youth entrepreneurship Resources

Curriculum Review of How to Start & Operate a Small Business: A Guide for the Young Entrepreneur

This curriculum is produced by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship Inc. (NFTE) whose mission, in part, is to help at-risk youth grow in personal development and to become positive leaders in their communities.  The founder, Steve Mariotti, recognizes the need to teach at-risk youth on a relevant level, by introducing business applications into standard classroom lessons in areas like math, reading, or economics.  He created this curriculum for students between the ages of 11-18 years based on his own observations as a high school teacher in a rough neighborhood of New York City.  Mariotti found that students typically ignored lessons in math or reading until he began using money and business principles to illustrate his points. 

Now in its sixteenth year, NFTE supports entrepreneur curriculum research and development, provides public education forums, and partners with teachers by offering training and continuing education opportunities. The Foundation also partners with universities and schools, as well as with corporations such as Microsoft. NFTE has established programs across the country and in nations such as Belgium, Indiaand Argentina.   Teachers or other youth program developers can use this NFTE resource to teach teens the importance of education and to channel their energy and creativity into productive and positive results.

How to Start & Operate a Small Business consists of 20 chapters and an appendix.  Some of the chapter titles include: “Characteristics of the Successful Entrepreneur,” “Opening a Bank Account,” “Supply and Demand,” “Negotiation,” and “Taxation.  Each chapter is a combination of text, math problems, writing exercises, sample business documents, and outside projects, which help the student develop his or her own business.  This format is consistent with one of NFTE’s goals, to use entrepreneurship to teach secondary education lessons in a more enticing way to youth.  By requiring the students to complete math problems in areas of business or writing exercises using business vocabulary, the NFTE curriculum instills in youth the value of education.  Many of the chapters end with as section called “A Business for the Young Entrepreneur.” This provides an example of a likely business opportunity for youth as well as steps on how to carry it out.  These examples are helpful in providing practical tools and illustrating the concepts of entrepreneurship.   

One of the unique characteristics of the NFTE curriculum is that it walks students through the actual process of forming a business plan, applying for a business license and opening a business checking account. The foundation's rigorous "mini MBA program," as it is called, requires 100 hours of entrepreneurial training, including lectures, field trips and talks with actual business owners.  This curriculum is very dense, covering many topics in depth.  Although it is organized in an easy-to-read format with diagrams, charts, and pictures, program directors should review the material before teaching it and consider the hefty commitment level demanded of both the students and the instructor(s). 

At the end of this training period, students emerge from the program with knowledge of proper business practices such as keeping accurate business records; more importantly, NFTE program participants graduate as true entrepreneurs, fluent in the marketplace and ready to fully participate productively in society. Graduates have gone on to become successful entrepreneurs in a wide range of fields, from catering to retail clothing operation to music production and management, from jewelry design to graphic design. Graduates who choose not to continue their business practices still benefit from the sense of personal empowerment and the translation of "street smarts" to academic and business savvy provided by the program.