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Elements of entrepreneurship education
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Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship Click to read  

Entrepreneurship refers to the process of creating, developing and managing a new enterprise in order to gain profit by taking any of its risks in the corporate world. Song (2011) defines the term as an enterpriser’s will to create a new business through management innovation by showing his/her’s challenging spirit. Park and Ahn (2016) explained to the young CEOs that entrepreneurship is an important factor in improving their business performances, and they need to expend the effort to cultivate their business competency.
The core of entrepreneurship is a positive energy that challenges or changes existing conventions by acutely responding to the changing environments with an innovative and creative mind (Park, 2015).
Before proceeding further, it is vital to understand the meaning and importance of the concept of entrepreneurship to the economy.
Entrepreneurship is the willingness to start a new business. It’s about building a life on your own terms. No bosses. No restricting schedules. And no one holding you back. Entrepreneurs are able to take the first step into making the world a better place, for everyone in it.
Throughout the years the definition of entrepreneurship has stayed constant, but the possibilities for the young entrepreneurs have changed a lot. Think about it: 100 years ago, what options did an entrepreneur have? If you didn’t have the skill to make something, and didn’t have the capital to buy something, you were out of luck. Fast forward to today, and there are 582 million entrepreneurs in the world.
While understanding the concept of entrepreneurship we will also learn about the importance of entrepreneurs in the economy.
Entrepreneurs play a key role in any economy. They are individuals that transform and idea into a new business, using the overall experience, skills and initiative necessary to reach their goals.
An entrepreneur is an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards. The entrepreneur is commonly seen as an innovator, a source of new ideas, goods, services, and business/or procedures. (Adams, 2019).
Entrepreneurship, especially innovation-focused entrepreneurship, is very much like science—involving a series of experiments that can bring something new and valuable into the world. You cannot learn what product or idea will work without being willing to discover what won’t work. This is known by every successful entrepreneur, most of whom have business “failures” in their portfolios. Before Evan Williams started Twitter, he founded Odeo, the podcasting platform you’ve never heard of (Deutch, 2019).
 

 

Key Elements of EntrepreneurshipClick to read  

Generally, entrepreneurship is considered to consist of the following elements or scripts (Brooks, 2009; Mitchell, 2000).

  • Searching (idea formulation or opportunity recognition)
This script involves logical steps to identify a sufficient number of ideas (most likely 5 or more) which the person is interested in investigating to determine whether they might be viable given general criteria such as this person’s personal interests and capabilities.
 
  • Idea Screening (concept development)
This script begins when the person with the idea pool is no longer focusing on adding new ideas to it but is instead taking steps to choose the best idea for them given a full range of specific criteria.
 

This script ends when one idea is chosen from among those in the idea pool.

  • Planning and Financing (resource determination and acquisition)
This script involves a logical flow of steps to develop a business plan and secure adequate financing to start the business.
 
  • Set-Up (launch)
This script begins when the planning and financing script ends and when the person begins implementing the plans needed to start the business.
This script ends when the business is ready to start-up.
 
  • Start-Up
This script begins when the set-up script ends and when the business opens and begins making sales.
 
  • Ongoing Operations
This script begins when the start-up script ends and when the business has established persistence and is implementing growth (or maintenance) strategies.
 
  • Harvest
This script ends when the entrepreneur chooses to harvest the value they generated with the venture.

 

Entrepreneurship Education Click to read  

Disciplined Entrepreneurship is changing the way people think about entrepreneurship. Many believe that it cannot be taught, and those who are successful in starting a business are born with something others do not have. The myth about entrepreneurship is dispelled and it is shown how innovation-driven entrepreneurship can be broken down into discreet behaviours and processes which can be taught to the intelligent and hardworking people (Aulet, 2013).
Entrepreneurship education has the mandate to equip the youth with functional knowledge and
skill to build up their character, attitude and vision.
Entrepreneurship education has the mandate to equip the youth with functional knowledge and
skill to build up their character, attitude and vision.
Entrepreneurship education has the mandate to equip the youth with functional knowledge and
skill to build up their character, attitude and vision
Entrepreneurship education has the mandate to equip the youth with functional knowledge and skill to build up their character, attitude and vision (European Commission, 2013).

 

Definitions of Entrepreneurship EducationClick to read  

Entrepreneurship is a discipline, which means an individual can learn about it, and about how to be an effective entrepreneur. It is a myth that people are born entrepreneurs and that others cannot learn to become entrepreneurs (Drucker, 1985).
Entrepreneurship education basically focuses on creation of entrepreneurial culture. It helps potential entrepreneurs to identify and pursue opportunities.
Teaching entrepreneurship can be a tough job, but the first thing that students need to know is that there will be problems. Future entrepreneurs have to be prepared to overcome the setback, to find a way to meet the challenges, to become independent and able to find solutions to the problems.
Entrepreneurship in this sense refers to an individual's ability to turn ideas into action. It includes creativity, innovation, showing initiative and risk-taking, as well as the ability to plan and manage projects in order to achieve objectives. This is applicable in day-to-day life at home and in society, it makes employees more aware of the context of their work and better able to seize opportunities, and it provides a foundation for entrepreneurs establishing a social or commercial activity.
By anticipating and recognizing problems, young entrepreneurs have more time and resources to solve them. They are less surprised and learn that pro-active action can often alleviate the severity of problems.
The development of entrepreneurial mindsets is becoming embedded in policy across Europe. Teachers are affected by these changes. They need to be equipped with the right skills, knowledge and attitudes to be able to provide their students with the new curricula, pedagogies and learning environments that they will need if they are to acquire entrepreneurial competencies.
Entrepreneurship education is about lifelong learning and lifelong development of competencies.
 
Every teacher has their own way of teaching and students with different needs and prior knowledge. That is why teachers should constantly work on developing new ways of teaching. One way is to learn through five elements:
  • Act (Engage with doing)
  • Interact (Engage with others, partners or stakeholders
  • Challenge – Engage with the world outside the university
  • Embrace – Engage with and handle uncertainty
  • Reflect – Engage with internalising knowledge
What is a Business Model Canvas?Click to read  

Business Model Canvas (BMC) is a strategic management tool and lean start-up template for developing new or documenting existing business models. It is a visual chart with elements describing a firm's or product's value proposition, infrastructure, customers, and finances. It assists firms in aligning their activities by illustrating potential trade-offs. It is a one-page document which works through the fundamental elements of a business or product, structuring an idea in a coherent way.

The BMC was proposed by Alexander Osterwalder in 2005 based on his earlier book: Business Model Ontology. It outlines nine segments which form the building blocks for the business model in a nice one-page canvas.

Together the nine blocks provide a pretty coherent view of a business’ key drivers.

Customer Segments: Who are the customers? What do they think? See? Feel? Do?

Value Propositions: What’s compelling about the proposition? Why do customers buy, use?

Channels: How are these propositions promoted, sold and delivered? Why? Is it working?

Customer Relationships: How do you interact with the customer through their ‘journey’?

Revenue Streams: How does the business earn revenue from the value propositions?

Key Activities: What uniquely strategic things does the business do to deliver its proposition?

Key Resources: What unique strategic assets must the business have to compete?

Key Partnerships: What can the company not do so it can focus on its Key Activities?

Cost Structure: What are the business’ major cost drivers? How are they linked to revenue?

 

How to fill in a Business Model CanvasClick to read  

Filling in the Business Model Canvass can take up to 30 minutes and it is very user friendly if you understand the layout. The BMC is divided in two large areas: external and internal. The right side of the BMC focuses on the customer and represents the part of your business facing the customer (external), while the left side of the canvas focuses on the business and holds everything you need to have or do in order to provide the right half (internal). Both external and internal factors meet around the value proposition, which is the exchange of value between your business and your customer/clients.
 
The following guide i.e. steps will make the process of filling in the BMC clear and straightforward (Jeffries, 2020):
Step 1: Naming the purpose of the business
Step 2: Customers and Value Propositions
Step 3: Channels and Customer Relationships
Step 4: Key Resources, Key Activities and Key Partners
Step 5: Cost Structure and Revenue Streams
Step 6: Linking The Boxes + Tidying Up
Step 7: Telling The Story
Step 8: Assumptions Testing
Step 9: Designing New Versions
 
One of the most important things when filling in a BMC is to avoid the temptation to fill in the canvas from left to right. Rather than doing that, start with the areas important to your business model. The best way to start is with the customer segments. When you get a better image of your customers (focus groups, customer interviews, sales safaris or job shadowing), you develop a sense of what value you might be able to add to these customers’ lives. This is what you jot down in the value propositions area of the Business Model Canvas. (Orgler, 2018). Then, you move to the areas on the right half of the BMC (channels, customer relationships and revenues streams). Regarding the left side of the model, it is important to take into account that one of the main struggles is to find and retain customers. Before thinking about the key partners, you have to define the key resources and key activities. To finish with the BMC, you have to identify the cost structure of your business model.

 

 

Benefits of Using a Business Model CanvasClick to read  

Here are 5 key benefits of the Business Model Canvas (Young, 2018):

1. Business Model Canvas is focused:
Enterprises need a definition of how to get their products to their customers and the Business Model Canvas helps you define them.
 
2. BMC is clear and concise:
It helps you document your start-up journey so you can easily modify it as you go along. It is useful for easy communication with your team, investors, partners as well as employees to come on board with your vision.
 
3. Target customer needs:
The Business Model Canvas forces you to think beyond your product. When you envision how you will sell your product, what type of resources you need as well the different customer segments you can serve, the business becomes lucid. Documenting it gives you the clarity when you talk to your customers.
 
4. Reduces the risk of failure:
The Business Model Canvas helps you with the steps required to take your idea to the market. You have the edge over your competitors who are immersed in the lengthy pages of the business plan.
 
5. Scientific framework that works:
Business Model Canvas is a tried and tested methodology not only for start-ups but also for innovating in large enterprises.
 

What is a Cultural Organization?Click to read  

A cultural institution or cultural organization is an organization within a culture/subculture that works for the preservation or promotion of culture. Examples of cultural institutions in modern society are museums, libraries and archives, churches, art galleries.

 

Overcoming challenges in Cultural OrganizationClick to read  

As a consequence of globalization as well as the European financial crisis, public funding and support for arts and culture has decreased dramatically across most of Europe since 2008. Arts and cultural institutions and organizations find themselves at a turning point where new ways of managing and funding culture need to be explored.

Within the cultural sectors innovation is crucial in order for them to further grow and to adapt to a constantly evolving technological and financial environment.

Cultural organizations are challenged to understand how they can achieve financial viability, without compromising their mission and/or not-for-profit values. On the other hand, according to the progressive evolution of the business landscape, they can position themselves in the ecosystems not only as providers of cultural activities, extending their audience, but increasingly they can play a major role as actors for social innovation and development.

 

Example of BMCClick to read