Participants first learn how to prepare a business plan. They then form into groups and prepare a business plan for an actual invention. The plans are then judged in a state competition and the state winners entered into a national competition. A number of successful companies have been conceived at Enterprise Workshops. Ideally the best preparation an entrepreneur can have is to work as a general manager in charge of a profit centre for a large company.
Several years learning the disciplines of profit-centre management are invaluable.
However there is still nothing to compare to starting up and running your own business. It is the one item on the resume that gets venture capitalists excited. By this they mean how many times has the entrepreneur started and sold out of a business. There is a key difference between management and ownership and true entrepreneurs have lived that difference.