising behavior.
A person is said to be raised in an enterprising culture when :
* He had related and interacted positively with many entrepreneurs and businessmen throughout his early, formative years. "Positive" interaction means he grew up admiring and liking them.
* He had the opportunity to work as a child or adolescent in enterprises and enjoyed the experience.
* He had the opportunity to practice the various tasks of running a business, such as helping make the product, buying the materials needed to produce it, or selling it.
* He had the opportunity to exercise entrepreneurial competencies and behaviour and gained approval for it from family, friends and other people who matter to him.
* He had the opportunity to get acquainted with customers, suppliers, distributors and other sources of support and assistance.
However, not everyone who wants to be in business on his own has not been brought up under such conditions. When it is not, then training can set up a condition similar or resembling the culture through lectures, discussions, exercises and practical work.
Famous American author Horatio Alger, in his serial "Pluck and Luck" created the stereotype of poor, uneducated folk who make it big through honest, hard work, overcoming the obstacles posed by lack of education. These kind of business persons were truer of early entrepreneurs than today's crop of successful business people we have today.
A survey shows that average entrepreneurs who have a degree in business administration, commerce, marketing, accounting or a related course is helpful, but not essential to success in business. Clearly, education is a pre-requisite to business entry because, after all, entrepreneurs have to know how to read, write, and compute and analyse numbers, but is not all that important. Other factors appears to be closely linked with entrepreneurship. One is technical training. A person who starts a business based on some vocational or trade skills, has a good chances of succeeding. Short-term training programs or EDP are something else. These programs are designed to simulate the so-called enterprise culture- a culture found by sociologists to lead to enterprising behavior.
A person is said to be raised in an enterprising culture when :
* He had related and interacted positively with many entrepreneurs and businessmen throughout his early, formative years. "Positive" interaction means he grew up admiring and liking them.
* He had the opportunity to work as a child or adolescent in enterprises and enjoyed the experience.
* He had the opportunity to practice the various tasks of running a business, such as helping make the product, buying the materials needed to produce it, or selling it.
* He had the opportunity to exercise entrepreneurial competencies and behaviour and gained approval for it from family, friends and other people who matter to him.
* He had the opportunity to get acquainted with customers, suppliers, distributors and other sources of support and assistance.
However, not everyone who wants to be in business on his own has not been brought up under such conditions. When it is not, then training can set up a condition similar or resembling the culture through lectures, discussions, exercises and practical work.
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