Entrepreneurship – An Alternate Career Choice – Lesson

Entrepreneurship — An Alternate Career Choice
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Every Silicon Valley colossus — Amazon, Apple, Dell, Ebay, Google, Microsoft, Oracle and Yahoo! — was started by a first-timer 30 or under. Facebook was founded by a teenager. Many of us aspire to follow in the footsteps of these youthful entrepreneurs. The road to entrepreneurship, however, is challenging and one that we should approach armed with knowledge, skills, and realistic expectations. What exactly is it that sets entrepreneurs apart from the rest? In this activity, you will learn more about entrepreneurship, meet some young successful entrepreneurs, and identify resources available to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Take an Entrepreneur’s Quiz
Get off to a great start by taking Fortune Magazines Are You Ready to Start Your Own Business Quiz. There are 10 questions so when you complete it enter your score and the analysis on your lesson guide.

Review Newsweek’s Best
Each year Newsweek selects some of the brightest entrepreneurs in the country age 25 and under. They come from a wide range of backgrounds and educational levels and have interesting and successful products. Look through the group and write down the three entrepreneurs that inspire you.

Watch “The Art of the Start”
Guy Kawasaki has participated in many entrepreneurial adventures. A one time Apple Fellow, he has written 8 books on entrepreneurship and is a managing director of Garage Technology Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm. Listen to Guy’s message and then briefly give your interpretation of what he has to say.

Take Advantage of Resources
There are many people and organizations on the look out to help and support aspiring entrepreneurs. SCORE is one of the best. SCORE has more than 10,000 seasoned and talented entrepreneurs who volunteer their time to share their knowledge and skills with others. If you are looking for confidential advice online or in person, check out their locations and find the one closest to you. In addition, The Small Business Administration (SBA) is a government agency that helps small business owners secure financing, provide free counseling and help secure government contracts.

Interview an Entrepreneur
The best way to learn about what it takes to be an entrepreneur is to interview one and ask your questions. Find someone in your community who has started a successful business. Interview the entrepreneur asking questions about how they started their business, what it takes to be a good entrepreneur, and what prompted him/her to begin a business. Here are some additional questions.

Reflect
It is estimated that 40% of the US populations will be self employed for some part of their work life … do you have plans to run a business of your own? If so what kind of business, if not, why not?