Also known as a business simulation, an entrepreneurship simulation is an interactive learning experiences. They emulate real-life details and actions in a risk-free virtual environment.

Entrepreneurship simulations are just one of the nearly infinite business simulations variations. Users can practice, develop, and stimulate critical business skills such as financial and market analyses, decision making, problem-solving, teamwork, communication, and leadership.

In addition to learning theories, practices, or concepts, entrepreneurship simulations allow learners to build skills, gain perspective, and incorporate lessons into a simulated world.

In entrepreneurship simulations, students face technical issues, make creative and lasting decisions, and uncover information as they naturally progress through their company’s journey.

Users within simulations can also pitch ideas to investors, find funding and support for their products, recruit teammates, and answer any questions about entrepreneurship they may have through first-hand experience.

Studies on Entrepreneurship Simulations

There are countless reliable, detailed, and empirical research papers detailing the intricacies of these amazing products. Read “Using Simulation to Develop Entrepreneurial Skills and Mind-Set: An Exploratory Case Study” and “Simulations in Entrepreneurship Education: Serious Games and Learning Through Play” for some perspective as to how versatile these simulations can be.

These simulations can be basic back-and-forth text blocks or immersive augmented and virtual reality worlds. Some video game producers even incorporate entrepreneurship simulations into their games, making them as realistic, engaging, and accurate as possible.

Entrepreneurship simulations are highly configurable, allowing teachers, facilitators, or demonstrators to pinpoint ideas or lessons they want to showcase. Learners can use these simulations independently or work with instructors to enhance their receptiveness to concepts.

Many entrepreneurship simulations have built-in lectures, knowledge checks, example files and scenarios, scoreboards, student and teacher feedback forms, and grading. These virtual learning environments are coded with every consideration, making teaching entrepreneurship as compelling as possible.

You can think of these highly complicated arrays of information, data, and computing power as specialized startup company games. These entrepreneurship education games are more prevalent than ever, and you may have already used several without even knowing it.

Benefits of an Entrepreneurship Simulation

Practice theories and concepts

Entrepreneurship simulations allow users to experiment with foreign or new concepts, practices, and strategies easily, risk-free, and without leaving the comfort of a desk. As a result, learners can observe how those theories affect real-world business decisions, incorporate them into modern business problems, and how those principles impact decision-making.

Most simulations emulate the real-world factors and challenges that contemporary businesses face, an essential component of experiencing genuine cause-and-effect relationships. With this insight, students can piece together a larger picture of the problems they face, gaining a more well-rounded understanding of topics rather than learning them in isolation.

You may have heard the saying, “We remember 10% of what we read, 20% of what we hear, 70% of what we discuss with others, and 80% of what we experience.” Entrepreneurship programs are the key to experiencing the business nuances from the classroom.

Engage and involve learners

Learners have endured too many monotonous business planning lectures. We need engaged eyes and ears to foster the next generation of critical-thinking, risk-tolerant, goal-driven geniuses.

Authentic engagement involves cooperating, analyzing, observing, and applying concepts. Business founders can no longer develop the insight needed to kickstart an influential entrepreneurship career through traditional teaching methods.

Engagement and hands-on experiences are how we propel these innovators into the world of business. The more learners visualize, discuss, plan, receive feedback, and practice techniques, the more efficient their mindset and strategies become.

While a user’s learning experience is highly contingent on their motivation and open-mindedness, entrepreneurship simulations are proven to be the most efficient means of engaging learners.

Instructors can also tune these simulations to encourage competition, collaboration, and peer-guided learning. This is yet another incredibly engaging, diverse, and lively learning method possible through entrepreneurship simulations.

Read “Student Learning in Business Simulation: An Empirical Investigation” for scientific results of using entrepreneurship simulations for better student engagement.

Technical and soft skill development

In addition to the many technical or ‘hard’ skills entrepreneurship simulations can target and strengthen, learners also practice ‘soft’ interpersonal and problem-solving skills. The most common skills programmed into these simulations are adaptability and teamwork, conflict resolution, critical thinking, communication, and risk analysis.

Learning through failure

While many of us don’t like the flavor of failure, mistakes are a critical step towards developing. Learning from failure, shortcomings, and mistakes brings areas of weakness into focus, shows us the consequences of our actions, and lays the foundation for self-improvement.

Entrepreneurship simulations create an environment where users can experiment, fail, and grow with nothing but time to lose.

As participants reflect and analyze their decisions, they can experience more of the entrepreneurship lifestyle with each simulation. These entrepreneurial tests unearth the startup company founder in everyone.

Flexibility

We can deploy these cutting-edge simulations in classrooms, hybrid meetings, virtual conferences, and in-person events. Even though tremendous computing power is required to process several life-like simulations smoothly, users can host complex simulations from a mobile phone thanks to cloud computing.

Technology has made accessing impactful learning resources incredibly easy, giving us one more reason to place entrepreneurship simulations in the hands of everyone who may benefit from them.

Tailor simulations for everyone

It doesn’t matter if you’re a student entrepreneur, a virtual business, or a startup company. You can tune your entrepreneurial creation to suit your needs, interests, learning style, place of work, age, and so much more.

A prime example of the versatility of these simulations is video games. While there aren’t many gaming entrepreneurs out there, teens and young adults have likely played some form of a businessman simulator, build-your-own tycoon entrepreneur game, or triple-A empire creator.

These instances of entrepreneurship simulations expose high school and college students to the power of business simulations in the palm of their hands. If you are an educator, we highly recommend you find some entrepreneurial simulation lesson plans and either gamify or base your teaching style around them.

This paper details the intricacies of giving students gamified entrepreneurship simulations. We highly recommend you read this if you want some more empirical encouragement for these high-tech learning systems.

Business simulations have redefined what entrepreneurship is in education, how instructors teach, and the advantages of instilling entrepreneurship basics into young adults. While entrepreneurial games for students won’t replace organizational and professional simulations, they give learners a taste of an engaging, adaptive, and life-like learning experience just around the corner.