Entrepreneurship. It’s a word that conjures the 90s and early aughts — those heady days when global powerhouses like Amazon, Google and Facebook were being founded in garages, basements and other unlikely environments across the US.
Today, however, entrepreneurial skills are no longer solely the domain of Harvard upstarts with a big idea and a few bucks to rub together. Whether you’re launching a big idea or seeking new pathways to impact within an established company, building entrepreneurial skills within your team can transform how you do business.
Entrepreneurship vs entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurial skills combine the fundamentals of good business practice — business management, teamwork and leadership, strategic planning, critical and analytical thinking skills, among others — with the ability to identify opportunities for innovation and conceptualise creative solutions. Being able to tackle adversity and chase goals with relentless focus doesn’t hurt, either.
The good news? These skills offer value both within the start-up sector and beyond it. When established companies integrate entrepreneurial activities into their workflows, it becomes what’s known as intrapreneurship — rather than starting a new business, intrapreneurs look for new opportunities to innovate and improve their roles and the organisation they work for.
In fact, according to the Emeritus Entrepreneurship blog, entrepreneurial skills (and by extension, intrapreneurial skills) are key to keeping people and companies on the lookout for trends and opportunities that can prepare them to pivot in the face of change. That’s because intrapreneurship is one of the best ways to drive innovation from within.
What’s more, companies that don’t invest in intrapreneurial skills development can struggle to keep up with the rapid evolution of technology — Blackberry is famous for fumbling the bag when touchscreens came along; so too is Kodak for missing the switch from photographic film to digital images. The end result is a measurable impact on longevity: in 1958, the average company lifespan was 61 years; today, it’s 18.
Fostering an entrepreneurial environment
Intrapreneurial skills are the starting point, but incentivising intrapreneurship – from idea fairs and hackathons through to sandbox funds (allocating funds so employees can buy each other’s time to work on intrapreneurship programs) and innovation time – is key to unleashing your team’s innovation potential.
This last one is the darling of big tech companies like Google, where employees can use up to 20 per cent of their regular working time towards entrepreneurial projects. And the proof is in the pudding: 50 per cent of Google’s most significant profit-making products — including Gmail, Google Maps and Google Earth —have emerged from this 20% time’.
The takeaway? Investing in intrapreneurship can future-proof your business and has the potential to make a staggering difference to your company’s bottom line.
Build entrepreneurial spirit with help from Plus UTS
Are you looking to build your employees’ intrapreneurial capabilities? Find out how Plus UTS can help you innovate from the inside out. Our expert trainers will work with you to develop a targeted training program that addresses the unique needs of your business and team.
Visit Plus UTS or contact us to find out more.
