Entrepreneurial skills training provides the basics of starting and operating a small business.

Such training must develop the skills associated with entrepreneurship. Such skills may include, but are not limited to, the ability to:

Take initiative;

Creatively seek out and identify business opportunities;

Develop budgets and forecast resource needs;

Understand various options for acquiring capital and the trade-offs associated with each option; and

Communicate effectively and market oneself and one's ideas.

Approaches to teaching youth entrepreneurial skills include, but are not limited to, the following:

Entrepreneurship education that provides an introduction to the values and basics of starting and running a business. Entrepreneurship education programs often guide youth through the development of a business plan and also may include simulations of business start-up and operation.

Enterprise development which provides supports and services that incubate and help youth develop their own businesses. Enterprise development programs go beyond entrepreneurship education by helping youth access small loans or grants that are needed to begin business operation and by providing more individualized attention to the development of viable business ideas.

Experiential programs that provide youth with experience in the day-to-day operation of a business. These programs may involve the development of a youth-run business that young people participating in the program work in and manage. Or, they may facilitate placement in apprentice or internship positions with adult entrepreneurs in the community.