Teaching Entrepreneurship

I recently had the opportunity to meet with Jack Bidlack, the Director of “The B Side” at Eastern Michigan University.  For those of you who have not heard of it – and I assume that is true for the vast majority of the people who read this blog – it is a program that connects young entrepreneurs to the business skills, local mentors, and donors necessary to turn ideas into successful small businesses.

I liked what I heard about the program.  For example, the program is totally voluntary.  The students, not the parents, make the contact.  If a participant doesn’t come, fine… they are out of the program after a few misses.  The idea is that for entrepreneurs to be successful, they need to be driven – so if you can’t seem to make it to training that often – the program is likely not for you anyway.  Another key aspect that I saw was the reality it provided through the mini-grant process.  Students who develop a business plan can actually get a micro-loan up to $2,500.

Last year we had one Saline High School student participate.  I would love to see that grow – click here to download the application or email Mr. Bidlac at jbidlac1@emich.edu.