Entrepreneur's Honor

The Scouting Association in England believes that teaching kids about entrepreneurship will help shape tomorrow's leaders.

Image: iStockphoto

The boy and girl scouts teach kids ages 10 to 18 about survival skills, community service, and conservation. So why not also teach them about business? That’s exactly what the Scout Association in the U.K. is doing.

“Scouting has always existed to promote leadership, creativity, and effort, and we want to apply these values to today,” program and development adviser Steve Moysey says on the association’s website. “There has never been a more important time to encourage entrepreneurship in this country.”

The organization will award entrepreneurship badges to those who show an affinity to business after they go through several tests, including pitching a business plan to a local panel of entrepreneurs under Shark Tank-like conditions. The "scoutestants" will have to answer the panel’s questions, and those whose plans are viable will be awarded the badge.

The unique program is being funded by British millionaire Richard Harpin, chief executive of insurance firm Homeserve, who says he wants to help youngsters “develop the skills that they will need to drive the businesses of tomorrow.”

And while there isn’t a comparable U.S. counterpart to Harpin’s initiative, America is also paying more attention to younger budding entrepreneurs. Inc. magazine published its list of 30 under 30 business owners to watch, featuring several 21-year-olds.

Prestigious universities like Johns Hopkins and Babson College have added entrepreneur programs to their MBA offerings. Babson’s F.W. Olin School of Business Dean Raghu Tadepalli says, "We need individuals who are opportunity seekers and, more importantly, opportunity creators. Rather than say, 'Where are the opportunities?' say, 'There are opportunities, and we are going to seize them.' The focus is on forward momentum."

A new CareerBuilder survey finds that one fourth of workers laid off in the past six months is looking to start his or her own business rather than look for new job, reports USA Today.

That was the case for Marlo Scott, who saw her pink slip three and a half years ago as the opportunity to finally forge out on her own and start cupcake, wine, and beer bar Sweet Revenge in New York City. She attributes her success to both her MBA and years of corporate experience. “I knew early on that I needed to ask questions like, What’s my brand? What are my financials? What do I want the customer experience to feel like?”

For Nicole Donnelly, going back to business school after starting—and selling—her own business was an eye-opener. “Knowing what I know now about running a company, I probably wouldn’t have started my business if I went to get an MBA first.” But she sees merits to starting young. “If you can build a business while still in the protected environment of school, often without having to worry about the initial funding because you win grants or contests, why not do it?”

And the first step could be winning that merit badge at the ripe old age of 10 years old. What’s great about young entrepreneurs is that they tend to make up with moxie what they still have to learn in experience, experts say. What better way to learn about risk and reward than under the protective umbrella of scouting, where if you have a bad day at “the office,” you can still count on milk and cookies.