business entrepreneurship lesson plans

23+ Free Entrepreneur Lesson Plans (Projects, Worksheets, etc.)

By: Author Amanda L. Grossman

Posted on Last updated: December 14, 2022

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Need free entrepreneurship curriculum, lesson plans, and projects? Here's entrepreneur lesson plans for high school, middle school, and elementary.

So, you’re looking for entrepreneur lesson plans to help turn your kids or students into the innovators of tomorrow.

And not just to make them into entrepreneurs, but to benefit your kids and students with the following results of teaching entrepreneurship :

• Improved academic performance
• Increased problem-solving and decision-making capabilities
• Improved interpersonal relationships
• Higher self-esteem

But, exactly how are you supposed to teach entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurs, among other qualities, need to be able to recognize opportunities in the marketplace. This means finding a need, and figuring out how to solve that need in a profitable way.

This can be as simple as a kidpreneur/kidpreneurship (or kidpreneur-in-the-making) opening a lemonade stand on a smoldering July day near a construction site, and as complicated as creating a machine knob specifically for tea growers in Japan.

And having this ability doesn't have to result in a person starting their own business; it works equally as well for your child if they work for someone else in the form of more merit raises, one-time bonuses for one-off projects, promotions, leverage in salary negotiations, etc.

In fact, the skill of recognizing an opportunity, and seizing it by writing my own job description resulted in me snagging my first job out of college (worth an awesome $40,000 + benefits to me at the time). More on that in a bit.

What are the other skills a child needs to learn to help them as an entrepreneur?

Psst: you'll also want to check out my resource list of youth entrepreneurship programs , entrepreneur biographies for kids , kid entrepreneur kits , and full review of the Teen Entrepreneur Toolbox . 

Article Content

How Do You Teach Entrepreneurship?

Teaching entrepreneurship is a bit trickier than, say, teaching algebra. With algebra, the equations come out with the same solutions, every time. But with entrepreneurship?

There are an endless number of variables that go into it, and an endless number of outcomes that can come out of it.

How are you supposed to teach for that?

One of the best ways to teach entrepreneurship is to choose entrepreneurial projects, activities, and lesson plans that aim at nurturing these entrepreneur skills:

• Ability to identify opportunities
• Self confidence
• At least basic knowledge of business finances/financial literacy
• Knows how to take measured risk
• Vision and creativity

Elementary School Entrepreneurship Curriculum

Excited to start teaching your elementary school-aged kids about entrepreneurship? Let me share some entrepreneurship lesson plans, resources, and curriculum with you.

Also, check out these 3 kid business plan examples .

1. Venture Lab

Who It’s For : Grades 1-12

Financial Aid : ( Free for non-commercial use ) Curriculum that organizations can purchase to use with students

Length of Program : 90-minute lessons

Location : N/A

Venture Lab offers a curriculum suited for 1st – 12th graders (curriculum is divided into lower elementary, upper elementary, and middle school/high school.) This is a course in a box with all of the lesson plans already completed and is meant to be utilized as part of regular coursework, after school programs, or camps.

Its focus is on teaching girls components of entrepreneurship such as STEAM concepts and design thinking.

2. Money Monsters Start their Own Business

Who It’s For : 4th – 8th grade

Students will read through the Money Monsters Start their Own Business book (PDF provided – 51 pages), and then play a game that has them experience the ups and downs of starting a business.

I love how a Toy Store Income Tracker is included so that each student can track their own earnings and see the numbers for themselves.

Psst: you'll also want to check out Federal Reserve Bank's webinar on teaching kids entrepreneurship , which will give you some lesson plan ideas. 

Starting a Business Lesson Plans for Middle School

Do you want to teach your middle school kid (or student) how to start a business, and you need a lesson plan? I’ve actually created a Take Your Child to Work Day printable which will give you lots of ideas for your starting a business lesson plan.

More middle school business lesson plans for how to start a business (all free):

• Federal Reserve Bank's Jay Starts a Business (Grades 3-6; comes with teacher's manual with lesson plans)
• Free Kid Business Plan Templates
• Biz Kid’s Crash Course on Entrepreneurship for Middle School
• EverFI’s Venture Entrepreneurial Expedition (for grades 7-10).
• Small Business Administration’s Young Entrepreneurs course
• Foundation for Economic Education’s Booms and Busts , What is Entrepreneurship? , What is the Entrepreneur’s Role in Creating Value? , etc. (students can earn a Certificate of Achievement)
• TeenBusiness’s Entrepreneur Lesson Videos series
• Parade of Entrepreneurs Lesson Plan
• Lemonade Stand Worksheets , and my best Lemonade Stand Ideas

Psst: Try holding a market day in your class. Here are 22 things for kids to make and sell , 17 boy crafts to sell , and help pricing their products in this market day lesson plan .

Teaching Entrepreneurship to High School Students – Free Entrepreneurship Curriculum

There are some great curriculum and materials out there for teaching entrepreneurship in high school, many of which include entrepreneur worksheets for students.

Psst: you also might want to check out these 5 business books for teens , and 11 business games for students .

1. Alison’s Entrepreneurial Skills Path

Who It’s For : Business students, and people interested in learning about creating a business

Financial Aid : Free

Length of Program : 6 lessons, each between 1 and 3 hours

Alison is a free, online platform with tons of courses, and one of the paths you can go down is an entrepreneurial skills one.

Teachers of the courses include venture capitalists, professors at Harvard, and professional entrepreneurs.

Lessons include:

• Characteristics of the Successful Entrepreneur
• Critical Skills for Entrepreneurs
• Creating an Entrepreneur’s Checklist for Success
• Entrepreneurship – Creating the Business
• Key Elements of Entrepreneurial Success
• Why Entrepreneurs Should Think Big

2. Youth Entrepreneurs

Who It’s For : Students

Financial Aid : Schools pay for this program, with the cost based on how many students get free and reduced lunches

Length of Program : 1 year

With this program, students first focus on economics, then they focus on starting their own businesses.

3. Diamond Challenge Business Curriculum

Who It’s For : Kids and teens

Length of Program : 14 modules

Looking for a video business curriculum with instructional guides? The Diamond Challenge’s program covers the following:

• What is Entrepreneurship?
• Opportunity Recognition
• Opportunity Screening
• Types of Businesses
• Building a Business like a Scientist
• Using a Business Model Canvas

They also offer a Social Curriculum track that’s 6 video modules long, including:

• What is Social Entrepreneurship?
• Wicked Problems and Grand Challenges
• Social Entrepreneurship Processes and Challenges

4. INCubateredu

Who It’s For : 10th and 12th graders

Financial Aid : Free (at schools where it’s available)

Length of Program : 1 year (followed by acceleratoredu for the 2nd year)

Through Uncharted Learning’s program, 10 th to 12 th graders develop their own business, pitch their idea ta a shark-tank style event, and even have a chance at receiving funding.

5. JA BE Entrepreneurial®

Who It’s For : Grades 9-12

Financial Aid : Free for students

Length of Program : 7, 45-minute sessions

Location : Anywhere

Through your child’s school, they can take Junior Achievement’s Entrepreneurial program. The course teaches students how to create a business plan, plus how to start a venture.

Lessons covered include:

• What’s My Business?
• Who’s My Customer?
• What’s My Advantage?
• Competitive Advantages
• Ethics are Good for Business
• The Business Plan

6. JA Company Program Blended Model

Length of Program : 13 classes (2 hours/class), or as a 1-year program with 26 classes (1 hour/class)

Location : Anywhere (online course)

This is an online program that teaches high schoolers how to solve a problem/fill a need in their community through entrepreneurship.

• Start a Business
• Vet the Venture
• Create a Structure
• Launch the Business!
• Run the Business

7. The Mint's Be Your Own Boss

Who It’s For : Teens

Length of Program : 3 lessons

Starting with the Be Your Own Boss Challenge , The Mint takes your teen through the following three lesson:

• Planning Your Business
• Money & Your Business
• The Law & Your Business

8. Wharton High School's Entrepreneurship

Who It’s For : High School students

Length of Program : 50+ lesson plans

These lesson plans go through the following:

• Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurial Opportunities
• Global Markets
• Business Plans

9. YE$ Youth Entrepreneurship

Who It's for : high school students

Cost : Free

Location : Anywhere (it's a PDF)

Here's a free PDF with tons of entrepreneur lesson plans and research done for educators, that is meant to go along with a 4-H program. You'll find some nuggets in here, plus, it's free!

Now let’s take a look at entrepreneurial projects that can teach your kids and teens all about starting a business with hands-on experiences.

10. Build a Business Plan

Who It's For : Middle School and High School

Location : Anywhere (online)

Check out this plug n' play business plan creator! You could send your students to this page to work through a business idea of theirs.

Then, at the end, they can print out their business plan!

Questions they'll need to answer include:

• Your big idea
• Who will buy
• How you'll spend and make money

Entrepreneur Worksheets for Students

While I would recommend taking on one of the projects below, or one of the hands-on lesson plans from above, there are also entrepreneur worksheets students can use to learn about businesses.

Here's a few of my favorites (all free):

• Lemonade Stand Free Printables (here's my best lemonade stand ideas , too)
• Lemonade Stand Worksheets
• Family Guide to Getting a Family Business Going (kid-centered)
• Small Business Administration's Lean Startup Business Plan
• Take your students through the DECA Idea Challenge (you'll need to pick your own everyday item to challenge students with, as the competition has ended for the year)
• Take your students through the DECA Entrepreneur of Tomorrow Challenge (again, the competition is over, but the PDF is still available for you to set up your own)

Psst: you might want to check out my review on the Teen Entrepreneur Toolbox .

2 Entrepreneurial Projects – What is an Entrepreneurial Project?

Entrepreneurial projects are a smart way to teach entrepreneurship to kids, because, as with any project, it gives them a chance to dive deeper into a topic that interest them (all under the guise of teaching them how to start and run a business).

Entrepreneur Project #1: Winter Beverage Outdoor Tasting Contest

It’s soooooo easy to sit inside all winter long and slowly accumulate cabin fever (plus a few pounds). That's why you've got to look for fun things to do in the winter.

Well today? We’re going to switch things up. I’ve created a family date night for you ( family winter activities !) that has both an indoor AND an outdoor component.

But don’t worry – with this fun winter activity we’ll keep things toasty throughout.

So, what’s the game plan? Each of your kid(dos) will make (rather,  create ) a warm winter beverage recipe  indoors . Then here's the twist: you’re going to host a family taste testing contest around your fire pit in the backyard.

Not only will this make a fun family memory, but your kid(dos) will actually walk away with more money knowledge in the process centered around the all-important lesson of how to make a profit!

Psst: Now that’s a money lesson I could have used as a kid, specifically as I’ve gone into biz for myself as an adult.

Host a Winter Beverage Outdoor Taste Testing

Finding fun things to do in the winter doesn't have to mean you're freezing your tootsies off. There's nothing better to keep you warm outdoors in the wintertime than a toasty drink. Well, a toasty drink around a roaring fire.

Here’s how it’s going down:

Step #1: Choose an Event Date

Build the anticipation for your family by choosing a date 1 to 2 weeks out (so that there’s time for you guys to complete the rest of the prep work).

Fill out the invitation on Page 1 of the free printable, and display prominently on your family’s bulletin board/gathering center in the kitchen so everyone knows the date of the big event.

Set the stage for the competition by having your family read their mission out loud. Other cool factors you can add in: make it a Friday or Saturday family date night, under the stars. Let the kids stay up a little past bedtime to complete.

Step #2: Your Kid(dos) Research Hot Drink Ideas to Enter into the Competition

Your kids are the ones entering the competition. They’ll be in the driver seat of actually creating their own recipe from scratch (with some inspiration from below).

There are lots of toasty, kid-friendly drink recipe ideas to get them started:

• Hot caramel apple cider
• Vanilla steamer with cinnamon
• Harry Potter Warm Butterbeer

They’ll get lots of help not only from looking up recipe examples on sites like Pinterest, but also from the worksheet in the free printable (Page 2).

Step #3: Shop for the Ingredients

Once your budding restaurant consultant has determined possible ingredients they’ll need for their signature drink, they’ll need you, Mama Bear, to purchase them.

Take the list your kid(dos) have created and go to the store (solo, or with them) to make the purchases.

Having trouble coming up with a pool of possible ingredients to buy? Use the lists below for inspiration of what to pick up (a few of these ingredients you probably already have at home) and let your kids create what they can from it:

• Bases : hot cocoa, apple cider, chai tea, milk
• Flavors : cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, flavor syrups
• Sweeteners : sugar, brown sugar, caramel
• Creamers : milk, half & half, almond milk, heavy cream, etc.
• Top-offs : whipped cream, caramel sauce, orange peels for zesting

Save your store receipt, as your kid(dos) will need this information to price their drinks later on.

Step #4: Your Kid(dos) Tinker + Perfect their Drink

Using the purchased ingredients as well as anything in your home they can find, host a kitchen lab session where your kid(dos) tinker with ingredients and perfect their super-secret, signature recipes (talk about fun things to do in the winter inside!).

They’ll write down the exact portion sizes to each ingredient that they use as they go along, which is important for the next step.

Step #5: Your Kid(dos) Figure Out the Profit Margin of their Signature Drink

Remember, the goal is to create a new drink for this restaurant that not only costs less than $5, but has at least a 60% profit margin for the owner.

Ahem: between you and me, that means their cost needs to come in under $2.00.

So, as your kid tinkers with ingredients, they need to keep price in mind.

Note: this step can seem a bit unwieldy, but is SO important for the whole process. Just know – I’m outlining both how to do this all by hand, as well as giving you shortcuts to online calculators where your kid(dos) will still learn the process by setting up the inputs and thinking through how it all fits together.

Of course, we’re not talking about the cost of the entire ingredient that you’ve purchased. After all, it’s unlikely they’ll use an entire carton of milk to create one drink. We’re talking about the small portion size that they used of the product.

In other words, they’re not going to get the cost of a single drink they’ve created from your grocery store receipt as it is now. They need to do some calculating based on the measurements of each ingredient that goes into each drink.

You need to know how much it costs to create just ONE of your super-secret signature drinks so that you can calculate the profit margin.

What’s a profit margin? It’s the percentage of what you keep as profit from each $1.00. For example, a 20% profit margin means that we earn $0.20 on every dollar. That means that the other 80% or $0.80 are expenses. Remember that Jack, the man from The Yeti Slide, needs a 60% profit margin, or $0.60 on each dollar in profit after expenses are taken out.

Step #1: Write down your ingredients + quantities.

Step #2: Convert each quantity in your recipe to the quantity on the product label.

Divide your ingredients up by dry ones (like cocoa powder), and wet ones (like heavy cream or vanilla extract).

Then use the appropriate table below to convert the amount in your recipe to the amount that’s found on the ingredient’s product label (front of package).

For example, if you used 3 teaspoons of cocoa powder (dry ingredient), then your conversion is to a ½ ounce (the cocoa powder can is in ounces). Or if you used 2 tablespoons of almond milk, you find on the Wet Conversion table that you used 1 fl. Oz. (the almond milk carton is in Fl. Oz.).

Hint: Can’t find the conversion or a little confused? You can plug the exact quantity of your ingredients into  this liquid converter  or  this dry converter calculator  online and convert it into the measurement found on your product label).

Conversion tables:

Dry Conversions

Liquid Conversions:

Step #3: Calculate the cost of each quantity of ingredient used.

Now you need to price each converted quantity of ingredient by figuring out how much each ounce or fluid ounce costs, and then multiplying it by the amount you’ve used.

Hint: A good estimate to use for dashes of spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg is $0.05.

• Write down the overall price of each ingredient used.
• Write down the converted amount you used of it.
• Divide the total amount in the product package by its price to find what each ounce or fluid ounce costs.
• Then multiply that by the converted amount you used.
• Write down the cost. Then add all of the individual ingredient costs to get your total expense to create the drink.

Example: I used 1 tablespoon (tbsp.) of heavy cream. One 8 fl. oz. container of heavy cream at the store costs $2.99. That is $0.37/ounce. I look at the conversion chart below, and see that 1 tbsp. converts to ½ ounce. So, I divide $0.37/2 ounces, and see that this ingredient for just one drink costs $0.186 (you can round up to $0.19).

Ingredient Cost:   $2.99 _ Converted Amount Used:  ½ fl. Oz.  Total Product Amount:  8 fl. Oz.   Cost per ounce:  _$0.37/fl. Oz.  Cost of Ingredient Used:  $0.37 X ½ = $0.186 .

Looking for a shortcut?  Here’s a free online tool for pricing out beverages . You’ll need the converted amounts.

Step #4: Calculate Your Profit Margin

Figure out how high your profit margin is if you sell the drink for $5.00.

Profit on Drink: $5.00 –  total drink cost  = _ $ _________.

Profit Per Dollar:  Your answer from above  \  Cost drink is sold for ($5.00)  =  $ Profit

Profit Margin:  $ Profit  X 100 =  Profit Margin%

Step #6: Taste Judging Begins

By now you’ve set the scene for some fun things to do in the winter outdoors – think a crackling bonfire out in the backyard (or in your fire pit. Heck, you can de-hibernate the grill for some winter outdoor cooking/heating), plus a table/flat surface where your kids can place their super-secret signature creations.

Bust out some blankets, cover straw bales with table cloths…you get the idea. (And if you’re in Houston like we are? Well, a hoodie should suffice).

Have your kid(dos) place their drinks on the tasting mat, as well as fill in how much their drink costs and what the profit margin is (all calculations they’ll be guided through on the free printable).

Now they get to take a break, while the parents taste + score each one!

Included in the printable are both a tasting mat as well as a score card with specific criteria, such as inventiveness, taste, and profit margin.

Step #7: Declare the Winners

There are winners in a variety of categories, and then an overall drink that is chosen for The Yeti Slide's Yeti Roasts:

• Most Inventive
• Best Money-Maker
• Newest Yeti Slide Signature Drink

Looking for fun things to do in the winter? This two-part activity for your child that will leave them understanding profit margins like a pro, plus give your family an awesome family date night under the stars on a winter evening when you might otherwise be watching tv.

What could be better than that? If nothing else, you’ll have created quite the memory.

Entrepreneur Project #2: A System for Your Child to Identify a Need in Your Home + Propose a Solution

We want to encourage your child to come to you with things they see that could use improvement, and ways they could add value or provide a solution for you.

Let's go through how to do this.

Step #1 : Discuss with your child the idea that people need things + services.

Here's a conversation outline for you with a few blanks to fill in (where underlined) :

“People need things and services in their lives. They need things to maintain their health, they need things to make life more enjoyable. They need parts to make repairs to their belongings. They need really cool items to buy as gifts for others. They need better systems or processes to make things work more efficiently, which just means taking less time and less money and getting the same (or better) results. All over the world, people need things. In my own life, three needs that I've satisfied through purchasing something include  X ,  Y , and  Z . By purchasing them, they made my life easier because  <<FILL IN SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR EACH EXAMPLE YOU GAVE>> . Generally, when people need something, they are willing to pay money for the solution. That's why there are so many companies, all which provide products + solutions for people's needs.”

Pssst: MAN I wish I could go back 17 years and give myself this talk! Would've saved me several adult years of banging my head against the wall trying to understand how to make money.

Step #2 : Task your child with identifying a need around the house/property/car.

What could this look like?

A Few Examples for you + your kiddo :

• Find a more efficient way to organize the “command center” in your home.
• Use Google Maps or another program to find a more efficient route for your commute.
• Organize the wood pile + create newspaper logs that are fireplace-ready.
• Find a better way to organize/clean/maintain the video game center in your home.
• Clean out your car (I used to do this for my parents!) + add a car trash can to the back area so that in the future the kids can just use that instead of throwing things on the ground.
• Introduce a better laundry system for the family's clothes so that they actually  all  end up in the laundry room, sorted, and ready to be washed.

The possibilities are endless, and specific to what needs your child sees in your family life.

Step #3 : Once they've identified a need and come to you with it, you must decide if it's worth it to you to move forward. Don't be afraid if, after they've told you a need they  think  you have but that you don't  actually  have, to tell them that it isn't a current need of yours. Hey, the road to success is paved with failed products! This is excellent feedback so that they start to understand their “customer” and dig deeper. Perhaps they'll even start to ask YOU what you want from them!

Step #4 : What are both of your expectations for this job so that you know when the job is completed correctly?

Let them tell you what they propose to accomplish and what that would look like.

Then you share what you, as a paying customer, expect in results. Hash this out if need be (just like a real negotiation between a biz and their potential client).

This includes a deadline.

Step #5 : Now you need to ask them for a price.

I know, I know. You might be wondering, “why on earth am I going to let my child choose how much I'm willing to pay them for something they want to do around the house? Isn't it MY money?”

I totally get that. But remember that the nature of this lesson is to ignite that entrepreneurial spirit in them. Instead of you offering what you're willing to pay, have them go through the exercise of pricing their efforts. Then the negotiations start.

This sets them up for good negotiation + valuation skills in the future.

Determine the market price you'll pay, which is where their price (the supplier) and your price (based on how much you need what they're offering + a dash of several other things) meets. $__________.

Step #6 : Your child completes the work + notifies you.

Step #7 : Using the checklist you both created, provide oversight and see if everything is as it was supposed to be.

Step #8 : Pay the agreed upon rate once everything is up to par. And if they don't quite complete the project + deliver what they promised, it's up to you whether you want to make a partial payment, or not pay at all (satisfaction guaranteed could be added to this lesson as well).

If your child makes it through this process, then they will have successfully figured out a “market” need, fulfilled it, and gotten paid from their initiative. This is something that will no doubt shape their futures.

And if they don't quite succeed? Well the lessons are vast for all entrepreneurs as they traverse through the mistakes, failures, and successes.

It's really a win-win situation.

Let me show you what I mean, with an example in my own life.

How I Used this Skill Set to Write My Own First Job Offer Worth $40,000 + Benefits

While some of my dorm mates were floundering around trying to find employment, I was busy enjoying my last two months of college before entering the “real world”.

Why is that? Because I had a job waiting for me. And the only reason why I had that job was I spotted a need in a local company, and wrote my way into it.

I had interned for an organization in my small college town, and they ended up building a start-up company set to open its doors sometime around when I was due to graduate. One day I asked them if I could have a full-time job there come June. The director looked at me, and said, “go ahead and write up a job description of what you propose you would do here. Then we'll see.”

So I went back to my college dorm and worked on a job description. I thought about what the company was trying to achieve, and tied this into what I wanted to do with my life (at least what I thought I wanted to do at the time).

I wish I had saved a copy of the actual job description, but my sharp memory tells me it went something like this:

“Amanda L. Grossman will be the International Marketing & Sales contact at Chesapeake Fields. The International Marketing & Sales Person is responsible for researching new markets around the world where Chesapeake Fields' products would be well received. Primary responsibilities include understanding these markets, making contact with potential wholesalers and distributors, sending samples, and being the brand ambassador for Chesapeake Fields within these markets.”

With one minor change − they put sales in front of marketing in my job title − I got an offer from them for $40,000 + benefits to do just that. Within the one year I worked there, I ended up negotiating an initial container load of $27,000 worth of our product to a major food retailer in Taiwan.

Unfortunately, my job AND that company went under not long after my first and only year there. But writing my way into a company right out of college based on a need I saw that I could fill? Well that was enough to impress future employers who then hired me.

See how lucrative learning this skill could be for your child? I'd love to hear below what needs (perceived or actual ones) your child comes up with to fulfill.

• Latest Posts

Amanda L. Grossman

Latest posts by Amanda L. Grossman ( see all )

• The Earn Your First $50 Kid Money Challenge (With Free Printable) - July 16, 2024
• The Chocolate Business Project (A Tasty Way to Teach Kids Business) - July 10, 2024
• 9 Simple Money Projects for Kids & Preteens (to Master Money) - June 22, 2024

Thursday 8th of June 2017

Uh, I totally love this post! My hubby and I are both entrepreneurs and want to instill the same in our children... definitely going to use these tips!!

Friday 9th of June 2017

*Squee*! Thanks, Lauren. I'd love to hear what your kiddos come up with:).

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Home | Blog | 12 Easy Entrepreneurship Activities For Any Class (Plus 3 Free Lessons)

12 Easy Entrepreneurship Activities For Any Class (Plus 3 Free Lessons)

Get your free entrepreneurship lessons

Who Are Our Students?

Today’s students are digital natives! Born after 1997, they’re part of Generation Z (Gen Z). The oldest are in their mid-twenties, and the youngest are finishing up their last days of grade school. They’ve grown up with technology and have never known a world without smartphones. This tech-savvy upbringing shapes how they experience the world, behave, and learn.

Gen Z makes up about 20 percent of the U.S. population, which is around 68 million Americans. According to recent Census Bureau data, over a third of them have jobs or are self-employed, while 51 percent are still students. These students’ needs are changing the way you teach. The traditional classroom model, in which a teacher lectures at the front of the class, doesn’t cut it anymore.

Gen Z students want to learn and succeed, but they need to feel connected and see the relevance of what they’re learning. They want to know why you’re teaching entrepreneurship and how it applies to the real world. Making learning relevant is very important to them. Additionally, growing up immersed in technology has given these students a short attention span, making hands-on learning a useful teaching tool that can keep these students engaged.

What Is Entrepreneurship?

There are various definitions of entrepreneurship out there. You’ll notice the word “business” often comes up when discussing entrepreneurship because it’s usually what people first think of when they hear “entrepreneurship.” However, it goes beyond starting a business and turning a profit. Entrepreneurship is a unique way of life and mindset.

Entrepreneurship is about innovation, solving specific problems, and creating value in society. It also plays a crucial role in economic restructuring, driving economies towards more market-oriented processes. The growth of entrepreneurship impacts local, state, and national economies, influencing their ups and downs.

Why is teaching entrepreneurship to Gen Z students important? According to a recent Forbes article , while older generations often view entrepreneurship as a high-risk career choice, many Gen Z individuals feel quite the opposite. In fact, 93 percent of them have taken steps towards exploring business ownership, with 75 percent expressing a strong desire to launch their own business as a career.

Best Practices for Teaching Entrepreneurship

In an article by Professor Patricia Green, of Babson College, she proposes four complementary techniques for teaching entrepreneurship as a method, rather than a process.

1. Starting a Business

Students like learning entrepreneurship through role-playing, and it’s a highly effective method. One of the best practices for teaching entrepreneurship is having students work on starting their own businesses. By pretending to be entrepreneurs, they get hands-on experience in creating real businesses.

2. Serious Games and Simulations

This generation’s fascination with computer games and gaming has become undeniable, prompting educators to find ways of teaching entrepreneurship through games. Serious “games” have defined rules and gameplay that add an element of fun. These simulations merge learning with play, offering students the chance to tackle real challenges in a virtual setting.

There’s a wide range of entrepreneurial simulations available. Here are just a couple:

• Interpretive Simulation’s Entrepreneur is a simulation of running a retail clothing store
• Knowledge Matters’ Virtual Business Entrepreneurship offers various projects like the Shark Project, in which students pitch their business ideas and seek virtual investments from classmates

3. Design-Based Learning

Herbert Simon, an economist and Nobel Prize laureate, believed that hands-on learning through design is crucial for fields like entrepreneurship. Design isn’t just about making things look good; it’s about observing, thinking critically, being creative, and solving problems – all skills that push us to think deeply.

In traditional entrepreneurship classes, there’s often not enough time spent on sparking creativity and generating new ideas. This means students may miss out on learning how to truly think like entrepreneurs – spotting opportunities and turning them into something real. That’s why we think it’s vital to weave basic design principles into education.

It’s not just about finding opportunities anymore; it’s about creating them. By bringing design into the mix, students can flex their creative muscles to dream up solutions, clarify problems, and even launch their own businesses. This approach isn’t only about teaching entrepreneurship; it’s about empowering students to think big and make a real impact.

4. Reflective Practice

Reflection is a crucial way to turn experiences into knowledge. When we reflect, we think about what happened and try to understand it, which often leads to valuable insights. This makes reflection an essential part of teaching entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is a constant cycle of action, learning, testing, and experimenting.

Activities for Teaching Entrepreneurship

Now that you’ve learned some best practices for entrepreneurship education, let’s dive into some activities to integrate entrepreneurial skills into any program.

1. The Envelope Exercise

For this activity, print fake money and place small amounts in envelopes for individuals or small groups of students. You can choose to give everyone different amounts of money or keep it all equal. Explain that your students’ goal is to increase their investment — and in doing so, use the collaboration and critical thinking skills that are important in entrepreneurship.

Give students 20 to 30 minutes to brainstorm before having each individual or group share their ideas. Odds are high that they will be surprised by how easy it is for them to make money!

2. Defining Problems Exercise

Entrepreneurs find solutions to problems they see in the world . This means that the ability to clearly define problem s is important in entrepreneurship careers . To help students build this skill, s how them pictures that depict issues (like the one below) and ask them to define the problems they can see.   

Next, ask the students what information they would need to help define the problem better . They’ll want to start coming up with solutions right away but challenge them to focus on clearly defining the issue before trying to resolve it.   

3. Ready, Set, Design!

For this exercise, divide students into groups and give each group a challenge such as thinking of a new way to drink on the go or a new method of communication; keep the challenge open ended. Give each group a bag of everyday materials such as rubber bands, pipe cleaners, and foil. Have students design a product based on the challenge.   

After 15 minutes, have each group present their design and explain why that product meets the challenge. The point of this activity is to get students thinking creatively without getting hung up on the details.  

4. The StartUp Podcast

The StartUp podcast is excellent for sparking conversations about entrepreneurship in class. It illuminates important concepts revolving around entrepreneurial life. You can have students listen to an episode for homework and then facilitate a class discussion on what stood out to them in the episode.  

5. The Business Proposition

This activity will give students practice articulating a value proposition, which is a simple statement summarizing why a customer would choose your business or product. To get started, go over the definition of a value proposition and give students a brief faux business/product idea or have them come up with their own.   

Ask students to express their value proposition in a concise way. It may sound easy but keeping it brief can be challenging. This is a great exercise for helping students develop their entrepreneurial spirit.  

6. Wacky Ideas and 2-Minute Pitch

For this fun entrepreneurship activity, give students any two objects and have them brainstorm ways they can combine the objects into one invention. Then they must define the invention. Have them answer questions such as:  

• What is it?  
• What can it do?   
• Who uses it?   
• How could it be used differently?   

After defining the invention, students have two minutes to pitch it to the class. They should start by introducing themselves, the name of their company, and their invention. Once they’ve made their introductions, have them explain how their invention works and why people need it.  

7. Soda Can Redesign Challenge

For this activity, you’ll need a simple soda can – or pop can, depending on where you live. Have your students work individually or in groups to redesign the can, trying to make it better. Encourage students to think creatively about the changes they would make. If they’re working in groups, they can bounce ideas off each other.

8. Pitch Your Passion

There are many ways to pitch ideas, like the elevator pitch or the one-minute pitch. A great way to get students thinking entrepreneurially is to have them pitch their passion. In this activity, students choose something they’re passionate about, such as a hobby outside of school, an interest, or even a business idea they want to pursue.

9. Marshmallow Challenge

The goal of the Marshmallow Challenge is to build the tallest, free-standing structure possible with a marshmallow on top. Students use uncooked spaghetti, string, and tape to build their structures. Divide students into groups and give them 15-20 minutes to work on their structures. During this time, they’ll problem solve and work together creatively.

11. Free Entrepreneurship Lessons

Realityworks offers a free series of lessons focused on a variety of entrepreneurship-related topics which includes many of the activities mentioned above! These lessons will help teach students about what it’s like to be, think, and act like an entrepreneur. You can teach all three lessons together or choose which ones fit best in your class. These lessons offer an easy way to integrate a brief entrepreneurship program into any CTE course .  

Access your free entrepreneurship lessons

12. Realityworks Contemporary Entrepreneurship Program

Our ready-to-use Contemporary Entrepreneurship Program helps you create an engaging two-to-three-week unit all about entrepreneurship.

Through this program, students will learn how to be an entrepreneur, generate business/product ideas, conduct market research, consider legal and financial issues, and write their own business plan.  

Looking for more entrepreneurship teaching resources? We suggest these resources:  

• Checking out this in-depth blog post all about our Contemporary Entrepreneurship Program  
• Watching our webinar, “ Best Practices for Integrating Entrepreneurship Into CTE Courses ”  
• And of course, don’t forget to download these three free entrepreneurship lessons .

2 thoughts on “ 12 Easy Entrepreneurship Activities For Any Class (Plus 3 Free Lessons) ”

Hello. I’m a CTE Business and Marketing instructor in Idaho and I’m very interested in purchasing the Contemporary Entrepreneurship course packet. Is it possible to get a quote and a copy of your company’s W9 so my school district can set you up as a vendor?

Thank you for reaching out, Sarah! We’d love to assist you. I will pass your information to our Account Services Team, who will reach out if they need anything more from you to provide the quote. If you have any questions, in the meantime, you can contact them anytime via email ([email protected]), phone (800-830-1416) or by live chatting on our website. Thank you! 🙂

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For Teachers

Teaching by topic: entrepreneurship.

You can find the materials you need to teach entrepreneurship, regardless of your students’ levels. Here are entrepreneurship lessons, worksheets, activities and games, and some key tips –  by grade. We also include learning objectives that connect to the National Standards for Financial Education.

National Standards for Personal Finance Education

Download our free teachers' cheat sheet, learning objectives, pre-k entrepreneurship lesson plans, pre-k entrepreneurship worksheets, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to pre-k students, kindergarten, kindergarten entrepreneurship lesson plans, kindergarten entrepreneurship worksheets, kindergarten entrepreneurship games and activities, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to kindergarten students, 1st grade entrepreneurship lesson plans, 1st grade entrepreneurship worksheets, 1st grade entrepreneurship games and activities, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to 1st graders.

2nd-grade students learn about entrepreneurial characteristics and further study specific careers. They should be able to:

2nd Grade Entrepreneurship Lesson Plans

2nd grade entrepreneurship worksheets, 2nd grade entrepreneurship games and activities, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to 2nd graders, 3rd grade entrepreneurship lesson plans, 3rd grade entrepreneurship worksheets, 3rd grade entrepreneurship games and activities, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to 3rd graders.

4th-grade students jump into more advanced entrepreneurial skills, including planning business operations and measuring success. They should be able to:

4th Grade Entrepreneurship Lesson Plans

4th grade entrepreneurship worksheets, 4th grade entrepreneurship games and activities, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to 4th graders.

5th-grade students discover various jobs and ways to earn income and see the type of person who becomes a successful entrepreneur. They should be able to:

5th Grade Entrepreneurship Lesson Plans

5th grade entrepreneurship worksheets, 5th grade entrepreneurship games and activities, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to 5th graders.

6th-grade students see how pursuing their passion can lead to income, and they break down the steps to make it happen. They should be able to:

6th Grade Entrepreneurship Lesson Plans

6th grade entrepreneurship worksheets, 6th grade entrepreneurship games and activities, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to 6th graders.

7th-graders dive further into how to market businesses, understanding that every decision has an outcome. They should be able to:

7th Grade Entrepreneurship Lesson Plans

7th grade entrepreneurship worksheets, 7th grade entrepreneurship games and activities, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to 7th graders.

8th-grade students deepen their financial and entrepreneurial vocabulary and understand more advanced concepts. They should be able to:

8th Grade Entrepreneurship Lesson Plans

8th grade entrepreneurship worksheets, 8th grade entrepreneurship games and activities, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to 8th graders, 9th grade entrepreneurship lesson plans, 9th grade entrepreneurship worksheets, 9th grade entrepreneurship games and activities, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to 9th graders.

10th-grade students focus on specific careers of interest and begin understanding the details of entrepreneurship in their chosen industry. They should be able to:

10th Grade Entrepreneurship Lesson Plans

10th grade entrepreneurship worksheets, 10th grade entrepreneurship games and activities, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to 10th graders.

11th-graders dive into the details of entrepreneurship, learning how to plan and execute the steps to success. They should be able to:

11th Grade Entrepreneurship Lesson Plans

11th grade entrepreneurship worksheets, 11th grade entrepreneurship games and activities, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to 11th graders.

12th-graders look at various practical ways to jump into entrepreneurship, and see how careful planning can lead to success. They should be able to:

12th Grade Entrepreneurship Lesson Plans

12th grade entrepreneurship worksheets, 12th grade entrepreneurship games and activities, tips for teaching entrepreneurship to 12th graders.

For more resources on other topics, check out our 12th Grade Money Lesson Plans Center .

About the Author

Peter brown.

VentureLab Programs & Curriculum

An introduction to entrepreneurship.

• ESTEAM® Methodology: ESTEAM® combines science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics under the lens of entrepreneurship and gives students the knowledge to take their learning beyond the classroom.
• 21st Century Skills: Our curriculum emphasizes durable skills such as critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, communication, and collaboration. These skills are integral to youth development and are explicitly taught and reinforced through guided reflections after each activity.
• Teacher Created, Student Focused: Our curriculum is accessible and easy-to-use. Designed by teachers for teachers. It includes real-world connections and practical problem-solving activities, ensuring that all students, regardless of background, can engage and succeed.

Free Curriculum

Topics in Entrepreneurship Part I

We offer part 1 of Topics in Entrepreneurship, at no cost! Some educators use it as a standalone, others combine it with our Topics in Entrepreneurship part 2 .

This curriculum engages students in creative projects, teaching them the fundamentals of entrepreneurship.

Caregiver Workbook

Our “Entrepreneurship Curriculum Workbook” for grades 1-5 is designed for families to explore entrepreneurship together. Featuring engaging activities and easy-to-follow lessons, this workbook helps caregivers guide young learners through their entrepreneurial journey.

We also offer a Spanish version of this workbook. 

Entrepreneurship + Agriculture

Explore the intersection of entrepreneurship and agriculture. Students learn how to create sustainable agricultural solutions, develop business models, and address real-world challenges in the farming industry, fostering a new generation of diverse agripreneurs.

Idea to Pitch

Career Exploration

Social Entrepreneurship

Topics in entrepreneurship.

Explore “Topics in Entrepreneurship” with standalone lessons or get the full set! This flexible curriculum offers lessons to foster youth entrepreneurship, complete with activities, guides, instructions, slides, and handouts.

Tailored for grades 1-12, our resources are perfect for STEM, business, or marketing courses, as well as enrichment programs. Empower your students with entrepreneurial skills and prepare them for a future of innovation and leadership.

Parts 1 and 2

Dive into the world of entrepreneurship with our comprehensive curriculum, “Topics in Entrepreneurship Parts 1 and 2.” Part 1 covers fundamental entrepreneurial mindsets and skills, such as creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Part 2 builds on this foundation, introducing advanced topics like marketing, financial literacy, and business planning.

Both parts are designed to inspire and equip young learners with the tools they need to turn their innovative ideas into reality. Whether used individually or together, this curriculum prepares youth to become the innovative leaders of tomorrow.

Idea Generation

Grades 6-12.

This set of standalone youth entrepreneurship lessons includes detailed preparation, step-by-step instructions, teaching tips, and all necessary slides and handouts for teaching Idea Generation to future entrepreneurs and changemakers in grades 6-12.

Topics in Entrepreneurship: Idea Generation offers 120 minutes of content with fun classroom and afterschool activities such as:

🚀Group Brainstorming & Brainwriting

🚀Roleplaying & Reverse Brainstorming

🚀 Visual Idea Generation

Market Research

This standalone pair of youth entrepreneurship lessons includes detailed preparation, step-by-step instructions, teaching tips, and all necessary slides and handouts for teaching Market Research to grades 3-5.

Topics in Entrepreneurship: Market Research offers 180 minutes of content with activities such as:

🚀 Introduction to Markets

🚀 Describing the Market

🚀 Secondary Research

🚀 Product or Service Description

🚀 Primary Research Survey

Introduce your young students to the exciting world of entrepreneurship with our “Topics in Entrepreneurship: Pitching” curriculum, designed specifically for first and second graders. 

What’s Included:

🚀 Preparation Guides: Step-by-step instructions to help educators plan and execute lessons effectively.

🚀 Interactive Activities: Fun exercises that spark creativity and encourage students to develop their own business ideas.

🚀 Slides and Handouts: Visual aids and printable materials that enhance the learning experience.

Discover the full collection:

Full topics in entrepreneurship.

Discover the “Topics in Entrepreneurship” collection, offering standalone lessons or the complete set to best meet your educational needs. This flexible, non-linear curriculum is designed to foster youth entrepreneurship by allowing you to select the lessons that fit your program perfectly.

Each lesson is packed with engaging activities, comprehensive preparation guides, detailed instructions, slides, and handouts for seamless teaching. Our full curriculum is tailored for lower elementary (grades 1-2), upper elementary (grades 3-5), and middle/high school (grades 6-12) students.

Online Educator Training

Mindset Course for Educators: Transforming Teaching with Entrepreneurial Thinking

Unlock the full potential of your teaching with VentureLab’s Mindset Course for Educators. This course is expertly designed to infuse entrepreneurial thinking into your educational practice, enhancing your ability to foster creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills among your students. Dive into a journey of personal and professional growth, where you’ll explore key entrepreneurial mindsets and learn how to apply them in your classroom. Whether you’re teaching core subjects, STEM, arts, or after-school programs, this course will equip you with the tools and strategies to inspire a new generation of changemakers.

Explore the Course

Online Student Learning

Entrepreneurship 101

Through engaging lessons and interactive activities, students will learn about ideation, market research, business planning, and financial literacy. “Entrepreneurship 101” empowers students to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, fostering a mindset of innovation and resilience.

Accessible anytime and anywhere, this course is perfect for students eager to transform their ideas into successful ventures. Join us and take the first step toward becoming a confident and capable entrepreneur.

Questions? Contact us.

We're on a mission to create the next generation of diverse innovators and changemakers by making entrepreneurship education accessible to all youth., get involved.

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Teaching Entrepreneurship

Experiences teach skills..

2020 Top Free Entrepreneurship Lesson Plans & Tools

January 4, 2021 doan winkel comments 0 comment.

“Your posts help me keep my students engaged – they and I thank you!” – ExEC Professor

Based on the popularity of our 2019 Top 5 Lesson Plans article , here is the list of our 2020 top entrepreneurship lesson plans based on feedback from our fast-growing community of thousands of entrepreneurship instructors.

We designed the following exercises and lesson plans to transform your students’ experience as they learn how to stay engaged online, interview customers, and form teams.

5. Gamify Your Lectures

We all struggled during this year of online learning to keep our students engaged. One surefire way to inject excitement into your class is to gamify your lectures. In this lesson , we explain how to use our favorite gamification tools (Slido and Kahoot!) to minimize Zoom zombie syndrome in your students.

These tools allow you to convert concepts you need to cover into questions your students explore one at a time. With this formative assessment approach, you discover what your students already know and what they need help with. Additionally, this approach activates passive students and invites students to teach each other.

Be careful using gamification; don’t overdo it. This gamification technique is great, but if you use it too often its benefits will wear off. Instead, mix this approach up with a number of experiential exercises (like those in the Experiential Entrepreneurship Curriculum ).

View Directions to Gamify Your Class with Slido and Kahoot!

4. Skills Scavenger Hunt

Students in high-performance teams learn better and perform better. But how do we move students beyond forming teams with friends and teammates? Students matched on aligned goals and diverse skills give them their best chance at boosting their learning capability.

We developed our Skills Scavenger Hunt to facilitate that process and thus mitigate the biggest drawbacks of student team projects. In this exercise , students go on a scavenger hunt to find other students with complementary skills.

With this unique exercise, students form high-performing teams by going on a scavenger hunt to find other students with complementary skills in the following categories:

• Social Media

If your students are in teams that are dysfunctional, or just sleepy, their learning can come to a screeching halt as they disengage. Empower them to successfully assemble their own high-performing teams so they execute better and conflict less.

View The Skills Scavenger Hunt Exercise

3. Steve Blank Discusses How to Teach Entrepreneurship

In a post loaded with great advice for any novice or expert entrepreneurship educator, Steve opened up about his many decades of experience as an entrepreneur, educator, and mentor. Read the full post for a wealth of invaluable information, but the quick takeaways are:

• Educators need a mentor . Effective entrepreneurship educators need expertise in the domains of education and entrepreneurship. Steve advises us to find a mentor in the domain in which we lack experience and expertise.
• Educators should train entrepreneurs like artists . Steve encourages us to forget about teaching answers, and instead design learning experiences so students can practice skill-building.
• Students learn skills by practicing them. Steve encourages us to learn to design effective learning experiences, as those are the best way to teach our students skills.

Read An Overview of the 1st Half of Our Interview Here

(and Read the 2nd Half Here)

2. 10 Free Tools to Increase Student Engagement

During the  TeachingEntrepreneurship.org Virtual Conference , we presented 10 tools to increase online student engagement. Learn about these free quiz, video, digital whiteboard, and presentation tools like Gimkit, Note.ly, Mural, and Loom.

You can sprinkle these tools throughout your entrepreneurship syllabus, or stack them like building blocks, to create a deeper face-to-face or online student engagement. Below is a video recap of the conference presentation.

We consistently experiment with a wide variety of tools to help our community of entrepreneurship educators provide engaging experiences for their students. For this post, we curated the 10 tools we feel provide the greatest chance of deeply engaging learning experiences for your students, whether you’re teaching face-to-face or online.

View 10 Free Tools to Increase Student Engagement

1. Lottery Ticket Dilemma

We urge our faculty to focus students on their customers’ emotional needs, which leads to more valuable customer interviews. During this exercise, students discover how important emotions are in the decision-making process and the importance of understanding and fulfilling other people’s emotional needs.

If your students focus more on their products than their customers’ problems, this lesson plan is for you! In this exercise, students learn:

• Why the majority of startups end in failure, & how to avoid those failures
• That customer decisions are driven by their emotions
• To create products customers want to buy we need to understand the emotional journey they want to take

View Lottery Ticket Dilemma Lesson Plan In addition to our community thinking this is a powerful experience in the classroom, this exercise also won first place in the Excellence in Entrepreneurial Exercises Awards at the USASBE 2020 Annual Conference !

Want 15 Weeks of Lesson Plans?

If you are looking for a fully structured, experiential entrepreneurship curriculum, with a semester’s worth of lesson plans that students love , you don’t need to reinvent the wheel .

We’ve done the work for you.

• Check out the Experiential Entrepreneurship Curriculum
• Check out an entrepreneurship syllabus for Creativity & Innovation , New Venture Creation , Social Entrepreneurship , Intro to Entrepreneurship , & MBA Entrepreneurship & Innovation courses

Want 30+ more engaging exercises?

Leave a reply cancel reply.

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Get a copy of the  lesson plan on Google Docs:

Or you can just view it here .

Your Entrepreneurship Lesson Plan

This sample lesson plan is one of hundreds of resources available to members through our Resource Library. Members can access comprehensive lesson plans, assessments, student-facing materials, videos and activities, along with guides to engage volunteers to ignite your entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

...All ready to be put into action in your classroom.  

Get Your Download:

October 28, 2009

Lesson Plans for Young Entrepreneurs

Does your child have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? There are a number of tools and lesson plans available, from Web-based and online activities to classroom simulations, for educators and parents to get students thinking like an entrepreneur.

Here are curriculums that are fit for large classes and one-on-one teaching:

The Classroom Mini-Economy Lesson Plan

Introduce students to the real-world economy by creating a microcosmic economy in the classroom. The “ Classroom Mini-Economy Lesson ” plan by the Council for Economic Education allows teachers to create a functioning economy teaching students their role in the global marketplace. This lesson plans also teaches students to hone teamwork and negotiation skills as well as the value of financial literacy. By taking up roles as consumers and produces, students will lean how to run a business, what it means to pay taxes and make smart investments.

In a mini-economy, students earn play money in a variety of ways and spend it at a class store, class auction, or at stores operated by their classmates. Although mini-economy activities vary widely, students typically apply for classroom jobs, run businesses, pay taxes, buy rental properties, and make investments. The curriculum also includes a web link to the new Mini-Economy Banking Program, which allows students to do their banking on the computer.

Grades: 2-6 Cost: $29.99

New Youth Entrepreneur Interactive

What’s the difference between a purchase receipt and a sales receipt? What about accounts receivable and accounts payable? The “ New Youth Entrepreneur (NYE) ” curriculum is designed to teach students all of these terms and more. Presented in 12 modules, this curriculum shows how to examine different methods of obtaining startup resources and identify places for loans, through interactive lessons available of the accompanying NYE CD. The curriculum includes an installation CD and 35 licenses, a user’s manual, a set of modules, and an instructor’s guide.

Grades: 5-9 Cost: $2,499

Be the “E”

Help students discover their own passions and how to monetize them with the “ Be the ‘E’ ” curriculum by the National 4-H Cooperative Curriculum System Inc. The plan includes workbook activities and “Be the E” games where students can test out their entrepreneurial knowledge against their peers. The lesson plan helps students develop critical skill sets necessary to become a successful entrepreneur including decision making, problem solving, planning and organizing, and thinking creatively.

Through online and workbook lessons students learn record-keeping, types of businesses, products and pricing, marketing, partnerships, agreements and contracts. They also learn about opportunity costs, how to connect their other skills and interests to money-making opportunities, the crucial importance of timing for an entrepreneurial enterprise and how to write a business plan.

Grades : 7-10 Price: $13.50

The YoungBiz Foundation

The “ Entrepreneurship Today ” curriculum provides high school students with an in-depth look at business ownership by teaching them how to write a working business plan that can be immediately put into action. The course provides 120 hours of instruction enabling students to conduct real-world business research, create marketing materials, learn to manage business finances, and improve teamwork, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.

YoungBiz also publishes “You’re the Boss” which offers 30 hours of instruction used to dissuade at-risk youth, juvenile drop outs, and teens attending alternative schools to consider entrepreneurship as a viable career option. Students learn how to develop an idea out of their own interests and learn how to start a business by actually doing it.

Age Group: High School Price: A classroom set with guides for 10 students and one teacher will cost $210. The student and teacher’s guides can be purchased individually for $19 and $30, respectively.

J unior Achievement

Junior Achievement distributes “JA Be Entrepreneurial,” a new high school lesson plan that challenges students to start their own entrepreneurial venture while still in high school. JA Be Entrepreneurial consists of seven sessions which take 45 minutes to complete. The curriculum teaches students to analyze the needs for their market, define their competitive advantages, and recognize the elements of a successful start-up business. In addition to the curricula, more resources are available online, including full-length sessions, podcasts, and activities for students to practice on their own.

Materials are packaged in a self-contained kit that includes detailed session plans for the teacher and materials for 32 students. In addition to entrepreneurial skills, the program will enhance students’ skills in other areas including their ability to categorize data, express multiple viewpoints, present information to groups, and weigh consequences. Each student will be capable of writing a business plan upon completion of the series of lessons.

Grade: 9-12 Price: Free of cost to schools and organizations. To learn more about receiving this program in your area, contact your local Junior Achievement office.

Renita Burns contributed to this article. 

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• lesson plans
• young entrepreneurs
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Entrepreneurship Unit

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COMPARE: Types of Investment Funds

Unit 4: Unit Plan & Assessments

Unit assessment.

There is no assessment for this unit.

Mini-Unit Lessons

Unit plan & assessments, lesson 1: understanding entrepreneurship.

Students will be able to

• Define entrepreneurship
• Identify and describe key characteristics of successful entrepreneurs
• Explain the importance of small businesses in the US economy
• Differentiate between different types of entrepreneurship
• Outline the stages of the entrepreneurial process
• Apply problem/solution techniques for generating innovative business ideas

Lesson 2: Hurdles of Entrepreneurship

• Discuss the different roles an entrepreneur commonly fills when launching a business
• Analyze why startups fail and how to overcome obstacles faced by entrepreneurs
• Examine ethical considerations in entrepreneurship and make ethical decisions

Lesson 3: Planning and Pitching a Business

• Explain the purpose and components of a business plan
• Create a lean business plan

Lesson 4: Launching a Business

• Understand personal finance considerations when starting a business
• Identify the appropriate business structures for starting a business
• Explore various funding options for startups
• Discuss tax considerations for entrepreneurs
• ANALYZE: 4 Elevator Pitches
• ANALYZE: Sample Business Plans
• CREATE: A Business Idea
• CREATE: A Lean Business Plan
• ECON: I've Got An Idea!
• INTERACTIVE: Influenc'd
• INTERVIEW: An Entrepreneur
• PROJECT: Pitch Your Business Idea
• RESEARCH: Great Innovators & Innovations
• ROLEPLAY: Ethics in Entrepreneurship

FINCAP FRIDAYS

• New Tax Rules for Online Payment Tools
• Entrepreneurship On The Rise
• So You Want To Be An Influencer?
• Beyonce the Entrepreneur
• Entrepreneurs & Executives
• Pandemic Entrepreneurs

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

• How much more likely is a business to launch if the founder creates a business plan?
• What are the three most popular fast food brands in the U.S.?
• What is the largest Black-owned business based on their 2018 revenue (sales)?
• What percent of high school students want to start their own business?
• What percent of new businesses are still operating after 10 years?
• What percentage of restaurant businesses fail within the first year?
• What source of funding is used most often to start new businesses?
• [AAPI Heritage Month]: What company, founded by an Asian American, creates computer chips that power games like Fortnite and Minecraft?
• [AAPI Heritage Month]: What percentage of U.S. business are Asian-owned?
• [AAPI Heritage Month]; What two personal finance websites were started by Asian Americans?
• [Black History Month]: How did Madame CJ Walker become the first American woman to be a self-made millionaire?
• [Black History Month]: Match these CEOs with the companies they lead.
• [Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month]: Of all new businesses, how many are Hispanic & Latinx-owned?
• [Women's History Month]: In what year were women in the US first enabled to get a business loan without the signature of a male relative?
• [Women's History Month]: Match these CEOs with the S&P 500 companies they lead: Mary Barra, Corie Barry, Rosalind Brewer
• [Women's History Month]: What is the first company to go public led by two female co-founders?
• [Women's History Month]: Whitney Wolfe Herd became the youngest self-made woman billionaire when she took what company public in February 2021?

Assessments and Answer Keys

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• Entrepreneurship Business Plan
• Monopoly Entrepreneurship

Being a successful entrepreneur

• Business Skills
• Collocations

Vocabulary - running a business

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

• enhance understanding of entrepreneurship and the ability to talk about it,
• expand vocabulary related to the topic,
• practise descriptive and critical thinking skills by working with pictures.

Students create questions about entrepreneurship , watch an explainer video and complete sentences with missing words. They also read two business success stories and describe and discuss pictures of young businesspeople, college graduates, etc.

A2 / Pre‐Intermediate B1 / Intermediate 60 min Standard Lesson Premium Plan Unlock these lesson worksheets with the Premium subscription

WARM-UP & VIDEO

The lesson starts with a warm-up activity. Students look at the definition of the word ‘entrepreneur’ and name the advantages and disadvantages of being one. After that, students work with vocabulary related to being a business owner. They look at the answers to questions about being an entrepreneur and create questions . The answers contain useful phrases (e.g. expand your knowledge, think outside the box, run a company , etc.). Students also discuss some of the questions they create. Then, students watch the video and compare their ideas about being an entrepreneur with those from the video. They watch the video again and complete three sentences with missing words. Students also share their experience and thoughts on being an entrepreneur before moving to success stories.  

READING SUCCESS STORIES & DISCUSSION

In this part of the lesson, students have some reading and discussion tasks . First, students read two success stories and choose the endings to complete them. After that, they read the statements and match them to the people from the stories. Students also discuss the texts. As a wrap-up task, students have two sets of pictures that they need to describe using the vocabulary from the lesson. They also discuss some questions about these pictures. 

HOMEWORK/REVISION

This ESL lesson about being an entrepreneur also includes an additional task that you can use as homework or revision. In the task, students create success stories and practise phrases from the lesson. The task is available in the teacher’s version of the worksheet. You can print it and hand it out to your students. It’s also included in the e-lesson plan.

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With this lesson, students engage in the exploration of teamwork. They discuss the importance of teamwork, explore vocabulary to talk about the topic, watch a video and discuss useful tips about how to create better teams.

Changing careers

With this speaking lesson, students navigate the territory of career changes. They discuss job market trends, as well as benefits and challenges of transitioning careers. They also talk about important skills and watch a video about a woman who changed careers.

Company roles

Dive into the world of different job roles with this lesson! Students practise phrases related to the topic, discuss their personal experiences, watch a promo video for a company and imagine starting a business.

Prioritizing and to-do lists

With this insightful lesson, students practise vocabulary to talk about priorities, watch an explainer video about the Eisenhower Matrix and discuss time management. They also give advice on how to organize tasks.

How to deal with misunderstandings

With this speaking lesson, students discuss situations that might cause misunderstandings, watch a short and funny ad and analyse tips on how to avoid miscommunication.

As you can see in the slide (giving presentations)

Step into the world of presentations with this handy lesson! Students explore vocabulary for structuring presentations, read the text of a presentation and watch a video on how to communicate ideas clearly.

As per my last email…

Dive into the intriguing world of emailing and talk about what annoys people the most. With this lesson, students expand their vocabulary, express irritation, and analyze real-life situations.

Is a degree worth it?

Engage your students in a discussion on the ins and outs of higher education. Explore education and career-related vocabulary and work on comprehension skills by watching a news report on the job market.

Dress code: formal or casual?

Get your students talking about dress code! They watch a video and read a text about office attire, and learn vocabulary to share their views on past and current dress code rules.

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Entrepreneurship — Lesson 405

Crash course on starting a business.

Students brainstorm an idea for a product or service then break into four groups: Marketing, profit, funding, and plan.  They conduct specific activities based on their group and then present the findings to the class.

What Students Learn

• How to come up with an idea
• How to market your product or service
• How to calculate if you are making a profit
• Ideas to find funding
• Why you need a business plan

Suggested Time

• Preview and Episode Viewing: 45 minutes
• Activity 1: 60 minutes

Sketch: Business Genie

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Free online courses from MIT for entrepreneurs and innovators

By Sara Feijo

Do you have an innovative idea but are not sure how to transform it into a venture? Are you looking to level up your entrepreneurial skills? Do you want to deepen your knowledge of innovation and technology?

Part of MIT Open Learning, MIT OpenCourseWare and MITx offer a selection of free courses and resources straight from the MIT classroom designed to empower current and aspiring entrepreneurs with the skills to jumpstart and grow their ventures. Whether you’re looking to expand your business, deepen your knowledge of technology, or are interested in introducing innovative ideas to your organization, try your hand at these courses.

Entrepreneurship courses

• Entrepreneurship 101: Who is Your Customer : Learn about the first important skill for aspiring entrepreneurs — the paying customer.
• Entrepreneurship 102: What Can You Do for Your Customer? : Discover and apply the process of entrepreneurial product design.
• Becoming an Entrepreneur : Develop the business skills and startup mindset needed to embark on your entrepreneurial path.
• Nuts and Bolts of Business Plans : Explore the ins and outs of preparing and launching a new venture plan.
• Executing Strategy for Results : Discover practical tools that help leaders achieve their organizations’ strategic priorities, as well as novel ways to use data to measure strategy execution and identify what is and isn’t working.
• The Analytics Edge : Get real-world examples of quantitative methods providing a significant competitive edge that has led to a first order impact on some of today’s most important companies.
• Seminar in Corporate Entrepreneurship : Learn about the practical challenges of making an established company entrepreneurial, and examine various roles related to corporate entrepreneurship.
• Business and Impact Planning for Social Enterprises : Think through your own social business model and impact plan.
• Entrepreneurship without Borders : Examine the opportunities and problems for entrepreneurs globally.
• Entrepreneurial Finance : Take a deep dive into the elements of entrepreneurial finance, focusing on technology-based start-up ventures and the early stages of company development.
• Communication for Managers : Develop and polish communication strategies and methods through discussion, examples, and practice with an emphasis on writing and speaking skills.
• Leadership Development : Enhance your leadership skills.
• You Can Innovate: User Innovation & Entrepreneurship : Understand the phenomena of — and distinctions between — user and producer innovation, concepts such as sticky information and low-cost innovation niche, and more.
• Bootstrapping for Entrepreneurs : Learn about the process of innovating in resource-scarce environments.
• Just Money: Banking as if Society Mattered : Understand the role banks play as intermediaries in our economy and how they can produce positive social, environmental, and economic change.

Technology and innovation courses

• Ethics of Technology : Discover the tools of philosophical ethics concerning technology.
• AI 101 : Get an introduction to artificial intelligence designed specifically for those with little to no knowledge of AI.
• Mathematics of Big Data and Machine Learning : Explore the Dynamic Distributed Dimensional Data Model, a breakthrough in computer programming that combines graph theory, linear algebra, and databases to address big data problems.
• Product and Service Creation in the Internet Age : Change the way you think about innovation by exploring new, internet-age innovation processes.
• The Iterative Innovation Process : Learn how you can use the iterative innovation process to develop your own innovative ideas.
• Innovation Systems for Science, Technology, Energy, Manufacturing, and Health : Examine the science and technology innovation system.
• The Science and Business of Biotechnology : Take a close look at early-stage biotechnology companies and understand the underlying science, technology, and disease targets to facilitate drug discovery, clinical development, and greater patient access to new therapies.
• FinTech: Shaping the Financial World : Explore the ways in which new technologies are disrupting the financial services industry.
• Adaptive Markets: Financial Market Dynamics and Human Behavior : Explore the origins of market efficiency and its failures, the foundations of investor behavior, and practical implications.
• Optimization Methods in Business Analytics : Get an introduction to the theory, algorithms, and applications of optimization.

• Project Evaluation: Essays and Case Studies : This book — based primarily on materials prepared for the course Project Evaluation  — is structured to be of interest to anyone focused on infrastructure systems, especially engineers, planners, and managers who design, build, and operate those systems.
• Entrepreneurship Collection on MIT OpenCourseWare : Learn about entrepreneurship at MIT and browse through a selection of the institute’s entrepreneurship-related courses.

MIT OpenCourseWare offers free, online, open educational resources from more than 2,500 courses that span the MIT undergraduate and graduate curriculum. MITx offers hundreds of high-quality massive open online courses adapted from the MIT classroom for learners worldwide.

Free online courses from MIT for entrepreneurs and innovators was originally published in MIT Open Learning on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Open Learning newsletter

July 15, 2024

Essential Skills and Resources to Unlock Entrepreneurial Success

Starting or growing a business can be challenging, but equipping yourself with the right skills can truly set your business apart. Leadership, marketing, finance, and legal issues have a significant impact on a business’s growth and sustainability. Entrepreneurs who master the basics in each area will confidently navigate a variety of challenges, laying a solid foundation for long-term success.

The J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation institute develops Training and Development Resources (TDR), covering each of these important skills. These online, asynchronous, self-paced learning modules are inclusively tailored to meet the needs of entrepreneurs in diverse development stages, industries, and regions.

In this blog, we’ll explore these four skill areas and share resources available through Edson E+I as well as other sources to support entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey.

Effective leadership is the cornerstone of entrepreneurial success. It’s more than just management. It’s about inspiring a team, crafting a winning strategy, and paving the path to achieving ambitious goals. Great leaders lead by example, fostering innovation, clear communication, and a positive work environment that empowers employees and drives the business forward. Here are three resources to help you develop and fine-tuning your leadership skills:

• How can I become a better leader? Acumen’s Academy “Adaptive Leadership: Mobilizing for change and disrupting the status quo” is a free, four-week course to explore adaptive leadership techniques and tackle real-world leadership challenges.
• Is mentorship right for me? This Edson E+I resource explores the benefits of reflective and personalized mentorship. It provides considerations to either become a mentor or seek mentorship depending on your specific entrepreneurial goals or broader life experiences.
• Dare to Lead Podcast with Brené Brown: Brené Brown’s podcast is inspired by her bestselling book, Dare to Lead , and features a mix of solo episodes and discussions with innovators, culture-shifters and disruptors who are making a difference. It’s focused on cultivating courage and transformative leadership across all aspects of life.

Marketing strategy

Marketing is more than just advertising. It encompasses understanding customers, developing suitable products, positioning them strategically, and pricing them effectively. These elements form the core of effective marketing strategies, which are essential for the growth of any business. As an entrepreneur, you’ll often invest considerable time in these areas to boost your brand’s visibility and appeal. Here are some key insights into marketing fundamentals critical for every entrepreneur:

• How will a Go-to-Market strategy help my business succeed? A Go-to-Market (GTM) strategy allows you to connect your product with its ideal market and achieve essential product-market fit. Throughout this module, you’ll learn how to engage customers, understand the sales role of an early-stage founder, and use your GTM tools to effectively build revenue and scale your business.
• How can I get started with digital marketing for my business? This TDR module will be helpful for you if you are a solopreneur, a micro business owner, or an established business owner who knows it’s time to integrate “digital” into your marketing strategy.
• Marketing Skills for Entrepreneurs: How to use a targeted marketing strategy to work smarter, not harder: WeBC, a business resource organization that supports women entrepreneurs along their small business journey, shows us how entrepreneurs can leverage their knowledge of their target market alongside the classic marketing mix (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion) to spark fresh and creative marketing strategies.
• What is customer discovery?
• Why should I develop customer personas?
• How do I gather and respond to customer feedback?
• How can I market my ecommerce business?
• How can I get started with digital marketing for my business?

Funding and finances

Securing adequate financial resources can determine success of your business. All entrepreneurs, from innovative startups to established businesses, need to understand the funding options available. Knowledge of funding and financial alternatives empowers entrepreneurs to make informed decisions, strategically aligning their funding approach with their business objectives and growth aspirations. If you’re interested in learning more about funding and finance for your business, explore these courses and resources:

• How do I fund my business? The Financing Your Dream course, offered by DreamBuilder, will teach you about different types of capital available and how to secure them. It will also help you identify your business’s needs and which funding sources are a good fit.
• What are my funding options? We adapted the Fund your business guide from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to funding. This module is available in English and Spanish. 

How much money do I need to start my business? It costs money to start a business. In this module, we have adapted the Calculate your startup costs guide from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). This module is available in English and Spanish. 

Legal issues

By understanding potential legal issues before they encounter them, entrepreneurs can safeguard their businesses and avoid risks. From intellectual property rights to contract negotiations, legal knowledge empowers entrepreneurs to navigate regulatory complexities and protect their business interests. Knowledge of legal fundamentals can help them make informed decisions so they can focus on innovation and growth in compliance with laws and regulations. Here are several of the resources for you to explore:

• Entrepreneurship and Small Business Clinic This is an innovative program that matches inventors, entrepreneurs, and emerging companies with teams of ASU Law students. The clinic provides clients with legal services often unavailable to startups and small businesses. These services help clients operate with a stronger legal foundation as they grow and thrive.
• What tax policies and laws apply to my business? There are many regulations to keep track of in different jurisdictions. This TDR module describes different types of taxes to keep in mind as a business owner.  
• How do I legally form my business? Explore the different types of legal business structures and the implications of each so that you can make the right choice for you and your venture. We have included helpful content for U.S. and non-U.S. residents.
• You can find additional TDR modules about legal issues in the Legally Speaking collection.

Never stop learning

To be an entrepreneur is to always be learning. As your business grows and your market evolves, you will constantly be trying new things and coming up new ideas.  Here are some fantastic general entrepreneurship resources to bookmark and reference now and as your entrepreneurial journey progresses:

• Arizona Commerce Authority Small Business Boot Camp Content Library : Find over 300 webinars serving the needs of entrepreneurs and startups in relevant resource areas such as accounting and finance, leading and managing a business, legal issues, marketing and business sales and services. 
• Arizona Small Business Development Center (SBDC) : Arizona’s go-to resource to start, grow, or transition a business.
• The Better Business Bureau Serving the Pacific Southwest (BBB) is a hub for business support and provides many resources and events that entrepreneurs can engage with to help their ventures thrive. 
• Dreambuilder is an online, self-paced program that can help you create a business plan and determine the steps needed to launch your venture.
• BBB Blueprint is a free, online business incubation program dedicated to helping entrepreneurs develop their businesses. 
• Empower by GoDaddy Business Incubator is a 12-week launchpad to ethical growth and explosive success for your small business.

Honing the right skillset is essential for not only launching your business but also ensuring its longevity and success. As an entrepreneur, countless resources are available to you. Discovering what works best for your business model and target customer will help you achieve your goals. Explore and enjoy the journey!

Grecia Cubillas and Larisa Slacke

Recent updates.

The Entrepreneur's Guide to a Successful 2024

December 07, 2023

A New Year, New Opportunities & Resources to Help! “I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.” – David Bowie As you wrap

More From Forbes

How To Start A Business Plan: A Step-By-Step Guide

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Creating a business plan is a critical first step for any entrepreneur. Knowing how to start a business plan will help you create a roadmap, guiding your business from startup to growth and beyond. Whether you're looking for investment, trying to set clear goals, or simply organizing your thoughts, a solid business plan can make all the difference.

Here is a guide to help you get started on your business plan:

1. executive summary.

What It Is: This section summarizes your business plan as a whole and outlines your company profile and goals.

What to Include:

• Business name and location
• Products or services offered
• Mission statement
• The purpose of the plan (e.g., seeking funding, guiding the startup process)

Tip: Keep it concise. Although it's the first section, it's often best to write it last, after you’ve detailed everything else.

2. Company Description

What It Is: This section provides detailed information about your company, including who you are, what you do, and what markets you serve.

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• Your business structure (e.g., sole proprietorship, LLC, corporation)
• The industry and marketplace needs your business meets
• Your business’s objectives and how you stand out from competitors

Tip: Use this section to highlight your company’s strengths and what makes you unique.

3. Market Research

What It Is: Market research demonstrates your understanding of the industry and target market.

• Market size and growth potential
• Target customer demographics
• Market trends and outlook
• Competitive analysis, including strengths and weaknesses of competitors

Tip: Include data and statistics to back up your findings and show that you’ve done your homework.

4. Organization and Management

What It Is: This section outlines your business’s organizational structure and management team.

• Organizational chart
• Information about the ownership of the company
• Backgrounds and qualifications of the management team
• Roles and responsibilities within the company

Tip: Highlight the skills and experiences of your team that will help the business succeed.

5. Products or Services Line

What It Is: Here, you detail the products or services you offer or plan to offer.

• A description of each product or service
• The lifecycle of products or services
• Research and development activities, if applicable
• Intellectual property, such as patents or trademarks

Tip: Focus on the benefits your products or services bring to your customers.

6. Marketing and Sales Strategy

What It Is: This section explains how you will attract and retain customers.

• Marketing strategies, including advertising, promotions, and public relations
• Sales strategies, including sales processes, channels, and tactics
• Pricing strategy and how it compares to competitors

Tip: Ensure your marketing and sales strategies are aligned with your market research findings.

7. Funding Request

What It Is: If you’re seeking funding , this section outlines your requirements.

• Your current funding needs
• Future funding requirements over the next five years
• How you intend to use the funds
• Potential future financial plans (e.g., selling the business, repaying debt)

Tip: Be specific and realistic about how much funding you need and how it will be used.

8. Financial Projections

What It Is: Financial projections provide a forecast of your business’s financial future.

• Income statements
• Cash flow statements
• Balance sheets
• Break-even analysis

Tip: Use realistic and conservative estimates. Consider hiring a financial professional to help with this section if needed.

9. Appendix

What It Is: The appendix includes any additional information that supports your business plan.

• Resumes of key management team members
• Permits and leases
• Legal documents
• Detailed market research data
• Product photos

Tip: Only include essential information that adds value to your business plan.

Final Tips for Creating a Business Plan

Creating a business plan requires clarity and precision. First and foremost, keep your business plan clear and concise. Avoid using jargon or complex language that could make the plan difficult to read or understand. Your aim should be to communicate your ideas effectively and efficiently.

Next, be realistic in your approach. Ensure that your goals and financial projections are attainable based on your research and understanding of the market. Overly ambitious projections can undermine your credibility and potentially lead to unrealistic expectations.

It's also essential to remember that a business plan is a dynamic document. As your business grows and market conditions change, you should revisit and revise your plan regularly. This helps you stay aligned with your goals and adapt to new challenges and opportunities.

Finally, seek feedback from experienced business professionals. Having someone with business experience review your plan can provide valuable insights and help identify any potential issues or areas for improvement. Their feedback can enhance the overall quality and effectiveness of your business plan.

By following these tips, you'll be better equipped to create a robust and effective business plan that can guide your business towards success.

The bottom line is that starting a business plan may seem challenging, but with careful planning and attention to detail, you can create a comprehensive guide to steer your business toward success. Use this step-by-step guide to ensure that all essential components are covered, giving your business the best possible start.

Melissa Houston, CPA is the author of Cash Confident: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Creating a Profitable Business and the founder of She Means Profit . As a Business Strategist for small business owners, Melissa helps women making mid-career shifts, to launch their dream businesses, and I also guide established business owners to grow their businesses to more profitably.

The opinions expressed in this article are not intended to replace any professional or expert accounting and/or tax advice whatsoever.

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The 4 Pillars of Leadership Success Being a good leader can feel like an abstract goal, but it doesn't have to be. Here are the four pillars that I believe are the foundation of effective, successful leadership.

By Hope Horner Edited by Chelsea Brown Jul 12, 2024

Key Takeaways

• Great leadership is rooted in four key pillars: planning, people, process and performance.
• Mastering each pillar is crucial for guiding your team towards sustainable growth and success.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

As an entrepreneur, understanding how to be a great leader yourself — and how to find and instill great leadership in others — is critical.

Throughout my journey as an entrepreneur and CEO, I've sifted through countless leadership frameworks, read tons of books, debated with colleagues and spent years figuring out what makes an effective leader. In my view, great leadership boils down to four key pillars: planning, people, process and performance.

Let's break down each pillar, why it matters and how you can use it to become a better leader.

Related: A Guide to Becoming an Effective Leader: The 6 Traits of Every Successful Leader

Planning: Conscious strategy

Planning is the first pillar of effective leadership. My definition of planning involves setting clear, measurable goals, outlining specific steps to achieve them and creating a strategic roadmap to guide the way.

Importantly, my definition also includes prioritization . Part of planning is understanding that not everything can be a focus at the same time and being proactive about using your resources most effectively. Whether you're constrained by time, budget, team expertise or something else entirely, great leaders will clearly outline what their priorities are — and what their priorities are not — throughout a project's life cycle.

To be a leader who plans effectively, you need to embrace foresight, decisiveness and a big-picture view. Practice seeing challenges and opportunities ahead, making smart decisions and keeping a clear vision of where you're headed.

When leaders neglect planning, their teams are likely to struggle with making progress towards their goals. They may feel disorganized, overwhelmed or frustrated at the lack of results their efforts are generating. It's the leader's job to course correct, managing the many variables that can affect a project instead of hoping everything falls into place.

People: Clear expectations

People are at the heart of any organization, and managing them well is crucial. I believe the foundation of managing people is clear communication and expectations.

Why are clear expectations so important? People can only succeed in their roles if they know what success looks like — and that alignment may not come naturally.

For example, some leaders may think "success" in a role requires constant communication and churning out deliverables. Others may think "success" requires innovative thinking and taking ownership over the role. Both perspectives are valid, but for employees to excel in their roles, they need to know how you'll be evaluating performance and what you want to see them achieve.

As leaders, it's also our responsibility to organize our time so that we can manage proactively rather than reactively. This requires clear, organized and thoughtful direction to keep teams aligned and working productively.

When leaders fail to set clear expectations, teams can become confused and unmotivated. They may struggle to understand their roles or what is expected of them, leading to misalignment and decreased productivity.

It's crucial for leaders to communicate openly and frequently, ensuring everyone is on the same page and working towards common goals. This clarity not only enhances individual performance but also fosters a culture of accountability and mutual respect.

Related: 3 Steps to Help Employees Understand Your Objectives and Expectations

Process: Coordinated systems

The process pillar focuses on the importance of coordinated systems and productive organizational design. The heart of an efficient team is a well-structured organization with clear methodologies and processes. This structure serves as the foundation for building next-level growth and development.

By holistically understanding the current organizational design, leaders can identify areas for improvement and implement new systems that enhance efficiency and productivity. Coordinated systems ensure that everyone is working towards common goals in a consistent and streamlined manner.

Depending on the role and organization, creating processes may require establishing standard operating procedures, optimizing workflows and leveraging technology to support organizational needs.

A well-defined process also requires regular attention. A system that's effective and efficient today may not be effective and efficient a year from now. As your company grows, your team changes and technology advances, processes may need updates and overhauls to reflect the new environment.

When leaders overlook the importance of processes , teams can become inefficient and chaotic. Without clear systems and methodologies, you may see the effects of duplicated tasks and wasted effort on overall productivity. Effective process management enables teams to operate more efficiently, reducing redundancy and maximizing resources.

Performance: Consistent accountability

Performance is the final pillar, emphasizing the importance of consistent accountability. Effective leaders value results and hold teams and team members accountable for achieving their goals. This involves having a bias towards action, finding ways to solve problems and breaking large projects into actionable chunks.

Accountability is also about ensuring that everyone is responsible for their contributions, and that performance is regularly monitored and evaluated . Leaders need to set clear performance metrics, provide regular feedback and recognize achievements among their teams.

When leaders neglect accountability, performance can suffer. Teams may lack direction, fail to meet goals and miss opportunities for improvement. In the long term, the business may struggle to move forward at all.

By fostering a culture of accountability , leaders encourage continuous improvement and drive high performance across the organization.

Related: Fostering This Trait Is One of the Hardest Things for Leaders to Get Right

At the end of the day, "being a good leader" can feel like an abstract, intangible goal. However, it really comes down to nailing these four foundational areas. By applying these pillars to your own leadership and instilling them in your team, you'll be on the right track towards sustainable growth.

Entrepreneur Leadership Network® Contributor

CEO of Lemonlight

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

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Success Stories: Lessons from Successful Entrepreneurs

Curated By : Mohammad Haris

Last Updated: July 16, 2024, 16:28 IST

New Delhi, India

Learn entrepreneurial lessons from the top businessmen. (Image: Representative/Shutterstock)

Here are some key takeaways from the journeys of renowned entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurial success is often celebrated through inspiring stories of visionaries who dared to dream big and defied the odds. These narratives are not just about wealth and fame but are rich with lessons that can guide budding entrepreneurs. Here, we delve into some key takeaways from the journeys of renowned entrepreneurs.

1. Transforming Failures into Stepping Stones

Many of India’s successful entrepreneurs have faced significant setbacks before achieving success. Take the story of Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, the founder of Biocon. Initially, she struggled to secure funding and faced credibility issues as a woman in biotechnology. Her perseverance eventually paid off, and Biocon is now a leading biopharmaceutical company.

Lesson: Failure is not the end; it’s a learning experience. Use setbacks to gain insights, refine your approach, and come back stronger.

2. Relentless Innovation

Innovation is a cornerstone of entrepreneurial success. N. R. Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Infosys, led the company through continuous innovation in technology and business practices, turning Infosys into a global IT powerhouse.

Lesson: Innovation should be a continuous process. Never settle for the status quo; always look for ways to improve and stay ahead in your industry.

3. Customer Obsession

Understanding and prioritizing customer needs is crucial. Ritesh Agarwal, the founder of OYO Rooms, revolutionised the budget hotel industry by focusing on customer experience and standardising services across budget hotels.

Lesson: Develop a deep understanding of your customers’ needs and exceed their expectations. Customer loyalty is built on trust and satisfaction.

4. Adaptability and Resilience

In the face of market changes and economic downturns, adaptability is key. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of Paytm, transformed his business model multiple times, from a content provider to a digital payments giant, adapting to changing market needs.

Lesson: Stay flexible and resilient. The ability to pivot and find creative solutions in challenging times is critical for long-term success.

5. Effective Communication

Clear and inspiring communication is essential. Ratan Tata, former chairman of Tata Sons, is known for his ability to communicate his vision and values effectively, both within the organisation and to the public.

Lesson: Develop strong communication skills. Your ability to clearly articulate your vision and inspire others is crucial for building and leading a successful business.

6. Commitment to Excellence

A commitment to quality and excellence can set you apart. Azim Premji, the chairman of Wipro, transformed the company into a global leader by focusing on high standards and continuous improvement.

Lesson: Strive for excellence in everything you do. High-quality products and services build a loyal customer base and a strong brand reputation.

The success stories of these entrepreneurs offer a wealth of lessons. Embrace failure as a stepping stone, innovate relentlessly, prioritize your customers, build a strong team, remain adaptable, communicate effectively, and commit to excellence. By applying these lessons to your entrepreneurial journey, you can carve out your path to success and create a legacy that inspires others.

• Tuesday, July 16, 2024

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