By means of a learning-by-doing approach, students will develop a broad range of competencies and skills in relation to the setting up and running of an entrepreneurial venture. Key learning objectives of this year-long course are: (a) to develop and nurture the students’ skills throughout the entrepreneurial phases of opportunity recognition, business planning, assembling resources, and launching, managing and growing a new venture; (b) to enhance students’ entrepreneurship-relevant interpersonal skills (e.g., communication, networking, leadership) through intense teamwork and interaction with external parties; (c) to expose students to interesting, novel and relevant ideas and approaches in the field of entrepreneurship by means of workshops and/or guest speakers.

The course Developing Entrepreneurial Skills (EBC4093) is the practical skills course within the MSc Track Entrepreneurship & SME Management which runs for an entire academic year in parallel with the Track’s other courses. In this course, teams of 3 to 4 students identify an entrepreneurial opportunity, and based on this opportunity set up and run their own entrepreneurial venture. By going through all the phases of the entrepreneurial process themselves – from opportunity recognition up to actual sales in the market – students develop a broad set of skills and competencies relevant for their future (potential) entrepreneurial endeavors. Alternatively, students can join an existing start-up company in the Maastricht area. Throughout this entrepreneurial process, students will be mentored and supervised by an experienced tutor, and they will be asked to develop and present intermediate plans and reports. Moreover, a number of workshops/guest lectures will be organized in which students are introduced to insights and experiences that go beyond their own project.

To be decided, will be announced in the course manual.

TRANSITIONAL REGULATION (EBC4093):
Only for students who started one of the following programmes/specialisations prior to academic year 2020/21:
* Master Business Research - No specialisation (Note: only if you are taking "Entrepreneurship and SME Management" disciplinary courses!)
* Master International Business - Entrepreneurship and SME Management
The course EBC4093 has been replaced with EBC4270 plus an extra assignment for 0.5 ECTS
However, master International Business - Entrepreneurship and SME Management students who started their studies in February 2020 can continue this course.