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Academia has always been a stimulus for economic growth,
providing the research, education and training to
accelerate the growth of emerging industry sectors.
From biotech to information technology, the role of
academia is clear. Today, the most significant economic
trend is that half of our country’s job growth
comes from businesses that are less than three years
old. In fact, 300 million people tried to launch a business
in 2003.
In response, Academia is playing a leadership role
in accelerating the growth of new businesses. U.S.
universities have poured $1 billion into the entrepreneurship
subject in the past 10 years. Entrepreneurship studies
have gained in importance and have earned academic
legitimacy. Successful entrepreneurial graduates have
showered schools with money and endowed professors’
chairs and research centers devoted to entrepreneurship.
As many as 2,000 U.S. colleges, including two year
schools, have launched entrepreneurship classes up
from as few as 1,000 in 1996. The cost of new professors
and centers is at least $1 billion. All of this growth
has come in the last 10-15 years.
Many of these universities are now satisfied with
their entrepreneurship curriculum for their undergraduate
and graduate programs but are seeking ways to expand
into the communities and provide entrepreneurship
training to a non-student population. Some are partnering
with local government to provide the outreach into
the communities; others are beginning to explore opportunities
to offer entrepreneurship training through their corporate
education departments.
The challenge for universities as they expand their
entrepreneurship outreach is in filling all the gaps,
providing the theory, the practice and the hands-on
tactics for launching a successful new enterprise.
It is wonderful to talk about Porter’s competitive
strategy model as a key component of the business
planning process but how does that practically and
tactically relate to a person starting up a pet day
care center? While the entrepreneur may do the required
research and is able to identify trends, driving forces,
and who their competitors are, we have found that
entrepreneurs need to understand how it all fits together.
While entrepreneurs appreciate the theory, we often
hear: “What does it all mean when I am worrying
about things like: “What are the licensing requirements
for such a business, what type of legal entity should
I form, and how do I get a domain name for the “Puppy
Palace."
Entrepreneurship Advantage, Inc. bridges the gap,
connects the dots, and makes entrepreneurship education
accessible, relevant, practical and tactical. For
Universities and Colleges committed to expanding their
entrepreneurship education outreach and increasing their
impact on job creation, EA can help.
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