Supporting emerging entrepreneurs

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. These are learning, focus, and growth:

1.The first of the outputs is learning

, and it is concerned with ensuring that there is some documentation of experiences, lessons learned, information and records available, and the intelligence gathered in support of the student's entrepreneurial activities. Common deliverables in this regard are business plans that are created by students at fixed points of the curriculum.

2. The second output is focus

, or the specification of vision, setting of priorities, ensuring of strategic direction and the existence of a plan of operation. This area of focus feeds into the process of career counseling where students are mentored through deciding on a possible career path.

3. The third output is growth.

Growth is concerned with untapped opportunities, the expansion of the students competency set and his/her area of responsibility, acquiring new equipment or facilities, increasing the customer base or entering a new market, and so forth. A major benefit from this output is growth in existing businesses that students are involved in.

Our approach represents a logical and systematic process for taking an emerging entrepreneur's environment apart, evaluating and understanding it, and then putting it back together again. Importantly, mentors follow the logic of the model, starting with the core, and then only examining other internal issues. After this external relationships and activities are reviewed.

The mentor adheres to the discipline of this approach in spite of some potential resistance from the student, who is likely to want to focus only on a particular interest at a point in time. This disciplined approach is facilitated by the use of detailed course guides that clarify the value of a specific learning activity in the process of realising graduate outcomes for students. Some of the areas are investigated simultaneously.

The three layers and the various sub-components of the model are not independent. For instance, an examination of record keeping and financial management issues can help clarify problems in production, operations and marketing. Similarly, the assessment of marketing and customer issues may serve to identify a problem with required infrastructure.

These inter-dependencies are reflected in the mentor's review of the student's development towards becoming an entrepreneur. Once the mentor has moved through the three layers of the model, the mentor conducts a detailed review of the internal consistency among the seven sub-components of the model. Those areas least consistent with the others are identified and supported.

Our model allows faculty mentors at SHC to clearly distinguish problems along the route to developing as an entrepreneur from symptoms from causes. Furthermore, it enables mentors to establish clear cut priorities in terms of where they, and the student as an emerging entrepreneur, should focus developmental activities. Finally, the model is instrumental in helping students to better understand his/her own environment, and to harvest it more effectively and efficiently.