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#10 Reasons Why Schools Should Encourage Entrepreneurship A key skill for every entrepreneur to help devise interesting approaches is creativity

By Husien Dohadwalla

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There has been a surge in the number of enterprising entrepreneurs in the recent past. Entrepreneurship education holds great value for students all over, and in particular, those entering the fields of science and technology, social work, healthcare and education. The future belongs to innovators and creators, and an entrepreneurship education serves as a great business incubator for budding entrepreneurs. An entrepreneurship course for school students could develop and harness skills such as:

Creativity

A key skill for every entrepreneur to help devise interesting approaches is creativity, which opens up multiple opportunities and advantages. Creativity requires an innate imaginative skill set that enables an entrepreneur to think outside the box and develop new potential niches in the existing field. Entrepreneurs can also be creative not only in terms of market opportunities but also with regards to optimising resources, increasing profits, and endeavours in risk taking.

Keen Insights

Developing keen customer insights is another crucial skill in order to offer effective customer experiences. Insights regarding customer behavioural patterns that influence business can aid in problem solving. Knowing what drives the consumer, will help understand the consumer's wants. Market research, competitive analysis and qualitative target customer insights can contribute to help tailoring the brand offerings as per requirements.

Thinking Outside the Box

Thinking outside the box requires changing one's creative process. To start thinking outside the box the brain needs to be triggered to develop new connections it would not normally make. Thinking outside the box opens up new avenues and idea trails to pursue. It involves taking advantage of the insightsprocured and customising a solution that addresses the need.

Risk Taking

There hasn't always been a positive connotation associated with risk-taking. However, risk-taking is essential to an entrepreneurial lifestyle and schools must teach their students to differentiate between which risks are worth taking and which aren't.

Collaboration

An entrepreneur can rarely accomplish a great deal by himself. Schools may team up students in groups to facilitate a greater understanding of collaboration between parties and effectuate an impeccable comprehension of the functioning of varying aspects in an operation. It additionally allows perspective into the viewpoints of other individuals that are concerned with the venture.

Research

The first thing that students learn in an entrepreneurship course is the importance of doing ample research to fall back on and present and pitch the idea to investors. Questions like how do you research, how do you create a questionnaire, what to ask and what to refrain from asking, are some of the topics included in entrepreneurship courses. It is important to remember that adequate research can spell the difference between success and failure.

Leadership

While it is not necessary that every leader must be an entrepreneur, it is important that every entrepreneur must be an effective leader. The entrepreneur must have a vision and articulate it while inspiring others to work for a common goal. But while focusing on the goals of the company is important, the entrepreneur must not forget to focus on the growth of his employees and develop them further. These leadership skills can be developed and grown at a nascent stage in their school life. Entrepreneurship courses provide opportunities for the same.

Public Speaking

Sometimes entrepreneurs have the right knowledge to back their idea and venture and the means to succeed. But without the necessary speaking skills required, entrepreneurs might face difficulty in selling their idea. Aspiring or early-stage entrepreneurs must develop public speaking skills at an early stage to persuade and convince investors, and additionally avoid probable misinterpretation and miscommunication.

Problem Solving

Being a pragmatic problem solver is one of the most valuable skill sets any entrepreneur can have. The key to great problem solving is finding a solution outside one's perspective. This requires adopting a different vantage point, remaining unbiased and considering every obstacle en route to a feasible solution.

In a world where the future is always uncertain, students must develop skills that will allow them to pave a bright future for themselves. These skills will develop their existing abilities further and will allow them to be successful in their endeavours and make an impactful difference on a personal and societal front as well.

Husien Dohadwalla

Head of Curriculum at Fazlani L'Academie Globale and the DY Patil International School Network

Mr Husien Dohadwalla is a young edupreneur and international educationist from Mumbai. As the Head of Curriculum – Middle, Secondary and High School — at the Fazlani L’Academie Globale and the DY Patil International School Network, he has made immense contributions to the education sector, for which he has received the ‘Edupreneur of the Year 2017’ award by Assocham India. In a country where there are more job seekers than jobs, Mr. Dohadwalla is working towards the development of entrepreneurship courses in IB schools, to help create more entrepreneurs. He is a part of the IB Educator Network for the Asia Pacific Region, and has been appointed IB Diploma head in the year 2013, making him one of the youngest people to hold this prestigious position. He is well known for his leading workshops, inspections and is also a reader for the curriculum for numerous IB institutions.

He holds a Master’s degree in Education and is the alumni of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C). He has also pursued an Entrepreneurship course from the Jonkoping International Business School, in Sweden. Mr. Husien is also a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

 

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