An applied entrepreneurship curriculum
14 April 2011
Lately, I have been talking with professors and reading articles on teaching entrepreneurship. The field is a difficult one to teach because it requires application to learn. I want to outline my thoughts on how to best teach the a curriculum of entrepreneurship.
The fact of the matter is, if you want to be an entrepreneur you need to be a leader, be innovative, and posses skills outside of business. I believe a great entrepreneurship program needs to be highly selective when allowing students to select it as a major and people need to tested, and not in the traditional classroom-sense, if they don’t pass there needs to be strong incentive to change majors. When I say selective, I do not mean based on grades but based on potential. Typical entrepreneur-minded individuals don’t worry as much about grades in a traditional setting. This is another problem faced when developing a college curriculum with the goal of teaching Entrepreneurship.
Another problem I see based on my experience at Kansas State is that students in the business majors, to put it bluntly, suck. No one has any motivation to actually do something. Everyone has the same goal: make it out in a reasonable amount of time with a GPA that will allow you to get a decent job. They want others to tell them what to do for the rest of their lives, they don’t like risk, and stay away from any situation that has the potential for failure. Entrepreneurship programs needs to distance themselves from business schools because they are fundamentally different.
Being enrolled in Kansas State University’s Entrepreneurship program has helped be understand some basics of entrepreneurship, but the classes are primarily focused on planning a new venture. Planning is great, but when you are taking more than one or two classes focused on the subject it becomes the exact same, every time.
My ideal entrepreneurship program would be structured as follows based on a 15 credit hour/semester course load:
Freshman Year
6 hours of Science electives
6 hours of Math electives
6 hours of English Composition class (Called Expository Writing I & II at K-State)
2 hours Public Speaking I
4 hours General Economics (Macro and Micro)
6 hours – New Venture Planning I & II
The science and math electives are chosen because good analytical and problem solving skills need to be possessed by an Entrepreneur and both science and math teach these if you have decent teachers. The 6 hours of English composition classes are crucial, probably even more so than the analytical skills because they allow entrepreneurs to express their ideas clearly on paper. Public Speaking is obvious because this skill is required, you have to be able to pitch your idea and communicate it effectively verbally, I only included 2 hours because it will be emphasized later on. I included 4 hours of Economics because a general understanding how economies work is crucial, however applying all the formulas and theories taught in my micro and macro economics class seem unneeded at a start-up.
The new venture planning class is focused on developing and idea, determining its feasibility and writing a business plan. Part I will be focused on developing the idea and determining the feasibility and Part 2 will be focused on writing a business plan. If during Part I you determine your idea is infeasible or aren’t passionate about it in Part 2 you will join another team to experience writing a business plan. The business plans will be judged for quality, risk, feasibility, and innovativeness.
Sophomore Year
3 hours of accounting for business operations
3 hours of accounting for investing and financing
3 hours General Marketing Class
3 hours General Management Class
3 hours of General Finance
3 hours Information Technology for business
3 hours of Law for New Ventures
3 hours Operations Management elective (depending on business type will either be Project Management, Supply Chain Management, or Operations Management)
6 hours New Venture Development I & II
This year is where most of the general business classes come in and as you grow more exposed to these principles you will be encourage to re-work your business plan. The Operations Management course is an elective because most start-ups only required one form of operations management or a general idea of it. Teams from New Venture Planning will be re-organized, as needed, based on interest in project and skills. If a new idea arises during this point you will either be required to write a new business plan, feasibility plan (mini business plan), or recruit students in New Venture Plan I & II to work with you on your new idea. In New Venture Development students will form an actual business entity and begin developing their product or service.
Junior Year
3 hours of general sales
3 hours applied sales
3 hours of consulting
6 hours of Finance for New Ventures I & II
3 hours of Business Strategy
3 hours of Business, Government, and Society
3 hours of Human Resource Management for New Ventures
6 hours of New Venture Operations I & II
The junior year is where students actually begin running their business and selling it. Some dissolving of teams and reorganizing will occur. General sales is an overview of selling requiring practice of pitching and selling your product to customers and investors. Applied sales is actually selling your prototype, mock product, or somehow getting potential customers to commit. The consulting class will focus on other team’s projects and generating ideas to improve. Finance for New Ventures I & II will focus on raising money from banks and investors respectively. New Venture Operations is where students actually begin to operate their business (non-startup mode) and generate sales.
Senior Year
6 hours Internship
3 hours Capstone course reflecting on experience
3 hours Independent Study working on furthering business
18 hours finishing Unrestricted Electives
The senior year is left pretty open, it is meant to be easier to sustain a growing business and an independent study course that allows you to meet with mentors and others to focus on growing your business. The internship is meant to give you experience outside your business.
My proposed curriculum is highly flexible. If a student were to get into the Entrepreneurship program later than freshman year, most of their electives would transfer and they could push back the New Venture courses to fit the 4 year time frame. These electives are meant to give students experience in many fields outside of entrepreneurship. This also applies to students that do not have a business idea they are passionate about going into freshman year. It is very applied and hands-on and requires a lot of teamwork and hands-on with instructors. It is meant for a tightly knit group of students to form a business that will survive through college.