Entrepreneurial Thinking Matters for Everyone — Including You

By Sarah Hicks and Katie Gustafson

Most people think entrepreneurship doesn't apply to their situation. But the truth is that everyone needs to master entrepreneurial thinking to succeed, no matter their career plans.

Though entrepreneurship is often associated with starting your own business, it’s actually a mindset you can learn and that is needed in every business, industry and career today, including skills-based jobs.

The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) calls entrepreneurial thinking an “essential, 21st century skill” that's a key element of academic and career success. The organization believes this valuable skill can be taught and learned. Its Entrepreneurial Mindset Index (EMI)™, pictured below, illustrates the qualities of an entrepreneurial thinker.

What is entrepreneurial thinking?

Entrepreneurial thinking is about having a natural curiosity and searching for solutions to people’s problems.

Entrepreneurial thinking is about having a natural curiosity and searching for solutions to people’s problems.

Key elements include critical thinking skills and the ability to recognize opportunity when you see it. As the graphic above spells out, other skills include taking initiative, being flexible and creative, and being comfortable with risk.

Comfort with risk is the quality that gets the most attention because it’s what we associate with the biggest names in entrepreneurship — think Mark Cuban or Sarah Blakely — but it’s not the most important factor for success. In fact, the element of risk isn’t always present.

Entrepreneurial thinking doesn’t necessarily mean creating something new or taking extreme risk. That’s why entrepreneurial skills are applicable to many more down-to-earth situations, like solving a problem on a machine shop floor or taking a new approach to sharing information in a hospital.

“In this era defined by complexity and uncertainty, an entrepreneurial spirit is very much needed,” writes Piyachart Isarabhakdee, CEO of BRANDi strategy consultancy. “Entrepreneurs will be the architects of new growth paths. They challenge assumptions, navigate ambiguity and act with urgency.”

Why is entrepreneurship important?

The world is changing fast.

Innovation, proactivity and creativity — the hallmarks of entrepreneurial thinking — are needed to succeed. 

“Entrepreneurship education builds transferable capabilities: recognizing opportunities, taking calculated risks and learning from failure,” write Jean Daniel LaRock, president and CEO of NFTE, and Irina Bullara, member of the board at RenovaBR in a World Economic Forum blog. The OECD’s Education 2030 framework identifies these skills as necessities for future-ready learners, but most education systems are not teaching them systematically. 

Gary Schoeniger, founder and CEO of the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative (ELI), pointed out in a 2021 podcast that being entrepreneurial goes far beyond starting a business. Indeed, having an entrepreneurial mindset is now a key competency for success in workplaces of all kinds. 

“The definition of entrepreneurship is woefully out of date; it's woefully inadequate,” he says. “It was the definition that arose at the dawn of the industrial revolution to distinguish between someone who organized the business and someone who operated the business. But now the people who operate the business want people to be entrepreneurial in the business.”

One reason that 84% of hiring managers say most high school graduates aren't ready for the workforce is their lack of “soft skills” like critical thinking and communication—skills that are fundamentals of entrepreneurial thinking. This startling statistic, from the 2025 U.S. Chamber/College Board New Hire Readiness Report, relates to another eye-opening finding: 89% of hiring managers believe experience is more valuable than formal education. Entrepreneurial thinkers will be well-positioned in this environment, as that mindset pushes people to find creative ways to get the experience that will help them to accomplish their goals.

Entrepreneurial thinking is a learnable skill

Entrepreneurial thinking can be taught like any other skill and supported through educational resources that help fledgling entrepreneurs put it to good use.  

“Entrepreneurship at its core is a process of discovery — the search for the intersection between our own interests and abilities and the needs of our fellow humans,” writes Schoeniger in a blog post. “It does not require big ideas, venture capital, a unique personality or an Ivy League MBA. It simply requires discovery skills — skills that anyone can learn to develop, yet skills that our system of education has historically undervalued, overlooked or ignored.”

The key is successfully incorporating entrepreneurial thinking into educational programs.

Accordingly, Rebecca Corbin, president and CEO of the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship (NACCE), says her organization’s mission is about getting entrepreneurship into the classroom — regardless of the subject — and also into communities.

As a guest on the 2021 podcast, Corbin talked to Schoeniger about the role financial support and community colleges can play in turning entrepreneurial thinking into real-life success: “We’ve seen at NACCE that [after] giving an aspiring entrepreneur four or five thousand dollars and giving them support through community college, many of them in three months can be cash positive and turn a solo business into something that hires three or four or ten people.”

One way NACCE teaches and expands entrepreneurship is by helping aspiring or existing business people, especially women and minorities who don’t always have equal access to such opportunities.

NACCE’s Everyday Entrepreneur Program (EEP) helps NACCE-member community colleges launch and fund local entrepreneurship programs. They support students in all walks of life through education, mentorship and seed money for everyday businesses, which in turn help the communities where they are launched.

Hillsborough Community College (HCC) in Tampa, Florida, was one of the first colleges to receive a $250,000 gift from the Everyday Entrepreneur Venture Fund Foundation (EEVF), which provides the initial seed money for these programs. The HCC Foundation secured a matching gift, doubling the fund and increasing the number of budding entrepreneurs and existing businesses it could help. The businesses it helped include Carolina Conner, a veteran-owned custom home builder and remodeler; Axon Motor Company, which designs and fabricates electric motors and generators; and Pickled Art Shop, an artist collective that offers retail and workshop space for local artists.

In addition, HCC also offers an interdisciplinary entrepreneurship associate degree, which can prepare students to apply for startup seed funding or to work for an established company, as the video below explains in more detail.

How entrepreneurial thinkers use the resources at hand

The rapid advance of technology has prompted a proliferation of the resources that entrepreneurs have at their disposal. Many of these are free or available affordably, giving those who want to do something new and different an exciting, fast-changing universe of tools to employ. 

The advent of AI has only enhanced this ongoing process. Many AI tools are available to help people leverage the creativity, innovation and problem-solving mindset that are hallmarks of entrepreneurial thinking. 

One of these is SkillPointe’s AI chatbot called Ventra, sponsored by NACCE, which is freely available to help potential entrepreneurs figure out how to start a business. Available on the “Start Your Own Business” page of the SkillPointe website, Ventra provides resources appropriate for a user’s location, including information on local regulations, relevant courses, prototyping service providers, potential funding options and answers to as many questions as a user cares to ask. 

Figuring out how to make use of the resources one has at hand is an important principle of entrepreneurial thinking. It is one of five elements of the problem-solving method called effectuation developed by University of Virginia Professor Saras Sarasvathy, which is about using available resources, partnerships and an opportunity mindset to build something new. 

The method is a common approach among serial entrepreneurs who see opportunity everywhere and act on it. The first principle in this approach, named “Means” or “Bird-in-Hand,” asks entrepreneurs to take stock of the resources they have available so they can use those to start their venture instead of seeking things they don’t yet have. They can organize these means into three categories: Who I am (traits, tastes, abilities), what I know (education, training, expertise, experience), and who I know (social and professional networks).

Creatively leveraging existing resources is central to applying entrepreneurial thinking to any situation, not just starting a business.

Entrepreneurial thinking can launch a business or a career

Business models are changing, with less hierarchy and more opportunity and flexibility. Whether you own the business or not, the same thinking applies: If you see a problem that needs solving or a new niche that needs filling, don’t wait for someone else to do it.

Take Neil Huber, for example. Huber spent nine years as an MRI technologist, always eager to learn more and keep growing, but he realized it was too difficult for MRI technicians and technologists to advance in the field while holding a full-time job. He created Pulse Radiology Education to provide online American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) Structured Education in MRI, CT and Mammography. Since its launch, his company has helped educate hundreds of technologists.

Matthew McVay is another example. In his youth, he hopped among jobs — bartender, salesman, tree farmer — but when he started in carpentry, he knew he'd found his career.

"Our job is to solve problems, and that’s part of the pride that goes into our work,” he says.

McVay now owns his own company and couldn't be happier. "The opportunity to make money is definitely there."

Adaptability and resourcefulness are key ways entrepreneurial thinking not only launches new businesses but also helps employees be more effective at their jobs and respond to unexpected obstacles.

“In times of strife and consternation and challenge, I think we lean into entrepreneurship, because quite frankly, we don't really have a choice,” says Corbin.

Sarah Hicks is an editor and writer with expertise in workforce training and sustainability.

Katherine Gustafson is a full-time freelance writer specializing in content for mission-driven changemakers such as tech disruptors in fintech, healthcare IT, and B2B SaaS. She also does corporate work on business topics including accounting, management, and innovation for companies such as Bloomberg, Visa and Adobe.