Blog, Enterprise Education, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Experiential Learning

The evolution of Entrepreneurship Education Research

Entrepreneurship education is a rapidly evolving field, with new research emerging on a almost monthly basis. Here are some current trends in entrepreneurship education research, in 2023:

  1. Experiential learning: One trend that is gaining traction in entrepreneurship education research is the emphasis on experiential learning. Experiential learning includes activities such as business plan competitions, internships, and incubator programs that allow students to gain real-world experience and apply classroom learning to practical situations. Several studies have shown that experiential learning can improve students’ entrepreneurial skills, attitudes, and intentions.
  2. Interdisciplinary approaches: Entrepreneurship education research is also becoming more interdisciplinary. Many researchers are incorporating concepts and methods from fields such as engineering, design, and social sciences into their studies of entrepreneurship. This approach emphasizes the importance of creativity, innovation, and collaboration in entrepreneurship.
  3. Social and environmental entrepreneurship: There is a growing interest in social and environmental entrepreneurship, which emphasizes the creation of businesses that address social and environmental challenges. This approach is gaining traction as more individuals seek to make a positive impact in their communities and the world. Several studies have shown that social and environmental entrepreneurship education can improve students’ awareness of social and environmental issues and their ability to address these issues through entrepreneurship.
  4. Digital and technology-based entrepreneurship: Another trend in entrepreneurship education research is the growing interest in digital and technology-based entrepreneurship. The rise of digital technologies and e-commerce has led to a surge in the development of online businesses, mobile apps, and other technology-driven ventures. Many entrepreneurship education programs are incorporating courses and activities that focus on digital and technology-based entrepreneurship.
  5. Global entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship education research is becoming more globally focused, with an emphasis on the development of businesses that can operate in international markets. This includes exposure to different cultures, business practices, and legal and regulatory environments. Several studies have shown that international exposure can improve students’ entrepreneurial skills and their ability to operate in diverse contexts.
  6. Entrepreneurial ecosystems: A growing area of entrepreneurship education research is the study of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Entrepreneurial ecosystems refer to the social, economic, and institutional factors that support entrepreneurship in a particular region or industry. Understanding these ecosystems is important for developing effective entrepreneurship education programs and policies.
  7. Entrepreneurial mindset: Many entrepreneurship education researchers are also focusing on the development of the entrepreneurial mindset. The entrepreneurial mindset is characterized by a set of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors that are conducive to entrepreneurial success. Several studies have shown that entrepreneurship education can help develop the entrepreneurial mindset, which can in turn improve students’ ability to identify and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities.
  8. Impact of entrepreneurship education: Finally, there is a growing body of research on the impact of entrepreneurship education, with groups such as https://impactresearch.group/. This research aims to understand the long-term effects of entrepreneurship education on students’ entrepreneurial behavior, career paths, and economic outcomes. Several studies have shown that entrepreneurship education can have a positive impact on these outcomes, although the precise nature of this impact can vary depending on the specific context and type of entrepreneurship education program.

In summary, entrepreneurship education research is a diverse and rapidly evolving field, with many different trends and areas of focus. From experiential learning to social and environmental entrepreneurship, digital and technology-based entrepreneurship to global entrepreneurship, and from entrepreneurial ecosystems to the entrepreneurial mindset, there are many different topics and issues that researchers are exploring in their studies of entrepreneurship education. Ultimately, this research is important for developing effective entrepreneurship education programs and policies, and for understanding the role of entrepreneurship in driving economic growth and social change.

Blog, Experiential Learning, Ideation, Resources, Skills Development

The process of discovering an idea and making it an opportunity

I have had many business ideas over the years and the vast majority of them I have not acted upon, for various reasons. Sometimes it’s time, money or the fact I don’t have the core skills or resources to make this work. In this blog we are exploring this cognitive process which everyone undertakes to investigate the opportunity. The aim is to support you in using this best practice when discovering a business opportunity.

The process of discovering a business idea is a varied and complex one and may occur over several years or during a split second. However, we can summarise some of the key mechanisms which occur during this mental process. An idea is just that and needs to be added to and then validated to make an opportunity.

The nascent entrepreneur enters the process with three sets of characteristics which can be split into Sociological factors, Demographic factors and Psychological factors. The Demographic factors are Age, Gender, Education level, Marital Status, Occupation, Population Growth, and Migration. These Sociological factors are Religion, Family, Network, Income & Wealth , Transport, Social Mobility, and Household Composition. The Psychological factors are Need for achievement, Need for autonomy, Internal Locus of control, Risk-taking propensity, Entrepreneurial Self Efficacy, Creative & innovative, and Motivational.

These characteristics form the basis from which the nascent entrepreneur sees, finds and more importantly validates the business idea and the potential opportunity. This prior knowledge and competency in entrepreneurship sets the nascent entrepreneurs on the path. The trigger for this to occur varies, from long term intention to a point in time when either the need or the opportunity presents itself. The entrepreneur will bring forth a range of capitals which will be used to resource the venture these we term the Startup Entrepreneur Capitals. These can be brought down to Financial, Intellectual, Experiential (Human), Social, Cultural, Spiritual, and Material. These set what resources could be used in the first instances to start the business. After the business is started you can find new resources.

Once the basis for the idea is found, the next stage is to analyse if it is exploitable? On a cognitive level, the nascent entrepreneur needs to understand the probability of success based on the personal investment available of resources to facilitate enough time to get the venture to profit. Then we need to understand will the venture be profitable enough to compensate for their opportunity costs.

Once the nascent entrepreneur has validated an opportunity for them, they then need to scope it to understand the trajectory of the business and the potential scale. The required scale of a business is dependent on the industry and market and the ability of the team to manage it.

The business then requires to be designed by the nascent entrepreneur. However, with no or little experience in designing a business, they need to connect the opportunity with their vision, the businesses mission and set the strategy and objectives to meet.

Once they have thought this out they can start modelling the business, through tools like the business model canvas and potentially developing a business plan.

Blog, Data Analytics, Enterprise Education, Inclusive Entrepreneurship, Legal and Regulatory Knowledge

England needs Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education

There is a diversity of approaches to enterprise and entrepreneurship education (EEE) across the United Kingdom. Three of the four nations: Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have all developed and implemented strategies encouraging enterprise and entrepreneurship education, England remains unique for its failure to develop a specific policy for education at all levels.

In a recent 2022 report by the APPG Entrepreneurship (here), they reported that “England remains one of the few places in Europe that
has yet to develop a specific entrepreneurship education strategy for schools“.

My own research (here) has shown that enterprise and entrepreneurship education in Wales is paying off with direct relationships between these interventions and economic development. Wales has implemented a strategy since the early 2000s with the ‘Youth Enterprise Strategy’ (YES) and covers 5–25 year-olds. The stated objective of the strategy was to “develop and nurture self-sufficient, entrepreneurial young people in all communities across Wales, who will contribute positively to economic and social success.”

This investigation showed, for the first time, that it is possible to draw linkages between the outputs generated by some of the EEE activity in universities and key regional development indicators. Across the regions we found that EEE activity in HEIs appears to have a direct impact on business creation and GDP, the latter point echoing more general trends observed by Schubert and Kroll (2014) and Pastor et al. (2018). Furthermore, we were able to use several different indicators to infer a relationship between the nature and/or quality of provision and
graduate start-up activity. That said, we also found numerous trends which we could not fully explain through the data, all of which need further research attention.

This is not new. Entrepreneurship has been shown to be a driver of economic development and a powerful source of economic growth and job creation and that productive entrepreneurship is crucial in terms of economic welfare (van Stel, Carree, & Thurik, 2005; Acs, Audretsch, Braunerhjelm, & Carlsson, 2012; Naudé, 2013).

However what is important is that Koryak et al. (2015) suggests that there exists a deficiency within a substantial proportion of UKs SME in relation to entrepreneurship skills. This is therefore constraining business growth, international trade and product innovation.

Enterprise and entrepreneurship education is not just for those who want to start a new business, it’s for enabling the next generation to be more flexible. In a world where Covid, MonkeyPox and Polio are all reported to be in London, Brexit, international supply chains are rapidly changing, inflation, recession and we again have a war in Europe….I think the resilience which enterprising and entrepreneurial skills provided is now core to supporting this next generation to cope on a daily basis.

The action need is that Enterprise and Entrepreneurship should be part of the core curriculum for all students from 4 to 24 years old and it should be clear what resources will and should be made available.

Blog, Resources

Exploring the business model trends for agri-food

The food we eat is one of the most important aspects of our lives, besides clear water to drink. 

In 2020, there are an increasing number of trents which we see in the agrifood market place which are coming together and making us rethink the consumption model for meat and more importantly the entire diet humans consume on the planet. Let’s highlight a few.

The science behind the types of food we need is changing as we see the standard “post second world war” diet increasingly puts populations into obesity and early death. The understanding of macro and micro nutrients and what a balanced diet is has led to less meat consumption and also the rise of veganism throughout the western world(veganuary). The amount of information (some mis-information) available on good food diets (also sustainable consumption) is rising which allows people to research their own, create personal plans and develop better understandings, leading to a more diverse range of food consumption patterns.

The welfare of animals requirements is growing as consumers demand better, which is driving up costs, the use of antibiotics and larger farms to maintain profitability. Biosecurity is an issue as Swine Flu, Bird Flu, SARs and Covid-19 all shown this global issue is not going away, so further research and understanding to mandate our food security is needed. The processing of meat is a major issue and the WHO has declared processed and cooked meats a carcinogen. 

The relationship between land, its value, productivity and product type is reducing as technology allows these connections to be removed. The cost of labour is increasing, costs of health and safety in the (farm) workplace and the continued mechanisation, automation and ultimately robotization/AI replacement is increasing at a faster and faster pace.

The percentage cost of food per household has over the last 50 years gone down, so consumers are increasingly looking for provenance of their food and understanding the benefits of finding diverse and local sources, through Veg and Meat Box schemes and buying directly. These short supply chains have proved more resilient and sustainable and technologies such as BlockChain, E-payments and direct messaging have proven themselves.

The cost of carbon used in the production of food has come into public sectiny. Many countries require and industries have to account for the complete lifecycle of their products. Therefore within the agri-food sector this would then bring in creation, processing, transport, packaging and waste disposal which would currently make it unsustainable.

The western world subsidises food through (In the UK its currently £3.4bn a year through CAP, which is around £56 per person per year which no other industry sector gets (pre Covid-19)) based on a post second world war model. This is based on the amount of land and food groups, which is a broken link to production already highlighted.

The connection between farms and the environment is currently being explored as the next subside system(post-Brexit). The rural environment has been created by our farming methods and food requirements. These food requirements have changed and are changing fast so will result in changes to the rural landscape. The public’s perception and requirement of the rural landscape is under researched (are they happy with greenhouses the size of a small town or forests surrounding all villages. The options to decrease the environmental impact of the populations activities and their acceptance public debate.

These trends are making the very business model of food development and consumption change very quickly and it’s important we discuss them as a community.

Blog, Data Analytics, Ideation, Lean Startup Methodology

Business models and why they are important

Business Modelling
One of the critical parts of starting a business is the stage right after coming up with the idea, ideation. This next stage, which I call “Modelling” within the business startup process is the most critical. 
The first part of it is about self reflection and understanding who we are and what we want this from venture. As most startup have limited resources, the nascent entrepreneur needs to look into their strengths and understand how these can be used for advantage and also design a business which does not allow their weakness to dominate the outcome of the venture.


This is normally done by thinking about the available money, people and time, in relationship with the desired outcomes or strategy of the venture. This we thing about as a business model. 
The definition of a business model is: 


A business model is a recipe of how a venture creates, delivers, and captures value from a customer. 


The right business model reduces the risks associated to a manageable level which enables the nascent entrepreneurs to make the business fly.


The format for the business model must reflect its role in the strategic planning process. A business model is a tool that serves a specific purpose within this startup planning process.  


The traditional Business Model Canvas one created by Alexander Osterwalder and referred to as the Business Model Canvas is not enough to develop the nascent entrepreneurs business model and therefore I have developed the Startup Business Model Canvas.
The role of the canvas is one of facilitating input, understanding of cause/effect linkage, and commitment to the ultimate strategic choices and the best way to implement this is through a visual model. 

Talking About Entrepreneurship