I have taught for many years, starting as an ESL teacher in Europe and Canada while in my early twenties. I learned a valuable and practical lesson from teaching ESL—that we learn best through hands-on, practical experience. To teach English to new immigrants I used the art of play, street theater and humor to help students deal with a new environment and their fears related to learning a language. Together we learned about culture and language, out loud and in full view of each other.

New and emerging entrepreneurs are also dealing with an unknown environment and many fears. They are often wedged between the fantasy of what they hope will happen with their new enterprises and the reality of money, management and marketing.  This can be an exciting time but also a scary time.

In classroom teaching with new business owners, it is essential to use a hands-on approach and involve the whole class or cohort in the process. Humor is key, as well as helping to foster excitement about learning together. Teaching entrepreneurship is not just about lecturing (although content and theory is important), it is a doing process.

Business workshops or classes can introduce business skills, demonstrate social media and traditional marketing techniques, and present real world financial projections. However, it is also important for students to get out into the real world themselves to test their assumptions. Then they can use the classroom for sharing, reporting back, and group problem-solving sessions with actual business models.

When I teach small business classes, students research how their business idea fits in the marketplace with face-to-face interviews, they expose their ideas to the reality of the numbers by doing rigorous financial analysis, and then they develop a practical, realistic plan of action that they can test week by week. This plan can be adjusted as the marketplace and their own level of confidence and excitement reveal the right directions.

The focus must be on empowerment and building confidence as well as teaching entrepreneurial skills. Emerging small business owners need to tap into their passion and also have the ability to mitigate risks. It is important for business owners to continually cultivate the right balance of business skills and intuition.

By guiding students through an engaging curriculum, giving them access to resources and mentors, and providing direction related to good management practices, we can help emerging entrepreneurs launch and sustain a successful venture. The process is fun and richly rewarding for both student and teacher, because in the best learning environment, the teacher is learning from the students, too.