{"id":45200,"date":"2025-09-26T22:35:05","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T22:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200"},"modified":"2025-09-26T22:35:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T22:35:06","slug":"can-entrepreneurship-be-taught-after-20-years-running-businesses-the-truth-may-surprise-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200","title":{"rendered":"Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? After 20 Years Running Businesses, the Truth May Surprise You"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-381151\">\n<header class=\"\">\n<div class=\"tw:text-lg\">\n<p>According to the researchers, the answer seems to be yes.  But here\u2019s what I think.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<p class=\"tw:font-normal tw:italic tw:text-sm tw:text-gray-600 tw:mb-4\">\n\t\t Entrepreneur \t<\/p>\n<div class=\"gate-check piano-check is-layout-flow tw:prose tw:prose-lg tw:prose-blue tw:font-serif tw:max-w-[728px] tw:mb-12 tw:mx-auto tw:lg:mx-0\">\n<div>\n<h2 class=\"tw:mt-0 tw:mb-1 tw:font-sans tw:text-2xl\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"tw:font-semibold tw:font-sans tw:text-base tw:marker:text-blue-600\">\n<li>Denmark has been teaching entrepreneurship in schools for two decades \u2014 what the results reveal might surprise you.<\/li>\n<li>Running a business can be taught, but what it truly takes to be an entrepreneur goes far beyond the classroom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Since 2005, Denmark\u2019s secondary schools have taught entrepreneurship classes covering marketing, accounting, mindset and valuation. Twenty years later, a new academic paper is asking a big question: can entrepreneurship be taught?<\/p>\n<p>According to the researchers, the answer seems to be yes.<\/p>\n<p>They found that students exposed to this content launched businesses at higher rates than earlier cohorts, and that the education itself was a key driver. These startups were of \u201chigher quality\u201d in some respects (though the paper is vague on the definition). The reform also influenced students\u2019 post-graduation choices, from higher education to jobs, in ways that made later entrepreneurship more likely. In short, earlier exposure appeared to produce not just more but \u201cbetter\u201d entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve found that learning to be a good business person is achievable. But learning to be an \u201centrepreneur\u201d? I\u2019m not so sure.<\/p>\n<p><b>Related: These 3 Questions Are Plaguing Small Business Owners in 2025 \u2014 and Here Are the Answers to Them<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Running a business isn\u2019t as complicated as people think. At its core, it\u2019s about math and people. High schoolers can learn how to read a financial statement, understand cash flow and taxes, analyze sales and marketing campaigns and create organization charts. They can study how successful companies generate revenue, build brands and scale.<\/p>\n<p>These are important academic skills. As a CPA, I\u2019m often amazed at how many business owners don\u2019t know this. They\u2019d be much better at their jobs if they had. If you\u2019re one of them, it\u2019s never too late.<\/p>\n<p>But running a business \u2013 like what\u2019s being taught in Denmark \u2013 is not the same as being an entrepreneur. I\u2019ve spent more than 20 years running and writing about small businesses, and I\u2019ve met plenty of dreamers who called themselves entrepreneurs. Few succeeded. The true entrepreneurs I know are different.<\/p>\n<p>Take Andrew, a client who runs a paper recycling business in New Jersey. It\u2019s a dirty, unglamorous business. I once asked what he\u2019d do if it failed. He said he\u2019d work from his basement, buy a roll of paper here, sell it there, or broker a pallet between two parties. For him, like all true entrepreneurs, it\u2019s about buying for a dollar and selling for three. What the product is doesn\u2019t matter. That\u2019s entrepreneurism.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s Cecilia, another client. She runs a commercial doors and windows company with nearly 300 employees. Is she \u201cchanging the world\u201d? In her own way, yes. She tells her team their work keeps people warm, safe and secure. She knows her employees and their families. Her business may be boring, but her leadership isn\u2019t. That kind of genuine care can\u2019t be taught in school.<\/p>\n<p>And there\u2019s David, more of a cynic after a decade in business. He\u2019s been lied to by suppliers, underpaid by customers and ghosted by employees. He fights for every penny. He\u2019ll spend $100,000 on equipment because he knows it\u2019ll make money, but selling him software took me two years. Entrepreneurs like him don\u2019t buy dreams \u2014 they trust, but verify. You don\u2019t learn that in a classroom. You learn it after being burned.<\/p>\n<p>Entrepreneurs aren\u2019t dreamers. They\u2019re realists. They buy and sell. They connect with people. They have a vision, a plan and the grit to execute. A business education can improve their odds, but without that innate drive, they\u2019ll only go so far.<\/p>\n<p><b>Related: This Is the One Major Concern Small Business Owners Have Ahead of the Presidential Election, According to the Chamber of Commerce<\/b><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why true entrepreneurism can\u2019t be taught.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s taught in Denmark is business: accounting, taxes, basic sales and marketing. Students study case studies of companies like Airbnb and Spotify. They\u2019re encouraged to change the world. It\u2019s no wonder they\u2019re eager to launch businesses. But most have never been cheated, lied to or ghosted. They\u2019re unprepared for the realities that test entrepreneurs. My bet is that many fail or just scrape by.<\/p>\n<p>Sure, I can learn physics, but that won\u2019t make me a physicist. I can swing a bat, but I\u2019ll never play in the major leagues. Some things can be taught. But the most successful people have something deeper \u2014 an innate, maybe God-given ability they\u2019ve sharpened over time.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not against teaching business in schools. It\u2019s valuable. But teaching entrepreneurism? That\u2019s not possible.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"is-layout-flow piano-meter-body tw:prose tw:prose-lg tw:prose-blue tw:font-serif tw:max-w-[728px] tw:mb-12 tw:hidden tw:mx-auto tw:lg:mx-0\">\n<div>\n<h2 class=\"tw:mt-0 tw:mb-1 tw:font-sans tw:text-2xl\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"tw:font-semibold tw:font-sans tw:text-base tw:marker:text-blue-600\">\n<li>Denmark has been teaching entrepreneurship in schools for two decades \u2014 what the results reveal might surprise you.<\/li>\n<li>Running a business can be taught, but what it truly takes to be an entrepreneur goes far beyond the classroom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Since 2005, Denmark\u2019s secondary schools have taught entrepreneurship classes covering marketing, accounting, mindset and valuation. Twenty years later, a new academic paper is asking a big question: can entrepreneurship be taught?<\/p>\n<p>According to the researchers, the answer seems to be yes.<\/p>\n<p>They found that students exposed to this content launched businesses at higher rates than earlier cohorts, and that the education itself was a key driver. These startups were of \u201chigher quality\u201d in some respects (though the paper is vague on the definition). The reform also influenced students\u2019 post-graduation choices, from higher education to jobs, in ways that made later entrepreneurship more likely. In short, earlier exposure appeared to produce not just more but \u201cbetter\u201d entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.entrepreneur.com\/leadership\/this-country-thinks-you-can-learn-entrepreneurship-in-class\/497078\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to the researchers, the answer seems to be yes. But here\u2019s what I think. Entrepreneur Key Takeaways Denmark has been teaching entrepreneurship in schools for two decades \u2014 what the results reveal might surprise you. Running a business can be taught, but what it truly takes to be an entrepreneur goes far beyond the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[32],"class_list":{"0":"post-45200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-investing","8":"tag-featured"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.12 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? After 20 Years Running Businesses, the Truth May Surprise You | iSafeSpend<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"According to the researchers, the answer seems to be yes. But here\u2019s what I think. Entrepreneur Key Takeaways Denmark has been teaching entrepreneurship\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? After 20 Years Running Businesses, the Truth May Surprise You | iSafeSpend\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to the researchers, the answer seems to be yes. But here\u2019s what I think. Entrepreneur Key Takeaways Denmark has been teaching entrepreneurship\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"iSafeSpend\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-26T22:35:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-26T22:35:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758895818-learn-entrepreneurship-in-classroom-0925-g-1465474672.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5b8c1c75336efaf09b163cd1eab0c9bf\"},\"headline\":\"Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? After 20 Years Running Businesses, the Truth May Surprise You\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-26T22:35:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-26T22:35:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200\"},\"wordCount\":970,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Featured\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Investing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200\",\"name\":\"Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? After 20 Years Running Businesses, the Truth May Surprise You | iSafeSpend\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-26T22:35:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-26T22:35:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"According to the researchers, the answer seems to be yes. But here\u2019s what I think. Entrepreneur Key Takeaways Denmark has been teaching entrepreneurship\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? After 20 Years Running Businesses, the Truth May Surprise You\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/\",\"name\":\"Solutions For Real\",\"description\":\"Latest Finance News and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Solutions For Real\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/sf-logo-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/sf-logo-1.png\",\"width\":690,\"height\":64,\"caption\":\"Solutions For Real\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5b8c1c75336efaf09b163cd1eab0c9bf\",\"name\":\"News Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/avatar_user_1_1691264579-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/avatar_user_1_1691264579-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"News Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? After 20 Years Running Businesses, the Truth May Surprise You | iSafeSpend","description":"According to the researchers, the answer seems to be yes. But here\u2019s what I think. Entrepreneur Key Takeaways Denmark has been teaching entrepreneurship","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? After 20 Years Running Businesses, the Truth May Surprise You | iSafeSpend","og_description":"According to the researchers, the answer seems to be yes. But here\u2019s what I think. Entrepreneur Key Takeaways Denmark has been teaching entrepreneurship","og_url":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200","og_site_name":"iSafeSpend","article_published_time":"2025-09-26T22:35:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-26T22:35:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1333,"url":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1758895818-learn-entrepreneurship-in-classroom-0925-g-1465474672.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"News Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News Room","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200"},"author":{"name":"News Room","@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5b8c1c75336efaf09b163cd1eab0c9bf"},"headline":"Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? After 20 Years Running Businesses, the Truth May Surprise You","datePublished":"2025-09-26T22:35:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-26T22:35:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200"},"wordCount":970,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["Featured"],"articleSection":["Investing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200","url":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200","name":"Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? After 20 Years Running Businesses, the Truth May Surprise You | iSafeSpend","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-09-26T22:35:05+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-26T22:35:06+00:00","description":"According to the researchers, the answer seems to be yes. But here\u2019s what I think. Entrepreneur Key Takeaways Denmark has been teaching entrepreneurship","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?p=45200#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? After 20 Years Running Businesses, the Truth May Surprise You"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/","name":"Solutions For Real","description":"Latest Finance News and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#organization","name":"Solutions For Real","url":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/sf-logo-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/sf-logo-1.png","width":690,"height":64,"caption":"Solutions For Real"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5b8c1c75336efaf09b163cd1eab0c9bf","name":"News Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/avatar_user_1_1691264579-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/avatar_user_1_1691264579-96x96.png","caption":"News Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/isafespend.com"],"url":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45200"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45202,"href":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45200\/revisions\/45202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/45201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/isafespend.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}