Can entrepreneurship be taught?

Can entrepreneurship be taught? Who is the right person to teach someone how to be an entrepreneur? The answers to these questions are vital for every young aspiring entrepreneur who wants to succeed. Opinions, however, vary depending on the person you might be asking.
Guest article by the Institute of Entrepreneurship - a member of the SME Academy Network

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Things you can or cannot learn

According to some people, entrepreneurship skills can be taught at higher education institutes and high schools. Others believe that entrepreneurship can only be taught to people by other entrepreneurs who have practical experience on the field. And finally there are people who believe that entrepreneurship cannot be taught by someone. It is something that every entrepreneur can learn only while doing it. And the question still remains. Can entrepreneurship be taught?

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If you look at the matter from a spherical point of view, you will notice that the concept of entrepreneurship is divided in different stages. And although entrepreneurship, as a whole, might not be easy or possible to teach, some stages might be:

• The Idea Stage. To be an entrepreneur you need an idea to build on. The original idea that will be giving birth to your company. And no one can teach you how to think and innovate. The idea will have to be something that you will come up with on your own.
• Setting up a business plan is the second stage. You need funding and the right business plan will be able to give you that funding. Now this stage can be taught. Business departments in colleges and universities all around the world have classes that focus on teaching future businessmen and businesswomen how to create successful business plans.
• Setting up the company, after you receive the funding is the next stage. This is where things get a little tricky. Although the way you are going to be choosing your employees might follow a certain pattern, you also need, what entrepreneurs call, critical way of thinking. The details will be based on the original idea as well as the future that you visualize, for your business. No one can teach you how to think and judge based on the needs of your company because no one knows them apart from you.
• Last but not least we have the evolution stage. You have created your business plan. You got the funding you needed and you hired your employees. Now is the time for you to put your ideas into practice and start evolving them and here is where creativity comes in. Creativity skills cannot be taught in a classroom. They are acquired through experience and through creative thinking processes. One cannot learn to be innovative and entrepreneurial, while on desk duty.  You need to explore things, use your imagination, question assumptions and connect information in order for you to achieve the best result.
  

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Some entrepreneurial skills can be taught and others cannot. “The key factor is motivation.” The teachers need to be motivated in order to teach important parts of entrepreneurship to students and students need to be motivated in order to understand the importance of the entrepreneurship skills and learn them. “Entrepreneurship can, partially, be taught.” But without imagination, innovation and a thirst to meet the unknown people will not be able to become true entrepreneurs.