Students must develop a variety of skills crucial to becoming a successful entrepreneur. For example, students must be highly adaptable, allowing them to make changes to their enterprises in response to changing markets. However, they must also be able to assess risk so that they can make decisions that do not have a high potential to lead to economic failure. Unfortunately, schools do not develop curriculum often that encourage students to develop these skills.
Creativity allows entrepreneurs to create products and services that competitors cannot provide, expanding the marketplace. Students must have an experimental environment where they can take risks and try out new ideas. Teachers must no longer designate entrepreneurial students as right or wrong, but must instead act as coaches and help students pursue their goals.
While traditional subjects usually require students to learn content, entrepreneur courses are more experiential. Students learn how to carry out specific tasks such as developing prototypes and managing development teams. Educators often focus more on results rather than a student's understanding of concepts.
Due to the high failure rate for startups, schools generally focus on elements related to starting the business, such as initial market research, establishing legitimacy and marketing new products. The teachers do not focus as much on activities carried out by mature businesses, such as moving products into overseas markets.
Educators must help entrepreneurs master a variety of skills that will come into play. Students must have effective skills to perform market research as well as communication and writing skills to market products. They must understand information technology and various other forms of technology that enable enterprises to run more efficiently.
To help students, educators must adapt to a continually changing world. As students develop products and services, educators must provide feedback that helps students understand how customers might respond to innovations. Educators must present students with problems that the students must then solve, instead of having students answer questions with only one correct answer. Students must develop self-awareness and empathy for the consumer.