Teachers are generally the last set of people who come to mind when we think of entrepreneurs. However, you will be surprised to hear that Entrepreneurship for Teachers is not an empty idea. This mini-series explores the idea that a teachers can be an entrepreneur too. In the first part of the series, we explore what skills can help a teacher to be an entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurship is starting up of a business with the intention of making monetary gains. It all starts with an idea that sets you thinking – “Why not be my own boss rather than work for somebody else?”
Who does not want to be their own boss? Who does not want to steer clear of having to depend on monthly paychecks? All of us want to become entrepreneurs.
The first thing to remember is that there are three things that an individual needs, to get him/her rolling down the path to become an entrepreneur. These three things are key to spurring the entrepreneur in you to action. They are
- Passion
- Perseverance and Patience
- Plan
It is exactly these same 3 skills that can help a teacher to be an entrepreneur. What’s even more amazing is that a good teacher has naturally inculcated these skills in him / her during the course of guiding students.
Pre-requisite #1 – Passion can help a teacher to be an entrepreneur
An entrepreneur needs to ooze passion for the idea at stake. The goals should not be set to earn money, rather they must be reflective of what they love doing. A person who starts something with the intention of earning money usually ends up either doing a shoddy job of it or loses enthusiasm pretty quickly. It is therefore key that it the love of doing something and excelling at it that drives a person down the path of entrepreneurship.
Teachers who have persisted long enough in their career demonstrate one of the following two things.
- They have taken up teaching for the innate love of teaching and the love has only grown stronger over the years.
- Though teaching was not their first career preference, they have come to love teaching over the years.
In either of the cases, the teacher is passionate about the work they are doing. And this is the first pre-requisite of an entrepreneur.
Pre-requisite #2 – Patience and Perseverance can help a teacher to be an entrepreneur
An entrepreneur does well to remember the adage, “Do not count your eggs before they hatch“. Loads of patience and continued perseverance against seemingly insurmountable odds are essential components of an entrepreneur’s success kit. There is no entrepreneur worth his salt who hasn’t bitten the dust at least a few times before tasting success. The testing times can really sap one’s morale to the extent that thoughts of giving up seem juicy enough. However, it is the ‘never say die’ attitude of an entrepreneur that eventually gets success to knock on their doors.
A teacher is no different. There is no teacher who has not had patience and yet had an illustrious career. Patience and teaching are intertwined inextricably. Be it transforming the lesson to something that students can assimilate, correcting notes, setting exam papers, revising concepts for children, dealing with pushy parents – all these and hundred more test the last ounce of patience that teachers can muster. Patience is almost a synonymous with being a teacher.
Perseverance is characteristic teachers have ingrained. Helping slow learners and not giving up on them, handling mischievous kids, transforming kids one step at a time can only happen with perseverance. A teacher can give up anytime, but will not. He/She will encourage, motivate, pull up errant students to try and get them to embrace the mainstream. At times, it can be the hardest part of teaching.
Pre-requisite #3 – Planning can help a teacher to be an entrepreneur
Planning before execution is yet another indispensable hack that successful entrepreneurs swear by.
- Planning helps break down a task into smaller components.
- It helps nail down the tricky aspects of a task.
- It aids in pinning down responsibility to stakeholders.
An entrepreneur who does not plan is just shooting in the dark. It could be roping in investors, marketing the offering, hiring people – every aspect requires planning.
The same holds true for a teacher too.
No lesson can be delivered with confidence, unless the teacher has written down the lesson plan.
No correction can be undertaken unless you the teacher has in mind the common mistakes that kids do and where to look for them.
While the journey to become an entrepreneur demands a lot of ancillary skills, these three skills form a part of the foundation skills. The absence of any one of these skills can end the journey of the entrepreneur on a sad note. With teachers possessing these skills naturally, they are poised to undertake the entrepreneurial journey with ease once they are decided.
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