Entrepreneurship education is a great way to teach basic subjects to children who are failing to learn through traditional academic approaches, because it provides concrete incentives. Owner-entrepreneurship education teaches young people that they can create jobs for themselves and do not have to be victims of this economic downturn but rather view it as an opportunity to start a business. It also makes them more employable because by running their own small businesses, they learn how business works and what makes an employee valuable. This shift in viewpoint can immeasurably benefit the psyche of an unemployed teenager, and also benefits companies that hire them.
The strategy to combat poverty among low-income youth should be built around teaching entrepreneurship and not to become better workers. Given the widening gap between rich and poor in the world, however, I'd like to raise one critical point: Why aren't we also teaching them how to own?
This is how fortunes (and jobs) are created -- an entrepreneur starts a business, sells some or all of its ownership, and uses the resulting capital to start and build other businesses that he or she can sell in the future, creating more capital. Workers, on the other hand, spend their lives selling only their time for hourly wages, or perhaps a salary. Disadvantaged youth are seldom let in on this secret to wealth creation.
Owner-entrepreneurship education. not only teaches entrepreneurial skills like record keeping, sales, finance, negotiation, opportunity recognition, and marketing, but also the power of ownership. Our students learn how to properly value and sell a business, and how to build wealth utilizing franchising, licensing and other advantages of ownership.
Owner-entrepreneurship education empowers young people to make well-informed decisions about their future, whether they choose to become entrepreneurs or not. They become aware of five assets that every individual has: time, talent, attitude, energy and unique knowledge of their communities. They learn to use these assets strategically as they move along in their careers -- which may include creating businesses and jobs, and building wealth in their communities.
Owner-entrepreneurship education reveals that anyone can start a business and use it to create wealth.
Owner- entrepreneurship education can help solve the youth unemployment crisis, rescue our low-income communities by increasing home ownership and employment, and even bring about a fairer distribution of wealth. We need a national debate on owner-entrepreneurship education, particularly for low-income youth. We must raise the consciousness of those who have been left out of our economic system, so that they comprehend the joys and responsibilities of ownership.
The latest South Africa Survey published by the South African Institute of Race Relations found that the average job created by a government programme lasted just 46 days. With statistics like these I am afraid our youth's future is extremely bleak.
The company I represent holds firm to the belief that Small Business is where Jobs Begin, this view is also endorsed by US president Barrack Obama. Small Business is the Engine that drives Economies.
Anwar Inglis - Senior Consultant
Zhauns Business Opportunity & Engineering Group
inglisby@gmail.com