Designing an entrepreneurship education model for the success of small and medium businesses

The main objective of this research is providing an entrepreneurship education model for small and medium-sized businesses. To this end, the dimensions and indicators were identified and the initial model was developed by examining the models and theories related to the factors affecting the creation of entrepreneurship and exploratory interview with some experts. Then, the Delphi panel consisting of 20 experts was formed. The questionnaires were distributed and their opinions were analyzed. The result showed that entrepreneurship education for small and medium enterprises consists of the skill dimensions of IT, technical, entrepreneurial, and management. These dimensions consist of 47 indicators. Reliability of the questionnaire was obtained equal to 0.89 using SPSS software and Cronbach's alpha. Express Choice Software was used to determine the priority of each of the dimensions and indicators of the paired comparison technique. The results showed that entrepreneurial skills play the most important role in creating small and medium-sized businesses. In order to determine the effectiveness of the model, 384 samples were selected from the graduates and the final questionnaire was provided to them. In this case, the difference between the scores before and after training was considered as a dependent variable. Using SPSS software and multiple regression analysis, the positive relationship of entrepreneurship education was confirmed with IT, technical, entrepreneurship, and management skills. The results of modeling with Amos software also showed a positive and significant relationship between skills and entrepreneurship education.