JAGGAR International

Entrepreneurship has long been thought of as something inherent, a mindset you’re born with, but can it be cultivated through formal education?

In high school, the closest we had was Business Studies, a class focusing partially on economics, partially on accounting and partially on the marketing and HR side of business. In one particular term, we were assigned to groups and asked to create a product to sell, the end products being marketed and ‘sold’ to other classmates. No clue what it was that my group made, this was almost two decades ago, but the theory of entrepreneurship was already there, starting to be taught, the seed planted for these kids to grow with or walk right over.

In traditional business qualifications, the majority of the study is simply common sense, much like a firearms license application quiz, where they ask you to answer the question:

When Should I Drink Alcohol?

a.) While shooting
b.) Before shooting
c.) Once the guns are unloaded and safely stored away

I wonder what the answer could be?

The business studies seemingly gift you the answers so easily that there seems no point in doing the study which is likely why so many people had been running successful businesses long before the first university offered an MBA as a course option.

But while the vast majority of business start ups in the United States are by those in possession of a degree, the question is really whether a formal business education is actually a requirement? – can it truly be taught or is the introduction in early education business studies enough to spur the inherent entrepreneurial spirit in burgeoning startup founders without the necessity for formal education?