Can entrepreneurship be taught at a young age?

Can entrepreneurship be taught at a young age?

When we dig into the term 'entrepreneurship' in general, these thoughts sure do cross our minds in a way or the other - 'being your own boss', 'freedom to make your own decisions', 'using time as and how it pleases you and to make your own money, perhaps more money'.

 

Thoughts like 'Are entrepreneurs born or can they be made?' remain to bother some of the present generation's youngsters. Along the lines of 'can entrepreneurship be taught at a young age', there are mixed opinions with 'yes, no, and maybe' answers to the question. However, the case depends on each circumstance of the venture.

From an educational point of view - yes, it matters for entrepreneurship to be taught at a young age. It must be imparted in classrooms. Though every child isn't suited for an entrepreneurial career, it is necessary to prepare young minds to have an idea of what it is going to take to be the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page. To learn the art of entrepreneurship, students must come with a mindset of being extremely innovative or being motivated to become an entrepreneur in life. Business strategies and rules can be drawn on the blackboard, but the test of actual business must be practised in the field.

But is 'entrepreneurship' just related to start-up businesses or is there something more to it? Precisely, who is an entrepreneur? and what does he do?

It is quite interesting to know that entrepreneurs are passionate people, with a strong drive towards new ideas/concepts, businesses, innovations, out-of-box creativity, freedom to experiment their own capacities. Usually, this gives them the power to discover beyond the 'norm'. Whatever may be the size of an idea, giving birth to it in order to groom it largely, is an entrepreneur's primary drive or passion. For most of the entrepreneurs around the globe, money wouldn't be their top criteria to find a business, but people are for sure. They are resourceful and multi-dimensional in many ways.

Some points to think and learn about entrepreneurship at a younger age, are:

  • Practical and theoretical principles of entrepreneurship.
  • Pitfalls and challenges of business - how to be aware of them, and ways to avoid them.
  • Entrepreneurial skills learned from research, case studies and observations.
  • Live sessions and motivational talks from expert entrepreneurs, alongside classroom lessons - to boost the spirit of entrepreneurship.

As for practising entrepreneurship in real, it calls for a significant portion of practical experience that cannot be taught otherwise, irrespective of the nature of business. For instance, teaching people to swim or to play a musical instrument cannot be confined to a classroom set-up alone. But it needs to be tried in action to know where you stand at each level of perfection.

For some, it could be very natural with minimal help from coaches or mentors around; but for the others, there could be a toll of hardships to pass by, at least in the initial stages before they pick up speed on performance.

Universally, there is no 'correct way' to do business as such. In other words, there is an element of training involved in every situation in an entrepreneurial venture. A combination of sense of quality, value and creativity, common sense, willingness to learn, and thirst for more practical experience must be cultivated right from the beginning.

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