Why is Entrepreneurship such an important subject in my HR diploma? And what is this subject about? Why do I see it in almost all business qualifications?

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT N4

Make business or be in business – the entrepreneur is never without a job

You don’t need to have your own business to be an entrepreneur. Everybody has the qualities of an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur has confidence in his or her ability to succeed, the urge to achieve, the skills to organise, is energetic, can see where there is an opportunity and can take on responsibility. Everybody has entrepreneurial qualities that can be improved when practised.

The subject Entrepreneurship and Business Management can be seen in almost all the national qualifications, certificates and diplomas for business management. Whether you are doing a National Diploma in HR Management, Business Management or Marketing Management, you will always start with this subject. Why is entrepreneurship so important?

The Entrepreneurship and Business Management subject in your National Certificate and Diploma enhances your entrepreneurial qualities. It teaches you how to use the resources around you, helps you to identify and avoid the pitfalls and build your personal strengths – these skills will enable you to enhance your career and enrich your life.

Your entrepreneurial qualities will take you far.

What you will learn

Creativity! You might not think you are very creative, but you will learn what creativity is really about and how to turn ideas into opportunities.

You will also cover business basics – from feasibility studies to product definition, market description, marketing, data, SWOT analysis, competitive advantage and competition.

As well as the very important financial basics – from financial feasibility to profit, sales, costs, break-even, start-up costs, fixed assets, pre-operating costs, contribution, turn-over, etc. These are all the words and concepts that help you understand, manage and grow a business. Here we’ll also cover sources of funding, financial management and the financial plan of a new business.

Last but not least you will learn about legal requirements, like different types of businesses, forms of ownership and the legal formalities involved in establishing a business.

And then we get to the Business Plan. All your knowledge culminates into the ability to draw up a great Business Plan. One of my favourite sayings is ‘when you fail to plan, you plan to fail’. The Business Plan is a structured way of thinking through all the aspects of a business. It is a tried-and-tested formula that forces you think of every little detail, so that you can identify areas of weakness and plan how to deal with it. This paper exercises enables you to avoid costly mistakes in real life. When you are in the planning phase, mistakes are free. But once your business is running, mistakes are costly and could mean the end of your business.

A good understanding of how business works, knowledge of all the elements that make up a business and a good dose of entrepreneurial qualities is fundamental to a successful business career. That’s why this subject is included in most Business Qualifications.

The world of business

The subject Entrepreneurship and Business Management is an interesting subject that will benefit your career in ways you can’t begin to imagine. Don’t just study it to pass the exam. Study it to learn how the business world works. Armed with this knowledge, you are geared for success.

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