A culture where experiments are encouraged, mistakes are not discouraged as long as students learn and don't repeat them, fear of failure is replaced by courage to take risks is necessary to provide a conducive environment to students to start their own venture. This cultural transformation should be the ultimate responsibility of any Center of Entrepreneurial Development at any university, which intends to encourage its students toward becoming entrepreneurs. Following are some of tips which would help develop such a culture.
1. Teachers to acquire the role of consultants, guiding students during each step of the process of establishing a business, they shouldn't penalize mistakes, rather reward and encourage if mistakes bring new learning. Students shouldn't have fear of losing marks in case they aren't able to successfully start a venture. Marking should be based on the dedication of student practically to execute the instructions given by teacher/consultant, not on the outcome. An environment of mutual trust and respect has to be established between the faculty and students, but this doesn't mean leniency. The teacher should pose themselves as learners and actively engage in the learning process, encourage students to teach them from their experience, instead of bossing everyone around.
2. Students are made to initiate his first venture with their pocket money or any angel investor (which he should find himself) in his first semester (the idea is to set his context for all the learning which is to come)...
3. All courses to be project based, and at least three courses (3 crdt hr each) in which a student would do nothing but make an attempt to start up a business.
4. If CED has money to invest, then no investment to be given till final year, or at least once they have been successfully operated for six months
5. A space to be dedicated to establish a market where students would open up their shops and sell, university canteen, tuck shop, photocopy to be operated by students, not as employees but as entrepreneurs, etc
6. A more informal and less structured interaction with teachers/consultants, teachers to give more time outside the class, lots of meeting places to be provided for this
7. Teachers to start-up their own enterprise, and with students as partners.
8. A lab to simulate business start up (don't know how to make it, but inspiration taken from John Hunter's World Peace Game presented at TED)
9. A social entrepreneurship course which would help enable students to experience the satisfaction of creating an employment for a poor fellow...
10. etc.
