Celebrating National Small Business Week: Why We Teach Entrepreneurship to Syracuse Youth

National Small Business Week is celebrated the first week of May every year to generate awareness about small businesses and the entrepreneurs that keep them running. Small businesses make up 99.9% of businesses in the U.S. and create over 1.5 million jobs every year—which is why the Small Business Administration (S.B.A) has made it its mission to encourage as many small businesses as possible (National Today, 2023).

By generating wealth and employment, small businesses have contributed significantly to our country’s economy and more young entrepreneurs than ever before are joining the cause. The probability of young people choosing to start their own business is 188% higher today than it was in 1970 (National Today, 2023). With entrepreneurship becoming the new trend in our rapidly changing world, our students can benefit tremendously from being introduced to entrepreneurial activities at an early age. 

Entrepreneurship education can make a difference in the growth and development of students by teaching skills they can use well into their adult years:

1) Work Ethic

You quickly appreciate the value of hard work when you’re thrown into the middle of it. Kids develop a positive work ethic when they’re exposed to it as a normal state of affairs (Edwards, 2018).

2) Creative Thinking

The best businesses create products or services that are one-of-a-kind. By encouraging kids to think outside the box, they will learn to think differently and creatively (Spikes, 2023).


3) People Skills

Entrepreneurs put their best foot forward on a daily basis. Introducing interaction with unfamiliar individuals during kids’ formative years will make them better salespeople down the road (Edwards, 2018).

4) ‘Team Player’ Attitude

Forming the right relationships makes all the difference in the growth and productivity of a business. Kids will learn how to listen, communicate, collaborate around ideas, and play to each other’s strengths (Curtin, 2023).

5) Growth Mindset

Entrepreneurs have big dreams and are not easily discouraged by failure—they brainstorm solutions and keep moving forward. Teaching kids to be agile and resilient will allow them to see mistakes not as a setback but as an opportunity for growth (Curtin, 2023).

Mercy Works values the benefits of entrepreneurism and created the program #F.R.E.S.H. (First Real Entrepreneurism Starts Here) for self-motivated high-school students. #F.R.E.S.H. is designed to help students develop excellent work skills, fine-tune and build their resume, and develop great work etiquette.

Helping our students develop entrepreneurial skills through real professional experience will empower them to view the world through a lens of possibilities. We can’t wait to keep mentoring our young leaders in our upcoming summer #F.R.E.S.H. program. Join us and sign-up today. All curious and creative minds are welcome.

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Nati Torrence