Why business needs to become a real part of the education system

I spotted a tweet early today from entrepreneur Oli Barrett about the Make Your Mark With A Tenner competition. Organised by Enterprise UK it is one of my favourite business competitions. School children around the UK are given loans of £10 and have four weeks to come up with a business idea which makes as much money as possible.

The results in 2009 were astounding.

Henry Pearce at St Thomas' Church School in Scarborough for instance make a profit of £736.77 raising money for a library project in Kenya. Awarding him the best overall profit prize, Enterprise UK said: "Henry launched himself into a one-man entrepreneurial venture which took him outside of his comfort zone. Using his Tenner capital to rent the perfect outfit - a 1920s bathing suit! - Henry challenged the members of his church and friends to pay money for him to model during the show. By creating a sophisticated promotional plan, Henry made profits well above his target amount showing a real sense of fun and marketing nous!"

Such a return as that Henry managed would be welcomed by any entrepreneur so if the achievements of the young people taking part in Make Your Mark With A Tenner are anything to go by the future of British business looks good. Or does it?

What worries me is that the education system in its present form isn't geared up to exploit the entrepreneurial spirit that is clearly lurking among the nation's school children. And it also isn't embracing the way young people are used to getting things done.

Things are changing with the likes of Peter Jones' Enterprise Academy being set up to promote entrepreneurship as a career. But enterprise also needs to be part of the mainstream education system. Children may not necessarily know they're suited to running their own business so won't apply for something like that offered by Jones.

Business needs to pervade the whole process and not just the odd half hour spent on 'business studies'. This was something Tim Campbell, social entrepreneur and winner of The Apprentice, told me in a video interview I did with him last year.

Schemes like Make Your Mark With A Tenner shouldn't just take place once a year; they should be happening all the time and initiatives must embrace modern technology because that's how the 21st century generation do things.

For inspiration, educators and policymakers should look towards events like One Young World which is taking place in London this week. The organisers have harnessed the power of social media to recruit delegates aged under 25 from over 100 countries. People were encouraged to vote for attendees and donate funds to cover costs. High profile 'counsellors' have also been attracted including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and campaigner and musician Bob Geldoff. Those sort of people don't turn up to any old event.

Lucian Tarnowski, the 26-year-old founder of BraveNewTalent which led the social media recruitment process, said: "This generation is different; for the first time young people are an authority on something that really matters - the internet. One Young World's social media outreach perfectly demonstrates how a generation of young people can use this powerful tool to improve the world they will inherit." Exactly!

This modern way of doing business needs to be taught to our young people who, and I know it's a cliche, are the Richard Bransons and Anita Roddicks of the future. Get those sort of processes in place and Great Britain really will be the place to do business.