Supporting emerging entrepreneurs (page 1 of 2)

The current literature on entrepreneurship (GEM, 2004) holds that successful entrepreneurial activity in developing countries is premised on three factors:

1. Sufficient availability and accessibility of finance.

2. Positive cultural and social attitudes towards wealth creation, risk taking and entrepreneurial wealth creation.

3. High standards in the education system, especially in respect of entrepreneurship promotion and skills development.

We Understand The Needs of Our Community

In a recent focus group study of Applied Business Diploma students conducted as part of the rigorous quality management cycle at SHC, 66% of male participants indicted that they are involved in some form of entrepreneurial activity.

The group agreed that the current delivery model supports entrepreneurial behavior and the development of small business management when used effectively. This was echoed during similar research among students in the higher diploma and bachelor programs, and recent graduates.

The effectiveness of the SHC approach to supporting emerging entrepreneurs is also supported by the performance of SHC graduates and students against external benchmarks such as the regional E-Biz Challenge. A SHC business plan won first place in 2004 and two plans were included in the list of 16 top finalists in the 2005 competition.

Our Approach

The SHC value proposition for developing emerging entrepreneurs is built on the four pillars of success that permeate all teaching-and-learning at SHC. The pillars include a student centered approach, support of English language learning across the curriculum, development of critical thinking across the curriculum, and the optimal use of information and communications technology.

Our approach to supporting emerging entrepreneurs structures entrepreneurial development as a mentoring engagement through an evolving process that moves through three inter-connected levels of support. This process is interwoven into the standard course delivery structure.

The model is based on a framework for developing entrepreneurs developed by the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania (US) and the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town. It has its roots in the developing world and has been successfully employed in a number of countries including Egypt, Jordan, South-Africa, and Zimbabwe.

Our entrepreneurial value proposition extends further than just dealing with the personal psychological characteristics of the individual entrepreneur. The model (see figure 1 below) provides a simple and logical framework to guide faculty mentoring efforts for emerging entrepreneurs as they pass through the curriculum of the various programs in the business division.

In essence, the student is led from an examination of the fundamental core of his/her entrepreneurial work (during foundations semesters) to an assessment of the internal operations and issues involved with the entrepreneurs position and areas of responsibility (during common semesters). The student is also coached through the process of interacting with external stakeholders and resource providers (during final semesters).



Figure 1: Supporting Emerging Entrepreneurs Model (SEM)

Our model is designed to produce three types of outputs.