Management education's use of student-run businesses in preparing 21st century entrepreneurs: A multiple case study

With 50% of new U.S. businesses failing within the first five years of operation, today's entrepreneurship educators need to better prepare students to be successful future entrepreneurs. Student-run businesses, where students practice entrepreneurship and 21st century entrepreneurial skills by actually setting up and running an on-campus business, may be one way to do this. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore the role of a student-run business at three colleges in helping college students to learn some of the 21st century skills they need to be successful entrepreneurs. These skills include communication, collaboration, problem solving and decision-making. While there are many studies about the role of experiential learning in business education and a growing body of research about entrepreneurship education, it appears that the topic of student-run businesses as a way to better prepare students to be successful managers of small businesses has not been well explored and represents a gap in the literature. The main research question is what is the role of a student-run business, as an experiential learning activity, in better preparing students to be successful entrepreneurs? The sub-question is how do students and faculty describe participation in a student-run business as a way to develop the critical 21st century entrepreneurial skills of communication, collaboration, problem solving and decision-making? A total of 23 semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with students who participate in student-run businesses and faculty/advisors at three colleges. The data revealed that students do learn the 21st century skills through operating the student-run business on campus and students employ these skills as a continuum to address complex real life business problems within the student-run business. Furthermore, the student-run business, where students practice entrepreneurship and acquire 21st century skills, serves as an example of an experiential learning activity as discussed in two recent theories of experiential learning and can offer college entrepreneurship educators a useful experiential learning tool to better prepare students.