Entrepreneurship
The 21st century workplace looks a lot different than it did decades ago. The traditional workplace model where the rank and file apply for jobs, go to an office building or job sight, and report to a boss for 40 hours a week is becoming a smaller part of the overall workplace. Today, individuals increasingly are working on their own, in single-person companies. People develop personal brands, which they carry from job to job. People are likely to work for several employers, either serially or simultaneously.
Successfully navigating the workplace today means being able to carefully survey the landscape, identify opportunities and then position yourself to make the most of those opportunities. Working arrangements frequently involve freelance contracts, independent projects, job sharing, telecommuting and other non-traditional approaches. The Twin Cities, with its vibrant community of writers, editors, designers, commercial artists, film makers, engineers and other creative professionals, is a hotbed of freelance and contracted work.
When people hear the word “entrepreneur,” they often think of the headline-grabbing venture capital deals that involve high-risk, speculative enterprises. But the truth is entrepreneurship is more about a way of thinking that anything else. It is a matter of assessing the situation, identifying problems, challenges or opportunities, and turning those problems/challenges/opportunities into positive results. Some people will respond to those problems/challenges/opportunities by creating new companies, but most will do so on a smaller scale, either by working independently, working in an industry that addresses the area of need, or through a non-profit avenue. Entrepreneurship is largely about problem-solving – and that can happen on a small scale, or a very large scale, depending on the individual and the circumstances.
Young people need education to open up the doors of entrepreneurship to them. Unless someone teaches them what entrepreneurship is, the opportunities it creates for them and those around them, and the potential it offers for solving problems both small and large, most people will never know the satisfaction of making an entrepreneurial contribution to the common good.
Entrepreneurship is an entirely appropriate theme for a high school located in the northwest suburbs, given the numerous businesses located in this part of the metro area. The area is host to many well-known companies, including St. Jude Medical, Medtronics, Select Comfort, General Mills, Boston Scientific, to name just a few. It is the hope of Carroll High School that over time the school will forge successful partnerships and relationships with companies in the area that create opportunities for both the school and the businesses.
Minnesota traditionally has been a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship. According to the Kaufman Foundation, 7 percent of adult Minnesotans owned a business as their primary form of employment in 2015. In the last five years, 1,229 out of every 100,000 Minnesotans owned a small business that was at least five years old. The state actually ranks No. 1 among the 25 largest states in the country, according to Kaufman which combines the two business ownership statistics to calculate what it calls the “Main Street Entrepreneurship Index.” Kaufman reports that Minnesota ranks No. 2 for the number of women-owned businesses.
Raising concern, however, is the declining rate at which Minnesotans are creating businesses. In 2014, Minnesota was in the bottom 10 states for new businesses created, and in 2015 Kaufman reported that Minnesota ranked fourth from the bottom.
Unity High School proposes to be a place where teens learn about entrepreneurship – what it is, how it can affect their life, how entrepreneurial principles can help them be a more effective citizens, more employable worker, and most immediately, a better student.
Unity High School will offer an entrepreneurship skills class for each grade level. The courses will offer education in a variety of entrepreneurial topics such as personal finances, fundamentals of commerce, local economy dynamics, as well as skills such as interviewing, resume writing, and even the basics of auto mechanics such as how to change a tire and how to change the oil. Other courses will be taught through the lens of entrepreneurship, so that proposed problems in courses such as math or science address real-world business challenges.
The Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education, an organization based in Charleston, W.V., has studied the benefits of entrepreneurship education. The benefits are numerous. Following is a summary:
The training that will be a part of the experience of working on the Unity High School faculty will help teachers introduce entrepreneurial themes in their teaching materials. They will be encouraged to work collaboratively so that the various courses integrate in a synergistic matter.
In addition to working to develop entrepreneurial education on an internal basis, Unity High School may partner with outside organizations. There are many outstanding sources of entrepreneurial education available to Unity High School, including The Kaufman Foundation (1), Junior Achievement (2), The Minnesota Council on Economic Education (3), the American Bankers Association (4), GoVenture (5), and others.
Education in entrepreneurship will help students to understand the concept of profit, including why it is essential to any effort’s viability. The school will present a variety of profit models from established companies, and their impact on key stakeholders.
Entrepreneurship teaches students that failure is not a disaster. Entrepreneurs fail all the time but what makes them different from many people is they learn from their failures. The first version of any new product rarely succeeds. Thomas Edison needed thousands of tries to invent the light bulb, meaning he failed thousands of times before he came up with a success that still benefits our world today.
Entrepreneurship also teaches communication. Entrepreneurs need to be able to communicate their ideas to funders and investors before they can implement their ideas. And they have to communicate those ideas in a manner compelling enough to raise sufficient money to turn their ideas into reality. A scarcity of funds also means that many entrepreneurs learn frugality; they learn how to do a lot with a little; they learn how to make the most of public assets. These are all valuable life skills, useful not only to someone trying to invent something or bring a new product to market, but to anyone living their life in almost any situation.
In meetings with entrepreneurs across the years, the Consortium for Entrepreneurial Education has established the following concepts it believes are the basic foundation for the importance of entrepreneurship education. Unity High School shares these philosophical tenets:
Referenced links:
Successfully navigating the workplace today means being able to carefully survey the landscape, identify opportunities and then position yourself to make the most of those opportunities. Working arrangements frequently involve freelance contracts, independent projects, job sharing, telecommuting and other non-traditional approaches. The Twin Cities, with its vibrant community of writers, editors, designers, commercial artists, film makers, engineers and other creative professionals, is a hotbed of freelance and contracted work.
When people hear the word “entrepreneur,” they often think of the headline-grabbing venture capital deals that involve high-risk, speculative enterprises. But the truth is entrepreneurship is more about a way of thinking that anything else. It is a matter of assessing the situation, identifying problems, challenges or opportunities, and turning those problems/challenges/opportunities into positive results. Some people will respond to those problems/challenges/opportunities by creating new companies, but most will do so on a smaller scale, either by working independently, working in an industry that addresses the area of need, or through a non-profit avenue. Entrepreneurship is largely about problem-solving – and that can happen on a small scale, or a very large scale, depending on the individual and the circumstances.
Young people need education to open up the doors of entrepreneurship to them. Unless someone teaches them what entrepreneurship is, the opportunities it creates for them and those around them, and the potential it offers for solving problems both small and large, most people will never know the satisfaction of making an entrepreneurial contribution to the common good.
Entrepreneurship is an entirely appropriate theme for a high school located in the northwest suburbs, given the numerous businesses located in this part of the metro area. The area is host to many well-known companies, including St. Jude Medical, Medtronics, Select Comfort, General Mills, Boston Scientific, to name just a few. It is the hope of Carroll High School that over time the school will forge successful partnerships and relationships with companies in the area that create opportunities for both the school and the businesses.
Minnesota traditionally has been a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship. According to the Kaufman Foundation, 7 percent of adult Minnesotans owned a business as their primary form of employment in 2015. In the last five years, 1,229 out of every 100,000 Minnesotans owned a small business that was at least five years old. The state actually ranks No. 1 among the 25 largest states in the country, according to Kaufman which combines the two business ownership statistics to calculate what it calls the “Main Street Entrepreneurship Index.” Kaufman reports that Minnesota ranks No. 2 for the number of women-owned businesses.
Raising concern, however, is the declining rate at which Minnesotans are creating businesses. In 2014, Minnesota was in the bottom 10 states for new businesses created, and in 2015 Kaufman reported that Minnesota ranked fourth from the bottom.
Unity High School proposes to be a place where teens learn about entrepreneurship – what it is, how it can affect their life, how entrepreneurial principles can help them be a more effective citizens, more employable worker, and most immediately, a better student.
Unity High School will offer an entrepreneurship skills class for each grade level. The courses will offer education in a variety of entrepreneurial topics such as personal finances, fundamentals of commerce, local economy dynamics, as well as skills such as interviewing, resume writing, and even the basics of auto mechanics such as how to change a tire and how to change the oil. Other courses will be taught through the lens of entrepreneurship, so that proposed problems in courses such as math or science address real-world business challenges.
The Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education, an organization based in Charleston, W.V., has studied the benefits of entrepreneurship education. The benefits are numerous. Following is a summary:
- Preserves creative thinking and promotes problem solving
The consideration of entrepreneurial opportunities preserves the innovative and creative thinking skills that exist in the very early grades but typically disappear as students move toward high school graduation. There are pathways to entrepreneurial success and they are accomplished by analysis and creative thinking, not by rote memorization. - Benefits every student
Entrepreneurship education benefits every student. In every graduating class, there are students who want to go into business right away. There are some who will consider it after college or after several years of employment. Some graduates aren’t considering it now, but will at some time in their lives. There are even those who have thought about it and, with more knowledge about what it takes for entrepreneurial success, decide not to do it. Finally, there is the student who has no interest now in entrepreneurship and will never be interested in it, but will be a better employee because he or she now knows what is important to his or her employer. - Supports academic learning
Using entrepreneurship education as a background for the teaching of academic subjects gives those studies a grounding in the real world. Entrepreneurship can be the answer to, “Why do I need to study this?” Math, science, writing and communication, history, geography, even the arts can be connected to today’s world through a connection to entrepreneurship. How will a scientist turn a discovery into income? How will an artist turn that talent into a family-supporting career? Every career and technical student with a skill to sell in the marketplace should consider the difference between finding a job and making their own job. Every student should have the opportunity to make an informed decision about entrepreneurship as a career path. - Makes communities healthier
Communities with an entrepreneurial culture are more stable, financially healthier and more dynamic than other communities. Think about any town or city with a healthy, thriving, dynamic business core and you will find an entrepreneurial culture. How better to start building a more entrepreneurial culture than with the young people who are already in the community? - Creates a healthier state economy
The largest percentage of new hiring in nearly any state comes from small businesses. Small businesses create a diversity in the state economy that can act as a buffer when the winds of economic change damage one industry or another. Small businesses account for half of all private sector jobs in the United States and they account for 75 percent of the new jobs created in the last five years. Finally, entrepreneurship provides an alternative to the economic drag on the state economy that results from layoffs and reduced employment due to plant or mine closures.
The training that will be a part of the experience of working on the Unity High School faculty will help teachers introduce entrepreneurial themes in their teaching materials. They will be encouraged to work collaboratively so that the various courses integrate in a synergistic matter.
In addition to working to develop entrepreneurial education on an internal basis, Unity High School may partner with outside organizations. There are many outstanding sources of entrepreneurial education available to Unity High School, including The Kaufman Foundation (1), Junior Achievement (2), The Minnesota Council on Economic Education (3), the American Bankers Association (4), GoVenture (5), and others.
Education in entrepreneurship will help students to understand the concept of profit, including why it is essential to any effort’s viability. The school will present a variety of profit models from established companies, and their impact on key stakeholders.
Entrepreneurship teaches students that failure is not a disaster. Entrepreneurs fail all the time but what makes them different from many people is they learn from their failures. The first version of any new product rarely succeeds. Thomas Edison needed thousands of tries to invent the light bulb, meaning he failed thousands of times before he came up with a success that still benefits our world today.
Entrepreneurship also teaches communication. Entrepreneurs need to be able to communicate their ideas to funders and investors before they can implement their ideas. And they have to communicate those ideas in a manner compelling enough to raise sufficient money to turn their ideas into reality. A scarcity of funds also means that many entrepreneurs learn frugality; they learn how to do a lot with a little; they learn how to make the most of public assets. These are all valuable life skills, useful not only to someone trying to invent something or bring a new product to market, but to anyone living their life in almost any situation.
In meetings with entrepreneurs across the years, the Consortium for Entrepreneurial Education has established the following concepts it believes are the basic foundation for the importance of entrepreneurship education. Unity High School shares these philosophical tenets:
- Entrepreneurs are not "born"…they "become" through the experiences of their lives.
- Entrepreneurs have a great diversity of personal characteristics, the common one being willing to take a risk in return for an appropriate reward.
- Anyone can be an entrepreneur at any time of one's life.
- Although there is no educational degree requirement to become an entrepreneur, it is helpful to have developed good support skills including communications, interpersonal abilities, economic understanding, digital skills, marketing, management, and math/finance skills.
- Entrepreneurial ventures are the major source of new jobs in the economy…for the owner and for new employees.
- Entrepreneurship is NOT learned by reading a textbook and then taking a test to prove you are one.
- Young people can build confidence in their abilities to become entrepreneurs in their future as a result of a variety of entrepreneurial activities provided throughout education.
- Entrepreneurship education activities are a real-life vehicle for developing academic skills.
- Entrepreneurship education enables employees to be more successful as a result of understanding the operations of a small business and the problems of their boss.
- Entrepreneurs are found in every occupation or career cluster.
Referenced links: