Critical Skills they don’t teach in Schools

$20.00

Can our entrepreneurial abilities be developed by education?

Can we all become self-employed if we wish to do so?

The answer to these questions is yes but only if… the training course or programme is capable of developing specific competencies needed to be a successful entrepreneur. Read more…

The 6 information modules are:

  • How to develop your entrepreneurial abilities – we all have them
  • How to assess the feasibility of a new business
  • How to market a new business
  • How to understand the modern business environment
  • The strategic positioning of a new business
  • How to create a bankable business plan

Click to see the outcomes of the modules.

Click to see a preview of the modules.

If you have any questions regarding the course please contact Mauritz: mbekker @ mbent.co.za

Can our entrepreneurial abilities be developed by education?

Can we all become self-employed if we wish to do so?

The answer to these questions is yes but only if... the training course or programme is capable of developing specific competencies needed to be a successful entrepreneur.

What are these specific competencies needed? From personal experience in “entrepreneurial ability development” the following six core competencies arias need to be mastered:

  • Business acumen and management skills
  • Creativity and innovation
  • Work passion (love what you do)
  • Well-developed intuition ("gut feel")
  • A success attitude
  • A proper understanding of the market economy.

Is it possible to teach the above skills/abilities?

Let’s explore the possibilities…

1) Business acumen and management skills: No person can start and run a successful and sustainable business without proper business management skills. This includes a number of areas such as financial management, production management, marketing management, project management, human resources management, strategic management, general management as the major disciplines. You will also need business acumen like selling and negotiating skills as well as the ability to conduct viability studies, understand the economy and the business environment. You will also need to be able to create a bankable business plan. Over the years, the amount of knowledge in these areas became enormous. The challenge, however, is to empower the student to apply the relevant theory in practice. Business or entrepreneurial theory is often presented without application examples. In successful entrepreneurial education, theory should always be backed by real life examples. An effective example will create the needed frame of reference for the student to be able to apply the theory in practice. In the creation of successful entrepreneurial training material, the developer should in addition to business management knowledge, have first-hand experience regarding the application of the theory in a business and/or new business start-up.

Continue reading for more eye opening facts...

2) Creativity and innovation: All successful entrepreneurs are creative and innovative people: The question many people ask is: "Are we born creative, or can we develop creativity?" According to studies done by Dr. Cobus Neethling, a well-known "creativity guru", people are all born highly creative. As a matter of fact, during a research project they found that 98% of toddlers tested were superior in creativity, but sadly at the age of 22, only 2% of people still tested as such. The explanation for this, is the fact that the Western education system only developed the so-called "left side of the brain", i.e. the linguistic, mathematical and logical side. The right, or creative and intuitive side, is not that well developed. Therefore the left brain dominates the right and people lose their natural creative abilities. People like Edward de Bono, John Adair and Dr. Cobus Neethling have already addressed this problem and developed various exercises tore- activate our creative abilities. The ability to tap into and activate the right brain is the primary technique to master and is achievable by all of us. Creativity is therefore an ability we already have but which is only suppressed by the dominant left brain. In order to unleash our creative abilities we need to understand how the brain works and specifically how to get the right side of the brain active again. We also need to be introduced to techniques to re-develop our creative abilities.

I am sure we all agree the second ability, “creativity and innovation” can also be activated by utilising relevant knowledge.

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3) “Passion”: The amount of passion for what a person does determine entrepreneurial success: The challenge here is to find one’s real passion in life and to choose a career synchronised with this love. Extensive research on the topic revealed various works, and out of these, a series of exercises have been developed that can help anybody to successfully identify his/her passion in life. This passion becomes an internal driving force that in the long run will take the entrepreneur to high levels of success. This passion will provide the needed focus and will enable you to see specific new related opportunities that others will not see. The ultimate test to establish “passion” for something is when you will be willing to pay to be able to do something. Performing these tasks must excite you it such a manner that you can’t wait in the mornings to go to work.

I am also confident that the third ability can also be accomplished by utilising relevant knowledge regarding self discovery. We should however keep in mind that we also need to apply creative abilities and business management skills in achieving this 3rd ability.

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4) Intuition: A well-developed Intuition (gut feel) is a vital ability needed by the successful entrepreneur: The fast pace in the modern business world sometimes forces entrepreneurs to make important decisions based on sets of incomplete information. To do this, business leaders develop a valuable ability, called “intuition” or “gut feel.”

The next challenge is therefore to develop this attribute called “gut feel” or “sixth sense”, to its maximum. In a quest to find answers, we have to move from traditional psychology to the disciplines of quantum-physics and meta-physics on to Para-psychology. A study done by the researcher Allen Vaughn provides some interesting answers. Allen was a researcher at the Institute of Para-psychology in the United States, with a passionate interest in human intuition or sixth sense, or so-called gut feel. He proved that all people are born with intuitive abilities. These findings were later confirmed by numerous other studies (e.g. “Electrophysiological Evidence of Intuition” by McCarthy, Atkinson and Bradley).

As with man’s creative abilities, this talent is also a right brain function. Allen, who was a dominant left-brain person, developed exercises that enabled him to utilise his natural talents. He applied these exercises to himself and later became known as someone with exceptional intuitive abilities. These exercises are uncomplicated and easy to use. Anybody can develop this valuable life skill called intuition or “gut feel”.

I am sure we all agree again that the fourth ability “intuition” which is similar to creativity, can also be activated and optimised by utilising relevant knowledge.

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5) A success attitude is a further trait successful entrepreneurs share: The development of a success attitude is in itself a complicated process. It consists of developing a psychological profile of smaller traits, like self-confidence, perseverance, goal orientation, etc. The good news is that human beings can do much in developing such a positive set of traits leading to a success attitude. A person's psychological profile is mainly a function of what has been programmed into his/her subconscious mind. The subconscious mind does not ask questions, it simply reacts to programmed instructions. Phobias are classic examples of how the subconscious mind functions. By the same token is self-confidence or the lack thereof, a programmed instruction in the subconscious mind. The wonderful news, however, is that people can re-program the subconscious mind and replace a negative instruction with a positive one. Man can therefore create any psychological profile of his choice, by simply following certain procedures and doing certain exercises. These techniques are also known as “Neuro-Linguistic Programming” (NLP).

I am sure we all have the same opinion that a “success attitude” can also be cultivated by utilising relevant knowledge.

Continue reading for even more astonishing facts...

6) Understand the mechanics of the market economy: The successful entrepreneur needs a crystal clear understanding of the foundational principles of demand and supply and other basic economic knowledge driving a market economy. This is analogous to understanding the dimensions of a playing field, and the applicable rules of any game a person may want to play. Before one can even develop the necessary skills and become a professional player in any given sport, it is necessary to understand the rules and dynamics of the game. A limited understanding of the market-driven economy will not only lead to wrong decision making, it could also block out and curb the vast number of business opportunities provided by the system.

 This last but not the least of abilities/skills “Understand the mechanics of the market economy” can without any doubt be taught.

The following six modules have been carefully created to teach all six core competencies you will need to become a self-employed and successful entrepreneur!