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By Christopher Gergen and Stephen MartinAfter earning a degree in dance at UNC Greensboro, Amanda Smith did what a lot of arts majors do: She scrambled to make a living.
She taught, waited tables and performed, while also studying Pilates. "I never planned on having a business in my wildest dreams," Smith said. "It wasn't part of what I thought I needed to prepare myself for."
Seven years later, though, she finds herself running Core Integrity Pilates out of a sunny second-floor studio in a Greensboro office park.
"Some times I feel like I'm the spokesperson for what not to do as an entrepreneur," said Smith, who earned numerous Pilates certifications, started training a few clients at her house and gradually realized she had a business on her hands. She plunged into her accidental career with no knowledge of accounting, marketing, management or other fundamental skills.
She's not alone. Nearly two-thirds of people who start businesses have never taken a business course. That isn't necessarily the best course of action.
"Take swimming lessons before you're drowning," Smith advised. "You need to know what you're getting into."
This fall, Smith's alma mater will offer a new way to help when it launches a bachelor's of science degree in entrepreneurship. It will be only the second major of its kind among the state's public universities (Western Carolina University also offers one) and the first with a fully cross-disciplinary focus. Students will take a series of core courses in such areas as finance, planning and innovation through UNCG's Bryan School of Business and Economics.
The program's electives, ranging from dance and apparel design to hospitality and tourism, will also prep students on the basics of entrepreneurial success in various industry sectors.
'Being creative'
"Our vision of entrepreneurship involves being creative and innovative in anything you do," said Dianne Welsh, who directs the new major as Charles A. Hayes Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship at UNCG's business school. "That could mean being entrepreneurial in a corporation or a university or a nonprofit, as well as having your own business."
As North Carolina attempts to shift away from its manufacturing roots to an economy powered by knowledge and service industries, entrepreneurship is taking center stage. It offers one of the best hopes for job creation and is grabbing the imagination of growing numbers of people.
At UNCG, Welsh said, the number of business studies majors choosing the entrepreneurship/small business concentration has soared by nearly 50 percent in the past five years. That's part of a nationwide trend.
Fostering startups
In the 1970s, just a handful of colleges and universities nationally offered courses in entrepreneurship. Today, more than 2,000 of them do, including many in North Carolina. UNC-Chapel Hill, with major support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, has developed a robust minor in the field in recent years. N.C. State also offers a concentration.
High Point University offers a major in entrepreneurship, and Elon, Wake Forest and Queens University are among the private schools offering entrepreneurship minors or concentrations.
Duke also has an expanding set of entrepreneurial offerings. Among them: the Fuqua School of Business' Center for the Advancement of Social Enterprise, the Law School's new Law and Entrepreneurship LLM program and the entrepreneurial leadership training for undergraduates within the Sanford School of Public Policy (where Christopher teaches). The state's network of community colleges also provides numerous resources for aspiring business owners and is starting to dabble in social entrepreneurship.
In Smith's opinion, it's about time.
During her academic career, the instruction she received on how to make a living with a dance degree was limited to a single course on career management. In building her own company, she has relied on trial and error.
She's succeeding and is highly energized by her work but also looks back with regret at time wasted and business deals gone wrong.
"I'm just now learning about communication as a business owner, how to delegate and trust people," she said.
Smith hopes her experiences can help today's students make a smoother transition to the real world, regardless of their field.
She recently spoke at UNCG's Southern Entrepreneurship in the Arts Conference. Her subject: "They don't teach bookkeeping in ballet."
Christopher Gergen is the Founding Executive Director of Bull City Forward and Director of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Initiative at Duke University. Stephen Martin, a former business and education journalist, is a speechwriter at the nonprofit Center for Creative Leadership. They can be reached at authors@bullcityforward.org.Get the biggest news in your email or cellphone as it's happening. Sign up for breaking news alerts.
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8/01/2010
N.C. colleges cater to future entrepreneurs - Columnists/Blogs
via newsobserver.com
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