Postgraduate courses in Entrepreneurship

Some people are said to be natural entrepreneurs. They’re born with the skills to get up, go and drive results. Even if you’re not born with it, these skills are possible to learn.

The UK is said to be the most entrepreneurial country in Europe. Do you have what it takes?

What is Entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is the activity of setting up your own business or businesses. In doing so, you also take on financial risk with the aim and hope of making a profit. Entrepreneurship is viewed as a type of change which may include other values than just economics. 

There are four types of entrepreneurship. They are small business, scalable startup, large company and social entrepreneurship. 

What does an entrepreneur do?

Entrepreneurs are said to have much more job satisfaction than non-entrepreneurs. The day to day activities carried out by entrepreneurs can change depending on the job and business. Some typical tasks are:

• Think up innovative ideas
• Make high risk decisions 
• Make decisions with potential long term effects
• Delegate work to experts
• Aim to generate profit 
• Identify opportunities and trends 

Courses

There are a few different courses to choose from across the UK. Some courses offer the opportunity to study either part time or full time. Examples of courses you can avail of are:

Business with Entrepreneurship

Courses in business and with entrepreneurship will help students to develop their business skills while also offering a pathway into becoming an entrepreneur. Students will have the opportunity to add to their undergraduate degree and gain the knowledge needed to become a business owner or employee in start-up or established businesses. 

Entrepreneurship Management and Innovation

A course like this will allow students to gain an understanding of entrepreneurship management and delve into their innovative mind. Students will look at the different challenges facing entrepreneurs today but look at them with an innovative mind and help develop a pioneering mindset. Courses such as this one are designed to help you make your ideas a reality. 

Entrepreneurial Management and Leadership

There are also courses on offer that look at entrepreneurship with leadership, two important aspects of being an entrepreneur with a business. Students will learn to combine theoretical knowledge with practical skills required to engage in entrepreneurial activity, project management and change management. Creativity, business modelling, financial analysis and selling are all key areas studied. 

Entry requirements 

Entry requirements differ from course to course and university to university. The majority of courses in this area require a second class honours degree in a related or relevant field. Some courses may require a 2.1 degree while others may only require a 2.2. Degree. Research on each course is important to ensure you meet the entry requirements before applying. 

Being an entrepreneur

If you have an idea which you think will develop into a successful business, becoming an entrepreneur does not require any qualifications. However, if you wish to gain an insight and understanding of what it takes to run a business and knowing the ins and outs of a business, a course is a good choice. 

Entrepreneurs often work very long hours, in particular, when beginning and starting up a business in order to get it up and running. In order to start up, you may apply for start-up business funding but in order to do so, you must have a strong business plan as well as plenty of market research completed.

Over time, your entrepreneurial skills will develop but often as the business expands, more staff and help will be needed, therefor it is important to have strong management skills and work well with others with the common aim of generating a profit. Networking is also an important part of becoming an entrepreneur as well as having the ability to tackle a problem, come up with solutions and deal with the challenges and rejection that may follow. 

Salary 

There is no way of saying what your salary might be as an entrepreneur. This is very dependent on how successful your business is, how big the business it and other variables like these. 

Skills and requirements

• Strong communication skills
• Excellent negotiator
• Attention to detail 
• Risk taker 
• Ambitious 
• Problem solver
• Able to delegate
• Excellent leadership skills
• Hard worker 
• Perseverance 
• Ability to listen and learn
• Self motivated 
• Stay calm under pressure
• Respond well to challenges/failures