Build an ecosystem for student entrepreneurship

The lines between a school/college project and true entrepreneurship have been blurred. Many universities and colleges establish project teams and call themselves incubators. An incubator is merely a hospital for a short period after birth. A true entrepreneurial ecosystem will help the newborn grow into a healthy adult. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish between project, product, business and entrepreneurship.

A project is a step to building a product or service;

A product that has a paying customer and can be reproduced or scaled is the basis of the business.

A business is the creation of a successful entrepreneurial venture, which includes several functions such as sales, marketing, finance, production, and customer service.

Understanding the economic impact of a business idea, both on potential customers and its viability, is a critical part of mentorship in the ecosystem. The economic gain in value/time savings that is engineered into the innovation dictates the revenue model. Hence enabling the student to devise competitive solutions must be a part of the learning process. Ideally, mentorship must a combination of successful entrepreneurs and corporate executives with operating, financial and marketing experiences.

Entrepreneurs know how to filter opportunities because it is easier, cheaper and faster to change a business plan on paper than to do it the marketplace. Students must be trained to embrace failure and to learn from it.

Student entrepreneurship is about building teams and learning together. Such a culture is the foundation of future value creation. Whether a team can manage challenges depends on the bond and trust between team members.

Capital is the lifeline of entrepreneurial existence. Student entrepreneurs must learn to source the right type, size, and timing of capital. The ecosystem must enable such learnings including sources of funds such as governmental and private ones. Accessing non-controlling growth capital is a discipline that student entrepreneurs must be taught.

An ecosystem for student entrepreneurship must help students connect the dots. Entrepreneurship is about creating, retaining and building wealth for all shareholders. The metrics of wealth creation are based on sound business models. Students must be taught that entrepreneurship is a methodical approach to building on one’s passion to create wealth for all shareholders.