Latest news with #businessskills
CTV News
20-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Over 1,100 young entrepreneurs launch small businesses on Lemonade Day Calgary
Lemonade stands sprouted across the city Saturday. Over 1,000 young Calgary entrepreneurs participated in Lemonade Day Calgary, tripling last year's total. The program is designed to introduce children between five and 13 years old to business skills through operating their on lemonade stands. "Over 1,100 kids who have set up stands are out selling lemonade,' said Mona Csada, the director of marketing at Tiller Digital, who sponsored Lemonade Day. 'They've gone through our free curriculum and learned how to set up their own business and now they're out making money and learning how to run a business. Csada said the event helps introduce children to a few core business skills that could be invaluable throughout their lives. It's really important to build – not only skills like business and math – but skills like communication,' she said. 'Kids have a chance to build confidence through this experience. They get to express their creativity by coming up with a name for their stand and figuring out what their product is going to be. Lemonade Day Calgary, July 19, 2025 Over 1,000 lemonade stands sprouted across the city Saturday as part of Lemonade Day Calgary. (Darren Wright, CTV Calgary) 'And we find that kids who go through this program really feel that they've not only learned a lot, but feel more confident and more excited about what they can accomplish.' Why lemonade? 'It's just a simple concept,' she said. 'If you're going to start your first business, start with something simple and easy, and build your foundational skills through that.' Everyone who participates submits business and branding plans, with winners chosen in both categories -- and organizers say they encourage each business to set goals for spending, saving and giving. And it's something everybody likes to buy. It's classic. 'A lot of them contribute to the community with some of their profits,' she said, 'so we encourage them to to think about ways they can continue to give back.'
Zawya
09-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Agility joins LOYAC in kicking off the 10th edition of KON program
KUWAIT – Agility, a supply chain services, infrastructure and innovation company, marked its sponsorship of the 10th edition of the KON Social Entrepreneurship Program at a special launch event hosted by LOYAC to celebrate the program's 10-year milestone. The KON program will provide 60 students aged 12 to 16 with five weeks of intensive training in business management skills. This program, designed in partnership with Babson College, an international leader in entrepreneurship education, aims to instill an entrepreneurial mindset in students and empower them to become active agents of social change. Through interactive workshops, mentoring sessions, and team-based projects, students will explore business fundamentals, address real-world social and environmental challenges, and develop leadership, communication, and critical thinking skills, guided by a team of experienced professionals and subject-matter experts. Mariam Al-Foudery, Agility's Group Chief Marketing Officer said: 'Kuwait has placed a strong emphasis on developing its human capital and fostering innovation. At Agility, we're proud to support initiatives that empower Kuwait's youth and equip them for the future. The KON Social Entrepreneurship Program is a great example—it gives young people the tools and experience they need to succeed.' Agility's strategic partnership with LOYAC has extended since 2006, contributing to the preparation of 550 young people in Kuwait to enter the job market through LOYAC's specialized courses and distinguished initiatives promoting financial literacy and entrepreneurship. The support for the 10th edition of the KON program is part of Agility's 2025 Corporate Social Responsibility Program, which aims to empower 5,000+ people in Kuwait. This is achieved through Agility's partnership with leading non-profit institutions in Kuwait, continuing a collaboration that has spanned over 20 years and has positively impacted more than 51,000 individuals in Kuwait to date. About Agility Agility is a global leader in supply chain services, innovation, and infrastructure. The company is listed in Boursa Kuwait and Dubai Financial Market.
Forbes
07-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
What Successful Entrepreneurs Really Wish They Had Learned At School
What successful entrepreneurs really wish they had learned at school School taught you to memorize facts and follow rules. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs who built empires from nothing learned their most valuable lessons through painful trial and error. They lost money, made mistakes, and figured out the hard way what actually matters in business. You can't learn that in the classroom. Schools teach subjects: maths, creative writing and sciences. But businesses can't be split into discrete categories. Within one day, an entrepreneur is an accountant, a marketer, manager, lawyer and practitioner. They switch between skills depending on what's required. The real world demands more from business owners than school is currently teaching. Here's what successful entrepreneurs wish they had known ahead of entering the playing field. The money skills that matter: what entrepreneurs wish schools taught Christina Theo, a psychologist specializing in the brain-body connection, said, "I wish school had taught me how trauma rewires your body before it reshapes your beliefs. I was raised to achieve, perform, and please. As a 2nd-gen Greek Cypriot in North London, I followed unspoken rules: get it right, don't take up space, don't be a burden. No one told me my drive wasn't just ambition, it was fear." Setting up on your own requires using fear as your driver, not your limiter. Let's teach kids they can reach for the moon, no matter who is trying to keep them playing small. True outliers are audacious and definitely don't aim to fit in; skills we could all have benefitted from learning earlier. Picture classrooms where teenagers learn emotional intelligence alongside algebra. They graduate knowing their triggers, their strengths, their motivations. These students become the CEOs who build companies with soul, the leaders who inspire without manipulating, the entrepreneurs who succeed without burning out. They make millions while sleeping well at night. "I wish I learned sales in school,' said Patrina Pellett, who runs her own business as an AI for medical affairs specialist. 'As I've gotten older and now that I have my own business, I'm 100% convinced it's the most valuable skill. It will open so many doors in your life." People think sales skills are born, not taught. But that's because they are rarely taught. What if we learned young that selling means solving other people's problems? What if 'sales' wasn't considered a dirty word because we set it up better during the early years. Schools that teach sales (in a real, useful way) could create graduates who pitch cancer cures to investors, not just products to customers. These students become the consultants companies hire at 22 because they understand human psychology. They lead movements, not just meetings. Watch them turn rejection into data, negotiations into collaborations, and every conversation into opportunity. "I wish I'd learned how to read and respond to financial data confidently. For years, I thought being good at business meant working hard, not understanding the story my numbers were telling me,' said Joan Adams, who built her career as a director and fractional CFO. 'Once I learned to decode the finances, everything changed: I made better decisions, grew faster, and finally paid myself what I was worth." Business success requires the numbers to add up. But how do you know if you've never been taught? If schools gave maths lessons in terms of revenue and profit, would it set tomorrow's entrepreneurs up for wealth on their terms? Imagine a generation of kids that understand P&L statements as if they were social media posts. Students who graduate understanding compound interest become the investors backing tomorrow's unicorns by 25. They skip the debt trap, build multiple income streams before college ends, and treat money as a tool they control. These kids start companies in dorm rooms not from naivety but from knowledge. Suman R., who works as a content creation specialist, said, "I wish school had taught me that there's not only one way to become successful; you can turn your hobby into revenue-generating stuff if you keep pace with advancements in technology." Sitting down with a careers advisor at age 16 gave me the false impression that there were a finite number of careers available. But technology moves fast, and by the time I sat my final exams, new options had opened up. People learn fastest by doing. Millions of adults are learning how to leverage AI by just playing with ChatGPT. What if we taught kids that the possibilities were endless, if they just got curious, ran experiments, and connected passion and purpose to making money? "I wish school had taught us how to share what we know online,' said David Nge, founder and writer at 'After Covid-19, I started a blog to document website tips from client work, and it ended up landing me a content marketing role that paid four times more than my previous job. Turns out, your body of work is the best resume you can build." Share what you know online, build your reputation one day at a time. Schools don't teach this, but everyone who has successfully built their personal brand wishes they had started sooner. The ROI is infinite if you get this right. Students who learn personal branding in school could become the thought leaders shaping industries by 30. They would build audiences before they built products, and create demand before supply exists. These graduates land dream jobs through DMs, not applications. They get funded through followers, not pitch decks. High school projects could turn into Harvard case studies, teenage blogs into book deals, and college experiments into empire foundations. All because they doubled down on who they were. "I wish I had learned at school that you can't please a bully, and standing up for yourself doesn't mean you have to fight with them,' said Birgit Itse, who works as a self-employed story architect. She paraphrases George Bernard Shaw, 'That fighting with a bully is like wrestling with a pig. You both get muddy but the pig likes it." Kids are mean and playgrounds can be brutal for self-confidence and self-worth. Schools teaching resilience would create entrepreneurs who see failure as data collection. They'd be hardened to anything that life and work threw their way. These students would graduate knowing how to bounce back before they need to. They would build companies that survive recessions because they practiced recovery in controlled environments. Teenage setbacks become startup stories, classroom conflicts make boardroom confidence. They negotiate with VCs at 23 because they learned to stand their ground at 13. After years as a digital nomad, Gabe Marusca runs a business consultancy. "I wish school had taught me how to feel safe with uncertainty,' he said. 'Growing up, everything was about stability: choose a career, buy a house, stay in one place. But nothing prepared me for an entrepreneurial life where Wi-Fi drops mid-client call in the jungle of Thailand." The education conveyor belt plays it safe. It teaches kids to tend towards settling. Secure that dream job, partner, mortgage and family. Go on holiday once a year. Live within a few miles of where you grew up. But that life isn't for everyone. Some people are born to explore. Picture students running real businesses from secondary school, failing safely with teacher-mentors as guides. They graduate with portfolios of attempts, not just transcripts of grades. They thrive in uncertainty because they were exposed to it from a young age. Maybe they build billion-dollar businesses because they learned iteration beats perfection when they were 15. What should be taught in schools? Entrepreneurs share insights. These entrepreneurs learned these lessons the hard way. They paid tuition in mistakes, lost opportunities, and hard-won lessons. The education system needs a reality check. While students memorize formulas they'll never use, real entrepreneurs are out there figuring out cash flow through trial and error. While kids write essays about Shakespeare, founders are learning to write pitch decks after their third rejection. While careers advisors have you choose from a list, the roles of the future haven't been invented yet. The disconnect costs careers, dreams, and billions in lost potential. Schools create employees when the world needs builders. They teach compliance when success demands audacity. They grade on memorization when money flows to those who can sell, connect, and adapt. Teach kids to read financials and they'll spot opportunities others miss. Show them how to sell and they'll fund their own futures. Build their resilience and they'll bounce back from failures that would crush their parents. Let them practice entrepreneurship in safe spaces and they'll build empires in the real world. Fix the curriculum and watch what happens.
Entrepreneur
29-06-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Access to 1,000+ Skill Courses Is Now Just $20
Disclosure: Our goal is to feature products and services that we think you'll find interesting and useful. If you purchase them, Entrepreneur may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. If you're leading a business—or building one from the ground up—here's a tip: your competitive edge is only as sharp as the skills you keep refining. With EDU Unlimited by StackSkills, you can do just that—for $19.97. That's not a monthly fee. That's lifetime access to over 1,000 curated courses designed to help business leaders, freelancers, and side hustlers gain an edge in today's fast-moving landscape. This platform offers a curated mix of high-impact content in tech, design, development, marketing, finance, and even soft skills that boost leadership and communication. Whether you want to better understand cloud security before your next pitch meeting or finally wrap your head around growth hacking to boost user acquisition, EDU Unlimited has you covered. Led by 350+ vetted, elite instructors, each course is self-paced, practical, and focused on real-world applications—not fluff. You'll also get certifications to show off your new skills, monthly course updates to keep the learning fresh, and quarterly webinars with instructors who've walked the walk. Think of it as the Netflix of business skills—but instead of binge-watching dramas, you're building the skillset that powers your next big business leap. From a Manhattan co-working space to a suburban home office, the lessons apply across industries, stages, and time zones. Skip the expensive boot camps and recurring fees and get lifetime access to a world of growth to use whenever, wherever. Just $19.97 (reg. $600) gets you StackSkills Unlimited for life—through July 20 only. EDU Unlimited by StackSkills: Lifetime Access See Deal StackSocial prices subject to change.
Zawya
15-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
OAB's Tumouhi initiative hits the road with SME development workshops across Oman
Muscat: Oman Arab Bank (OAB) has announced the launch of its SME Development Training Roadshow, a dynamic two-day program set to take place in Nizwa from June 17 to 18 under the patronage of H.E. Sheikh Dr. Faisal bin Ali bin Rashid Al Zidi; Wali of Manah. Held under the umbrella of the Bank's Tumouhi initiative, the roadshow is tailored to equip small and medium enterprise (SME) owners with essential business skills, financial knowledge, and networking opportunities to fuel their growth. Most notably, this is the third workshop after the Muscat and Sohar events, with the bank's aim to continue to cover all regions in the Sultanate of Oman. The workshop will be hosted at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hall in Nizwa and is open to SME owners and aspiring entrepreneurs across the Sultanate. With a comprehensive agenda covering financial literacy, strategic planning, human resources, and marketing, participants will gain hands-on insights to help scale their ventures. Commenting on the initiative, Sulaiman Al Harthi, CEO of Oman Arab Bank, said, "At Oman Arab Bank, we believe SMEs are the backbone of our economy. Through the Tumouhi initiative, we are committed to empowering entrepreneurs with the skills and tools they need to thrive. The roadshow ascends being a mere training program. Truly, it is a platform for inspiration, connection, and sustainable growth." The Tumouhi SME Roadshow reflects OAB's broader commitment to national economic development through targeted support for small businesses. The initiative also aligns with Oman Vision 2040 by fostering a resilient private sector powered by innovation, inclusion, and enterprise. Interested participants can register via the official OAB website. Seats are limited and early registration is encouraged.
