Colleges recognizing the benefit of small businesses and the number of people interested in starting out on their own, begin offering college classes in entrepreneurship. That’s just how 23 year old Nick Massari, director of operations for Nanina’s Gourmet Sauce got his position.

In 2005 a group of Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J started the company that now sells its product in 400 grocery and gourmet shops in New Jersey and New York. Their professor worked as a chef previously and brought them a recipe for a successful sauce he’d never had time to market. The team of students divided into smaller teams, covering sales and marketing, finance, information technology, research and development, and production.

The Monmouth students researched their market, created a business and then followed through their blueprint, getting the sauce on supermarket shelves. The following semester the students followed through with a course in small business management where they learned through on-the-job training to run their company day to day. Massari predicts $1 million in sales this year. Not bad for a company 3 years old.

More than 2,000 of our nations’ colleges and universities jumped on the creating entrepreneurs band wagon with offerings from one class to an entire curriculum for entrepreneurship. In return 200,000 students enrolled in these classes. Small businesses generate 75% of all new jobs created in the USA.

Kansas City’s Kauffman Foundation is spending $50 million of money left by the great Kansas City entrepreneur and owner of the Royals Baseball team, Ewing Kauffman. The Foundation’s vice president, Marjorie Smelstor, insists that entrepreneurship can be taught, but the method of teaching must go beyond teaching theory. Former class learning coupled with a hands-on approach successfully teaches entrepreneurial skills. Smelstor also extols the importance of a well rounded, strong liberal arts education.

Active or retired business owners make the best teachers. These teachers teach students to get on the bicycle and ride rather than discussing the theoretical points on how bicycles can be ridden by humans.