Picture two students at the same school bake sale. One sells a few cookies and goes home. The other notices that the cookies sold out in ten minutes, that people kept asking for gluten-free options, and that nobody was selling drinks. She wonders what would happen if she came back next month with more cookies, a gluten-free batch and a cooler of juice. Both students had the same experience. The difference is how they thought about it. A mindset is a habit of thinking: the way you usually see problems, chances and setbacks. An entrepreneurial mindset is a way of thinking that helps you notice opportunities and act on them. The good news is that nobody is born with it. You can practise it, just like a sport or an instrument.
The eight elements of the mindset
Ontario's business curriculum breaks the entrepreneurial mindset into eight elements. An element is one part of something bigger. You do not need to be strong in all eight to be an entrepreneur. Most people are strong in a few and keep working on the rest. The table gives each element in plain words with an example a Grade 9 student could actually do.
| Element | What it means | Teen example |
|---|---|---|
| Being future-oriented | Thinking ahead about what could happen and what you want to happen | Dev starts booking spring lawn-care customers in March, before the grass even grows |
| Recognizing opportunities | Noticing a need or a gap that you could fill | Maya sees that the cafeteria has no healthy snacks after 2 p.m. and plans a muffin table |
| Communicating and collaborating | Sharing ideas clearly and working well with others | A club splits the fundraiser jobs so that one person handles posters and another handles cash |
| Critical thinking and problem solving | Looking at a problem carefully, finding the cause and testing solutions | Aisha asks why parents cancel babysitting bookings and finds they want text reminders |
| Anticipating and managing risk | Predicting what could go wrong and planning for it | Leo makes three test controller grips before ordering materials for fifty |
| Dealing with adversity and preparing for growth | Handling setbacks calmly and getting ready to grow | After rain cancels an outdoor car wash, the club books the school's covered entrance for next time |
| Creativity | Coming up with new ideas or new ways to use old ones | Maya sells cookie-decorating kits instead of only plain cookies |
| Being a lifelong learner | Choosing to keep learning new skills on your own | Leo watches free tutorials to learn 3D design for his gaming accessories |
Enterprising people and entrepreneurs
An enterprising person shows initiative, creativity and resourcefulness in any role. Initiative means starting something without being told to. Resourcefulness means finding clever ways to use what you already have. An entrepreneur is an enterprising person who also starts and owns a venture and takes on its financial risk. A venture is a new project or business. Financial risk is the chance of losing money. So every entrepreneur is enterprising, but not every enterprising person is an entrepreneur. The team captain who organizes extra practices is enterprising. The student who starts a paid lawn-care service with her own mower is an entrepreneur.