10 Myths about Entrepreneurship 1. Entrepreneurship cannot be taught 2. Entrepreneurship requires lot of money 3. Outstanding and Academically brilliant students only can become entrepreneurs 4. MBA programmes can develop entrepreneurs 5. Existing courses and institutions can develop entrepreneurs 6. Entrepreneurship can be taught like other subjects in MBA curriculum 7. Books in Entrepreneurship are sufficient to understand it 8. For teaching entrepreneurship – MBA professors are most suitable 9. By joining some entrepreneurship forums we can promote entrepreneurship 10. The government support can convert a person into entrepreneur

Are you really serious to promote entrepreneurship ? Why am I asking such questions? Because I have observed that most people are not serious for promoting entrepreneurship. They are promoting entrepreneurship just because it is a fashion today and they get some media coverage by doing this. There are many forums that organise some events for promoting entrepreneurship and are able to get a lot of money in the process. They are able to get publicity and show off their activities. Are they really serious to promote entrepreneurship – you can judge yourself.

If you really want to promote entrepreneurship – just focus on creating a culture of entrepreneurship – where every student is just talking about entrepreneurship. It should not be a gimmick to get some government funds or some support from some incubator. Entrepreneurs need the entrepreneurial culture to groom and develop. We can together formulate world class entrepreneurship programmes – which can benefit millions of people indirectly (one entrepreneur benefits 1000 persons indirectly on an average).

Select students not on the basis of CAT / GMAT but on the basis of their willingness to take risk, past accomplishments in leadership and team building, experiences in event management, experiences in group work and on their vision for themselves.

What should be the curriculum? No curriculum can fit in to the requirement of entrepreneurship education. You may have a loose curriculum to guide you – but you should be flexible enough to accommodate events and activities.

What should be taught to the entrepreneurs? Prepare systems to have guided freedom for the students. Under your guidance they should be able to explore the world, visit trade fairs, visit industries, visit markets and visit different regions and places. They should be able to attend meetings, conferences where entrepreneurs come and share

their experiences. They should be able to meet with entrepreneurs and read their case studies. They should be able to develop their passions.

However, following topics should be taught : -

BEP ANALYSIS MARKETING FOR ENTREPRENEURSCUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENTACCOUNTING AND FINANCE FOR ENTREPRENEURS BASIC COMPUTER OPERATIONS ADVERTISING AND PUBLICITY NEW PRODUCT AND BRAND MANAGEMENT BASIC LAWS FOR ENTREPRENEURS LEADERSHIP HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT E-BUSINESS AND E-MARKETING ORGANISAITON BEHAVIOUR BUSINESS PLAN FORMULATION ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN RURAL / AGRICULTURE / INFRASTRUCTURE / TOURISM / ENTERTAINMENT SECTORSSOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIPFAMILY BUSINESS MANAGEMENT FRANCHISING

Each of these courses should have at least 15 case studies and at the end of the course, the student should be evaluated on the basis of his report / presentation/ business plan and not on the basis of typical theory based examinations. There should be concurrent evaluation with at least 50% weightage of the total marks, which should be based on case analysis, real problem solutions, projects, class participation and business plan presentation. Each student must participate in at least 4 B-Plan contests, 4 Trade fairs, 4 Industrial exhibitions and must make at least 10 industrial visits during the study. Each student must write interviews of at least 10 entrepreneurs during his study. The students should also get a chance to interact with technical experts / industry consultants / chartered accountants to enable them to formulate detailed project reports (which would be required as essential part of the programme).

It is not what you teach, but how you teach is equally important. Entrepreneurship education should be practical and not like typical lecture oriented classes. Students should be given practical assignment to handle responsibilities and show performance.

What should be the structure of entrepreneurial programme ? The programme should have study – immersion chain. The student should be given 3-4 months training and then be put with some entrepreneurs for live projects for 2-3 months and then again be given 3-4 months training and again be given 2-3 months live projects with some entrepreneur and be again given 2-3 month rigorous training in business plan formulation and modern business practices and again be put in charge of some entrepreneurial project and be subsequently given support in starting a new business.

Should there be short duration programmes also ? Yes, there should be a lot of short duration programmes from 1 day to 6 month programme to promote entrepreneurship. These programme will thus generate a huge number of entrepreneurs – which is the need of the hour.

Should there be discussions with failures also? Yes this is more important. Only a few entrepreneurs succeed, those who fail outnumber the successful ones. It is important for the students to understand the reasons of failure also.

What can help an entrepreneur? Networking, exposure to new technology, understanding of business practices and business formats will help an entrepreneur. There should be regular counseling of the entrepreneur so that the entrepreneur may change his behavior as per the requirements of the situation.

What should be the ratio of faculty members? More number of outsiders should be there instead of number of regular students. The outsiders can be experts / entrepreneurs in their own fields and should have willingness to share their success stories.

Should there be language barrier? No – entrepreneurs need not be academically brilliant – but they have some characteristics which help in their success – like – they are risk takers, bold, courageous, dreamers, freedom lovers, adaptable, extrovert persons.

Who should be resource persons ? Invite resource persons from varied backgrounds. Invite successful people to share their memories of their first success and how they achieved their dreams. Take your students to different business organizations and let them explore different business formats. Invite entrepreneurs to share their business incidents.

How should the time table be structured? Time table should be flexible to accommodate changes. However a few suggestions are : -

The students should devote their time in the following manners : -

10% in talking to entrepreneurs and consultants in exploring new ideas 30% in conducting market surveys and interviews and in preparing business plans20% in conducing live projects for other entrepreneurs

30% in case discussions relating to entrepreneurs and in solving business cases10% in class rooms in attending lectures / presentations / discussions on subjects of their studies

What are important pillers in entrepreneurship education? Motivate the participants in becoming entrepreneur. Motivation is very important. Every occasion should have some component for motivating the students to become entrepreneurs. Successful entrepreneurs can also come and share stories of their early struggle – which can inspire the students. Those entrepreneurs, who have achieved their success without any background or financial powers, should be invited. Similarly, those persons, who have faced major challenges and have become entrepreneurs against difficulties, should be invited. I used to invite Mr. Bajrang Jain (founder promoter of Mascot Publicity) and it used to be very motivating and inspiring for the students. Similarly I invited Mr. Vishal Choudhary (founder promoter of Parampara Exports) and it was also very impact making.

What should be the focus of entrepreneurship education? Entrepreneurship education should focus on 5 elements : -

1. Create a passion for some field2. Removing fear and building confidence to start something enterprising 3. Extensive exposure to latest happenings across the globe for better understanding 4. Repeated business plan formulation and critical discussions about how to improve them 5. Cultivation of good habits, positive thinking and proactiveness – so that the person uses

money well