Teaching, modelling and engaging students in entrepreneurship opportunities not only falls in line with many state curriculum standards, but also helps to prepare youth for future opportunities.Entrepreneurship teaches students about money, investing, business strategies, loans and creating budgets. At the same time, students can learn critical life skills such as problem-solving, brainstorming ideas, taking risks, facing failure and getting up again, setting goals, working together and feeling comfortable to work individually. According to the Global Student Entrepreneurship Survey, almost 35% of all students intend to be an entrepreneur 5 years after completion of studies. Here are five effective techniques for developing entrepreneurial skills in students:

1. Implement Goal Setting

 As a child, entrepreneurship might come off as a big, intimidating concept that they’re not ready for. But goal-setting is something simple, straightforward and easy to understand. It helps you visualize your thoughts and ideas more clearly. It’s an essential entrepreneurial skill that a lot of successful business people like Warren Buffett and Elon Musk employ. Get your students into the habit of using a daily or weekly checklist. Show them how rewarding it can be to cross stuff off of a to-do list. The “to-do” items can be simple: submit Math homework. Finish English essay. The point is to form the habit of writing goals down with the intent of doing them so that they can be crossed off. And even though completed goals are their own reward, you can come up with a point system to further encourage them to stick to the habit.

2. Encourage Enterprises Early in Life

 The lemonade stand or the school supply service - those are examples of children entrepreneurship that need to be encouraged. It doesn’t matter if it’s been done a million times before. It doesn’t matter if their ventures don’t earn as much as other ventures. It doesn’t matter how simple, how modest, how easy it seems; these early enterprises are all the encouragement your students need to learn the value of hard work.

3. Introduce Brainstorm Bins

Set up a box in your class for brainstorming business ideas. You can use brainstorm bins as a way to kick off the school year’s most significant project. When you introduce this project early, you are telling your students that you believe in them, their ideas, and that their voices matter. You are also encouraging self-confidence while providing them with the space to own their learning. Brainstorm bins can be the catalyst for creating and sharing ideas in a safe place while encouraging critical thinking and problem-solving skills. They can also help students to see the bigger picture because you can teach them how to set goals for a specific period of time. Every Friday, for the first month of school, go through their ideas together. As the year progresses, choose one entrepreneurial goal each month that can guide them toward presenting their final business projects at the end of the year.

4. Shark Tank for Kids

If your school allows it, let students watch some episodes of Shark Tank, especially episodes with younger entrepreneurs. If you do a quick Google search for the term, “Shark Tank kids,” you will find various Shark Tank videos with young people pitching their business ideas to the Sharks. Watch some of these videos with your students, discuss them, and then build your own Shark Tank competition at school. In addition to learning many crucial entrepreneurial skills, your students can learn about investing, equity, creating products and services, building the perfect pitch and presenting in front of a large audience. Focusing in on these skills and presentations can also encourage the love of life-long learning.

5. Use Solution Boxes

Sometimes, students will find things to complain about in school. Encourage students to brainstorm ideas and present ways to fix concerning issues. Solution boxes help students to speak up and create solutions rather than complain about them. Diving into these solutions can also cultivate stronger relationships among students, provide a boost to their self-esteem and improve their problem-solving ability which is one of the essential entrepreneurial skills.

These are some of the effective ways to build entrepreneurship skills in students. Teach your students to take lessons from failure. Challenges arise and if something doesn't go according to plan, you should figure out why so you don't make the same mistakes twice. Analyse what went well, what didn't and propose solutions to reduce risks. Remind them that picking themselves up and trying again is quite honourable.