Entrepreneurs are not born to be one. They are made to be one.
Entrepreneurship is a skill and so it can be taught and learned. As parents or guardian, it is our duty to prepare our children to survive the real, competitive world. Entrepreneurial skill could be a strong tool to help them survive. Even if they don’t end up owning a business, the skill can still be beneficial.
One of the important benefits of entrepreneurship is the art of making decisions. As we grow older, decisions get more difficult and more things are at stake if we make the wrong decision. We cannot rely solely on educational system and institutions to shape our children to become better decision-makers. Most of the time, the system taught and direct them to do only what they’re supposed or expected to do. At home, the children’s life is basically picked out for them: the food, the clothes, the lessons, the school.
They need to learn at an early age on how to make decisions, which involves heavily contemplating which decision would be more beneficial or produced less damage. Parents or teachers cannot choose their life for them, at least not forever. Eventually, there will be that moment where they have to make their own choices and take responsibility out of it.
Aside from that, entrepreneurship will teach them to cope with failures. In life, they will encounter numerous failures. Many adults are facing stress and depression, relying on medical treatments or even attempt suicide. From an early age, while their life problems are not as complicated, children need to cultivate a strong principle of rising back from failure. They need to learn how to face problems, stand firm and get back stronger. Resilience is key to survival.
Unfortunately, not all children are lucky to have parents of guardians to personally guide them. For orphans, the life after the orphanage will be more difficult, as they have to determine for themselves what they wish to do in their lives and how they can achieve so.
One of our communities realises this problem and decided to start a school that emphasizes on entrepreneurial skills. Yayasan Prima Unggul enables orphans from various regions in Indonesia to study at their school and return to their home to contribute to the local community.
Along with the national curriculum, the school provided extra lessons in which the children can choose according to which class they are interested in. These extra lessons focus on non-academic skills, such as art, culinary, et cetera. This way, the children will get used to entrepreneurial way of thinking: be creative and innovate.
Learn more about their mission and their activities here.