Entrepreneurial Mindset: Nurturing Innovation and Business Acumen

We live in an age where the nature of work and employment has changed dramatically. This is as true of Malaysia as it is of other parts of the world. No longer is a regular 9 to 5 job, the be-all and end-all of one’s life. Instead, one is increasingly looking at entrepreneurship and founding a startup as a means of setting oneself up in life. This paradigm redefining change to work and employment has necessitated a reorientation in the kind of education one receives in school and colleges. It requires teaching problem-solving and leadership skills alongside core academic concepts.

This is where the best international schools in Kuala Lumpur are playing a stellar role. A fine example of this is Regent International School, a world-class K to 12 school that follows the Cambridge Early Years to A Levels curriculum which enables the students to receive a modern holistic education that fully prepares them for life in the 21st century. They are taught the skills that not only allow them to go for higher studies and take up lucrative jobs but also empower them to become risk-takers and entrepreneurs.

The students of today need to be well-versed in the startup culture and have problem-solving and leadership skills.  A Malaysian entrepreneur, just as entrepreneurs elsewhere, first needs to learn about entrepreneurship and risk-taking while in school and college. 

Let’s take a look at the values one needs to imbibe to become a successful entrepreneur.

1. Vision

One cannot become a creator if one does not know how to envision a future. That ability to plan and come up with a workable business idea lies at the heart of developing an entrepreneurial mindset. This again requires leadership skills. The best of visions can come to nought if you can’t display leadership.

1. Creativity

Entrepreneurs need to be both curious and creative in their approach to things. That is what enables them to come up with a business plan that can be brought to fruition. Besides, every business has to have a creative problem-solving approach in order to take the rough with the smooth. This is as true of a Malaysian entrepreneur as it is of any other.

1. Risk-taking Ability

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint-hearted and this is something that needs to be inculcated in would-be business people from very early on. They need to develop a risk-taking ability that will help them find success in new ventures.

1. Resilience

An entrepreneur may get to experience both success and failure in life and he or she will need to have the resilience required to stay the course when the going gets tough. This too can be imparted to potential entrepreneurs from a very young age when they are still in school or college.

1. Good Work Ethic

Entrepreneurship is not possible without a good work ethic. When you are your boss, you will have to discipline your mind to make important decisions entirely on your own. There will be no authority figure like in the case of a regular job to ease you into your new role. In a leadership position, you will have to learn to hit the deck running on your own. This is the kind of mindset that youngsters need to be encouraged to develop in school and college to help them prepare themselves for an entrepreneurial role. Part of a good work ethic is the ability to reach out and build a network of people who will help you advance in life. Networking ability and opportunity recognition are an integral part of a good work ethic and this should be developed early in a young person’s life.

Conclusion

The entrepreneurial mindset is all about nurturing innovation and business acumen. This is something that needs to be imparted to would-be entrepreneurs right from school so that they can ease into their roles seamlessly when the time comes. Given that entrepreneurship and the startup culture are driving employment in today’s world, the role schools and colleges play in training their students to find success as entrepreneurs and startup founders is very important indeed.