"Lighting the fire" of entrepreneurship among students

Recently, many universities and colleges in the province have organized training courses on knowledge and skills on innovative start-ups (IJST) for students. This is a practical activity that contributes to spreading the spirit of innovative start-ups to young people while they are still in school.

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Tung, Director of KMi Knowledge Management Institute, trained lecturers and students of Dong Nai University on knowledge and skills of innovative entrepreneurship. Photo: Contributor

However, to ignite the passion for entrepreneurship, to awaken the determination and perseverance to pursue this path, these training programs are not enough.

Want to start a business but still have many concerns

Those who have embarked on the path of entrepreneurship are clearly aware that this is not a “walk in the park” but a difficult journey, requiring serious investment. In addition to equipping themselves with knowledge, students who want to start a business need to have passion and perseverance. In fact, when thinking about starting a business, most students think that they still lack many conditions to start.

According to Ms. Vo Thi Tuong Vi, a student majoring in Business Administration (Faculty of Economics , Dong Nai University), the common difficulties of students who want to start a business are financial problems and not having a clear direction, not being able to visualize the "path" and lacking guidance and support. "If I start a business, the two things I need most are capital and a companion to support me and show me a clear direction" - Ms. Vi said.

As for Mr. Thach Minh An, a student majoring in Electronics at Dong Nai University, the biggest obstacle for himself (and many other young people) is shyness. Mr. An shared: “There are very talented students with many ideas, but they do not have enough courage to overcome the previous frameworks and paths. Therefore, they have missed the opportunity to create success for themselves. It is even more regrettable when that success can bring benefits to society.”

Mr. An added that students are a young force with many creative and innovative ideas. Therefore, having a solid support system not only financially but also mentally will help them be able to freely create. “Students need to self-study and improve their knowledge not only in the school environment but also in life. They must always pay attention to observe and learn to be able to recognize startup opportunities in daily life,” said Mr. An.

Exploiting technology, novelty, uniqueness

For many years, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Tung, Director of the KMi Knowledge Management Institute ( Ho Chi Minh City) has been a companion of Dong Nai Provincial Youth Union and universities and colleges in the province in encouraging students to start businesses.

According to Dr. Tung, the leader of the universities, Dong Nai Provincial Youth Union is very interested in promoting innovative start-ups for students. Thanks to that, students are equipped with knowledge and methods to start a business. However, students need more support.

From the reality of participating in innovative start-up activities with Dong Nai students, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Tung commented: Dong Nai students have a spirit of eagerness to learn, are dynamic and many want to start a business, but there are still limitations that need to be overcome. In particular, the most typical is that students start a business but do not understand how to do it, most of them just follow what society has. Therefore, according to Dr. Tung, when starting a business, students should not rush into it but need to learn about solutions such as: technology, new ways of doing things, uniqueness, novelty... to bring to society more different products. Training and support programs for innovative start-ups in schools can completely support this.

Every year, the Youth Union of the school has a plan to organize training courses on innovative startups for students. However, it is necessary to frankly admit that this activity is not really of high quality but is mainly for students to have a basic understanding of innovative startups. I hope that, with the position of a developed industrial province with the 4th largest economy in the country, Dong Nai Provincial Youth Union will promote innovative startups among union members in general and students in particular; create more startup playgrounds. In particular, pay more attention to 2 colleges in Binh Phuoc province (old) so that students can participate in these activities more.

Mr. LE SY THE, Secretary of the Youth Union of Eastern College

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Tung said: Agricultural processing and food processing are two very rich fields, with wide development potential, suitable for students to start a business. In particular, with these fields, students can exploit many "new features" and have less competition than other fields.

Mr. Tung commented: “I believe that Dong Nai has agricultural, aquatic and food products that you can create added value. This will also be a very unique highlight for the innovation start-up of Dong Nai students”.

The participation of experts and businesses in encouraging and supporting student startups is essential. Along with that, innovative startup competitions also help find unique ideas and new directions, not only exploiting products but also developing services. In particular, in the 2-level local government model, innovative startup activities need to be connected with communes and wards, thereby building a sustainable innovative startup ecosystem. To do this, according to Dr. Nguyen Thanh Tung, there needs to be coordination and leadership from the departments of Science and Technology, Education and Training, Agriculture and Environment.

If you really have a desire to start a business, practice with burning passion, practice continuously, because starting a business is not easy. It is also necessary to distinguish between passion for starting a business and passion for material things, power, and position. Only when you have passion will you have enough perseverance to go to the end.

Dr. NGUYEN THANH TUNG, Director of KMi Knowledge Management Institute

For universities and colleges, within the school, there needs to be a connection between faculties and majors to promote the strengths of each faculty and major. It is even necessary to expand the connection between universities and colleges so that the "disparate pieces" can be put together to create unique startup products.

According to experts, the Business Semester model should be developed so that students have the opportunity to approach and learn directly from businesses. Conversely, businesses should also coordinate with schools to train students. From there, students will have ideas that directly serve the development of businesses such as: product improvement, new ideas, new solutions, etc.

Hai Yen

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202510/thap-lua-khoi-nghiep-trong-sinh-vien-66c2cce/