How does entrepreneurial training help students excel in professional lives?

The global business domain is undergoing a rapid transformation. Individuals are increasingly attracted to setting up startups that drive excellence through innovation, originality and demand. While large corporations remain the industry leaders, unicorns are challenging them across key markets and entrepreneurship is being considered as a viable career choice by millions of people. However, without the necessary training, the majority of startups are finding it difficult to stay afloat — highlighting the critical need to address it through entrepreneurial training from an early age rather than adopting a wait-and-see approach.

Statistically, 10% of entrepreneurs shut the shop of their startups in the first year itself. To highlight a more grim statistic, only 1 out of 10 startups continue till the 10th year of existence. In India, over 1 lakh startups are operating in 2023, founded by numerous entrepreneurs. Despite this large number and India being the third largest startup ecosystem in the world, the country boasts of only 111 unicorns. A major contributing factor behind this is the lack of knowledge concerning entrepreneurship among founders, who are forced to leave their plans unfulfilled.

Impact of entrepreneurial training on students

Economic ascendance describes today’s modern age aptly, but the conventional education system worldwide fails to reflect it in its curriculums. The present state of global education emphasizes degrees and technical certifications to obtain specific scholastic knowledge. However, skills like problem-solving, versatility, risk-taking, creative & critical thinking and entrepreneurial psychology are not considered critical to academic excellence. The foundation of entrepreneurship begins with these skills and learning these at an early age establishes a creative impact on young minds, assisting them to adopt entrepreneurial skills that supplement their professional ambitions later in life.

If we go deeper, it is very similar in sports. For example, Japan established a 100-year plan to establish at least 100 football clubs in the country and lift the World Cup in 1992. As part of this plan, the Japan Football Association established SOPs that focused on identifying young talents, training them from a very early age and investing in grassroots infrastructure. This resulted in establishing a pipeline of world-class players as Japan performed admirably in continental tournaments, even in the World Cup. The global education domain needs to adopt a similar strategy, keeping long-term goals in focus and investing in the youth - from establishing adept curriculums that teach entrepreneurial skills, ways to overcome challenges and driving growth through sustainable innovation. Entrepreneurial training combines real-world challenges, viable solutions and scholastic excellence in shaping young minds that are considerably more versatile than established entrepreneurs — and the impact promises to be immense.

Furthermore, entrepreneurial training acts as an enabler to fresh ideas and opportunities that go well beyond established thinking. It enhances the mental abilities of students, who stand to acquire problem-solving skills, encouraging business ideas and accessibility to the domain. It also promotes social justice, collaboration, and interpersonal skills — making students more prone to developing entrepreneurial skills and thought processes.

Advantages over peers

The young learners in classrooms will become tomorrow’s business leaders, policymakers and societal enablers. Among them, those who receive entrepreneurial training at an early age, develop critical skills such as collaborative efforts, critical & innovative thinking, problem-solving, risk-taking and others. While their lives may not necessarily lead them towards entrepreneurial ventures, these skills can help them excel in professional settings. For example, the importance of collaboration that young students learn in their early years develops the understanding of partnerships and seeking help when needed. This remains a critical contributing factor in becoming successful in professional lives. Critical thinking leads them to analyze business viability and innovative ideas; Problem-solving skills can help them to constructively navigate unforeseen challenges. The advantages are limitless for those who receive entrepreneurial training, as compared to their peers who do not.

For students who do not receive entrepreneurial training, trial and error is often the approach to garnering excellence. The majority of today’s professionals have developed an experimental mindset that tries numerous approaches before settling on one. While this approach is beneficial in garnering innovation, it also requires considerably more time and often leads to crises. Furthermore, skills like collaboration, risk-taking and critical thinking require abundant time for professionals to develop in their mindsets, a critical factor they often find themselves short for. This leads to reduced professional growth, something that can be avoided by utilizing entrepreneurial training at an earlier point in their lives.

(The author is Serial Entrepreneur and Business Coach)