REAL Entrepreneurship
Outcomes:
The REAL Entrepreneurship course is designed to help participants develop skills, expand their knowledge, and create tangible products, including new enterprises. A summary of these three areas follows:
Skills:
REAL Entrepreneurship gives participants opportunities to develop skills which increase their likelihood of success as entrepreneurs and which better equip them for life and the world of work, regardless of their ultimate career choices. These skills include:
Life Skills – abilities related to living an effective and successful life, including:
- critical and creative thinking
- working with others
- problem-solving
- communication
- operating effectively within organizations
- using numbers, data, and technology
Opportunity Identification – the ability to recognize favorable circumstances
Opportunity Evaluation – the ability to measure and analyze opportunities for their feasibility and practicality, including:
- self assessment
- community, industry, market, and financial analysis
Opportunity Realization – the skills required to seize opportunities, including:
- opening an enterprise
- managing time and resources
- getting and keeping employees and customers
- managing assets
- operating legally and ethically
Knowledge:
REAL Entrepreneurship seeks to increase participants’ knowledge in the following key areas:
Self – personal attributes, attitudes, needs, goals, and capacities, especially as they relate to career choice
Planning – effective planning strategies and process for business and other undertakings
Entrepreneurship – the personal and professional realities of owning and operating a small business
Business – marketing, operations, and financial management
Legal Requirements – permits, licensing, taxes, and other necessities of operating a small business legally and ethically
Products
REAL Entrepreneurship students create a number of products, including:
Journal – a documentation and evaluation tool which chronicles the process of analyzing self and community, planning an enterprise, and writing a business plan
Oral Presentation – several opportunities for oral presentations in class which culminate in the presentation of the business plan to an audience beyond the class itself
Business Plan – a comprehensive and substantive document which address an identified business or community need, is based on research of the local community, and is written for a significant enterprise, economic in nature, including for-profit and non-profit ventures and projects
Viable Ventures – businesses, community services, or projects which students implement themselves or offer (in the form of completed business plans) to other entrepreneurs, agencies, or organizations for implementation
Resources
The REAL Entrepreneurship curriculum consists of a printed guide of core activities and a USB Flash Drive with supplemental activities and resources designed for those setting up hands-on REAL Entrepreneurship programs in their schools or community organizations. The curriculum includes group and individual activities, business planning journals, an integrated technology component, and a course and program planning section. Note: The curriculum is licensed only to teachers/educators who attend a REAL Entrepreneurship Institute.
