How to Choose the Right Entrepreneurship Program?

It has always been a subject of highly contentious discussion amidst academia that whether entrepreneurship as a trait can be taught in the confines of a classroom as a regular course with rigid curriculum or is entrepreneurship a gift one is born with, a code hardwired in the DNA of a lucky few. Whatever may be the answer to these, the fact is that a systematic study of any field never hurts. Even sportsperson born with natural agility and great reflexes have to undergo rigorous training to blossom into a champion the world will look up to. It is the prerogative of the trainers to look out for the qualities that they deem necessary in an entrepreneur. Even if, after the training, just a miniscule percentage of people turn out to be real entrepreneur, it should be regarded as a task well done and the world of commerce and business stands to gain in no uncertain terms. And if that miniscule percentage stands benefited by the training they have undergone during their years as students, the effort will be worth it. Professional institutions around the world soon realized this, and each one of them worth their salt, started an e-program to nurture and train persons with entrepreneurial skills. But, the problem started when copy-cat institutes initiated their own e-programs which hardly do any kind of value addition. Even among genuinely good B-schools there is no standardized course structure. Each offers training in their own areas of specialization, which may or may not supplement the talent of an individual. So, prospective students for an e-program often find themselves in a sticky situation when choosing which program to get enrolled in. Firstly, they have to do quite a research in order to separate wheat from the chaff and then they have to analyze and pick a program that will complement their skill sets and is congruent with their future needs. They should base their evaluation on the following parameters:

1) Location:

This is a very important criterion in deciding between two equally good schools or programs. By location we do not imply proximity to the hometown or to a happening city with excellent nightlife. Frankly, that will be a very myopic and juvenile way of looking at things. What we do imply is that the closer the institute, offering the program, to an entrepreneurial hotbed, say like the Silicon Valley, the better it is. Nothing compares to living in a super charged atmosphere from where you can observe theory turning into practical from close quarters. One also stands to gain in terms of sheer probability of being picked by a venture capitalist, operating in such locations, to give a flying start to their undertakings.

2) Hands-on experience as part of the curriculum:

Nothing can undermine the importance of real life experience in pedagogy, especially for an entrepreneurship program. As the objective of this program are very different from the regular academic courses, it makes immense sense to see how the program offers to incorporate real world situations in the structure of the curriculum and how well they are rewarded as opposed to the mugging and learning by rote expected from the students. “Life is the best teacher” is after all not a cliché.

3) Social entrepreneurship courses:

After the completion of the program students are not expected to work in water-tight compartments where everyone is familiar with the jargons of the modern day management. They have to work in real societies and deal with real people, so it is highly advisable that they get social consciousness and awareness built in them. Programs which bundle up social entrepreneurship courses in the curriculum definitely stand at a better vantage point since they are producing entrepreneurs who can think out-of-the-box and are not limited in their approach by the calculations involving only the monetary aspects of an activity.

4) Entrepreneurship as an integrated course:

Entrepreneurship, at the end of the day, is not a separate field of study. The whole purpose of such a program is to teach students how to carry on seemingly wonderful ideas from the safe confines of a classroom or laboratory and see how they fare in real life situations. So, entrepreneurship programs are appropriately being clubbed with regular courses to give an idea to the regular students about the real world hurdles and the methodologies to surmount them. Hence, for a student who is suitably inclined it is advisable to pursue a course that will give him dual specialization and degrees. But, this is only for those who are very specific and know exactly what they want from the course and what they want to do after completing it.

5) Incubation cell or direct access to potential investors:

Not every body joining an e-program has a super rich dad back home to flag off their projects after completion of the course, which anyways will defeat the basic purpose of the entire course. So, students should go for a school that has a well established incubation cell to fund and provide assistance to their undertakings, at least in the difficult early stages. That will not be very hard to find as most of the good institutes have a well developed system in place to assist talented youngsters. Otherwise, the institute should have a network in place to at least bring prospective investors to the drawing board. Again, not a difficult task as any reputed B-school generally has a queue of investors who are ready to pick brilliant ideas from new entrepreneurs and are ready to pay for the same. A good institute offering a program on entrepreneurship, in very crude terms, should act as a midwife reliving a new entrepreneur of delivery pangs.

6) Track Record:

Last but not the least, it is very important to check how the previous students taking the course have fared in actual world. After all, students are the best testimony to the worth and relevance of any program.