Lesson – Career Exploration in
Entrepreneurship
Lesson Overview
In this lesson, participants will be introduced to
entrepreneurship, including what skills and abilities
make a successful entrepreneur.
Lesson Objectives
After completing this lesson, participants will be able to:
Identify career opportunities relating to entrepreneurship
Self-assess and determine if the student has the interest, skills and aptitude to make a good entrepreneur
Lesson at a Glance
Approximate
Activity Materials Preparation
class time
FOCUS Career Exploration K-W-L handout 1. Print/photocopy Career Exploration 10 minutes
K-W-L handout – one for each group
LEARN Entrepreneurship skills self-assessment 1. Research and choose a free online 30-90 minutes
Entrepreneurship Research Summary entrepreneur skills self-assessment
handout 2. Print/photocopy the Entrepreneur
Research Summary handout – one for
each student
REVIEW Career Exploration K-W-L handout 1. Have the Career Exploration K-W-L 10 minutes
Successful entrepreneur YouTube video handouts available
(optional) 2. Research and find a YouTube video
highlighting a successful entrepreneur
Instructor Note: It is recommended to teach this lesson after students have completed the RealCareer®
Business Education Simulations Entrepreneurship Simulation experience.
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Lesson – Career Exploration in Entrepreneurship
FOCUS: K-W-L Activity
10 minutes Define an entrepreneur as one who innovates
and takes risks in development a business or
Purpose: product. Explain that in this lesson they will
explore many ways that a person has to be an
This activity will define what an entrepreneur is and entrepreneur.
get students thinking about what they would like to
learn about entrepreneurship and if it is a career 2. Divide the class into pairs of two to work
path they want to pursue. together. Make a photocopy of the Career
Materials: Exploration K-W-L handout for each pair.
Explain the purpose of the activity, distribute it,
Career Exploration K-W-L handout and give pairs of students five minutes to
complete it.
Facilitation Steps:
3. After five minutes, call the class back together.
1. Begin by defining Entrepreneurship. Ask Ask each pair to share one thing they already
students: know about entrepreneurship and one thing
they’d like to learn about becoming an
What is an entrepreneur? entrepreneur. Write these on a master list on a
What makes someone an entrepreneur? white board or similar item. Continue calling
What characteristics do you think a upon each pair until everyone has had a chance
successful entrepreneur should have? to contribute to the K and W class chart.
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Career Exploration K-W-L
Directions: With your partner, complete the “K” and “W” columns, saving the “L” column for later in the
lesson. In the “K” column, identify what you already know about Entrepreneurship. In the “W” column, write
down what you would like to learn about a potential career as an entrepreneur.
K W L
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Lesson – Career Exploration in Entrepreneurship
LEARN: Research Project
30-90 minutes 3. Share the outcome of the self-assessment if
students are willing. Are some surprised that
Purpose: they rated higher than they expected to? Are
some also surprised to learn that being an
The purpose of this activity is to have participants entrepreneur may not be a good choice for
take a closer look at the skills and abilities needed them?
to become an entrepreneur. They will also look at
the variety pf career options available as an 4. Explain that there are many ways that a person
entrepreneur. Participants will research an can become an entrepreneur. Some of these are:
entrepreneur and prepare a class presentation.
Materials: a. To start a new business concept
b. To buy a franchise
Entrepreneur Skills Self-Assessment (research c. To buy an existing business
and choose one available online) d. To copy an existing concept
Library and Internet resources e. To become a one person consulting or
Entrepreneur Research Summary handout services firm
f. To start a ‘work from home’ business
Facilitation Steps: 5. Give students the Entrepreneur Research
Summary handout. Tell them that they can use
1. Ask students what skills they believe would be the Internet or other sources in the library for
most important for a successful entrepreneur to their research. Here are a few helpful websites:
possess. Write these on the board.
www.bls.gov
2. Conduct a five to ten minute self-assessment on http://www.bls.gov/ooh/
the skills and abilities needed to become a www.careerinfonet.org
successful entrepreneur. There are many free www.careervoyages.gov
assessments available online. Do a keyword http://careerplanning.about.com/od/occupations/a/ca
r http://www.myplan.com/careers/index.php
search for ‘entrepreneur self-assessment’ to find
eer_briefs.htm
these resources. Below are a few to choose http://www.onetonline.org/find/career?c=10&g=Go
from:
6. Give students one or two class periods to
http://bdc.ca/EN/articles-tools/entrepreneur- complete their research. You can also assign
toolkit/business-assessments/Pages/self- this as homework. Students should prepare a
assessment-test-your-entrepreneurial- short five minute presentation about this
potential.aspx entrepreneur including the information on the
summary sheet.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tompost/2012/06/0
4/are-you-an-entrepreneur-startup/ 7. Have each student present their chosen
entrepreneur to the group.
http://www.wrdf.org/wp-
content/uploads/Entrepreneur-Self-Assessment- 8. Here is a suggested grading rubric for the class
Survey.pdf presentation:
http://www.youronestopcenter.com/entrepreneu 30 points – Completed all information on the
r-test.php Entrepreneur Research Summary handout
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20 points – Prepared for the presentation
20 points – The presentation content was
clear, concise and gave a good understanding
of the chosen career
20 points – Demonstrated the ability to think
critically, taking information from other
sources to create something new
10 points – Demonstrated time management
skills by delivering a well-planned five
minutes presentation
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Entrepreneur Research Summary
Identify and research one person who is/was a successful entrepreneur. Complete this worksheet for your
entrepreneur choice. Possible sources for information include your school library, public library, websites on
the Internet, YouTube and more.
Entrepreneur Name: _______________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
What influenced them to become an entrepreneur?
How does this person fit the definition of an entrepreneur?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
How did this person measure whether they were successful or not?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Sources used for information above:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
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Lesson – Career Exploration in Entrepreneurship
REVIEW: What have you learned…?
10 minutes
Purpose:
To review what they have learned about
entrepreneurship career opportunities.
Materials: 3. After five minutes, call the class back together.
Ask each pair to share one thing they learned
Career Exploration K-W-L handout about being an entrepreneur. Write these on a
master list on a white board or similar item.
Facilitation Steps: Continue calling upon each pair until everyone
has had a chance to contribute to the “L” class
1. Have students pair up with the person they chart.
worked with at the beginning of the lesson to
complete the K-W sections of the handout. Extension Activity:
2. Have students complete the “L” column on the Find a YouTube video highlighting the story of
handout, identifying things they have learned a successful entrepreneur. There are dozens to
about being an entrepreneur. Give students five choose from.
minutes to complete this task.
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