Entrepreneurship cannot be taught, say small firms

There may have been an increase in the number of courses offering instruction in how to run a company but new research by UK Business Forums reveals two thirds of small business owners believe entrepreneurship cannot be taught.

The poll on www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk, the UK's most popular online forums for entrepreneurs*, found just 33% thought that the attributes of entrepreneurship can be learnt in the classroom. The remaining 67% were firmly of the view that they cannot be taught.

While many respondents to the survey said general business skills such as sales and marketing, time management and effective negotiation can be taught, most believed that entrepreneurial traits – like risk-taking, focus and sacrifice – are inherent.

Comments from survey respondents:

"Business schools can turn out technocrats who may indeed turn out to be brilliant entrepreneurs, but then they would have been anyway."

"I think there are natural entrepreneurs and they have certain traits that are inherent and cannot be acquired. I think it is also possible to acquire business skills and become business savvy but this is separate from being an entrepreneur."

"An entrepreneur is born with an ability to takes risks, make money and think out of the box. It cannot be taught - you are born with it and very few get there."

Dan Martin, chairman of UK Business Forums, said: "It is clear from our survey that entrepreneurs are firmly of the belief that while the basic of business can be taught in the classroom, when it actually comes to being a proper entrepreneur, these are skills which are natural and cannot be learnt from text books.

"The number of hugely successful company founders who left school early but went on to make millions suggests our members may be right.

"The vast amount of enterprise courses on offer may produce many so-called business experts but it looks like we’re not going to find the next generation of risk-taking entrepreneurs in the classroom."

Notes to Editors

The research is based on a poll of UK Business Forums members during August and September 2007.

About UK Business Forums (www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk)

UK Business Forums are the UK’s most active discussion forums for owners and managers of small and medium sized businesses*.

Published by Sift Media, UK Business Forums is home to over 10,000 members and generates over 2,000 posts every week. Topics of discussion include: business finance; marketing & PR; legal; franchising; e-commerce; and the highly popular ‘Time Out’ forum.

* Based on independent research conducted in May 2007 by 10 Yetis Ltd.

For more information about UK Business Forums, contact Dan Martin on +44 (0)117 915 8638 or email dan.martin@siftmedia.co.uk

About Sift Media (www.siftmedia.co.uk)

Sift Media is a leading business-to-business publisher specialising in online, interactive professional communities.

With a range of services including websites, email publications, industry awards and events, Sift Media delivers original, branded content to over half a million professionals in accounting and finance, HR and training, IT, marketing, customer management and knowledge management.

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