Business Plan Perceptions and Experiences of Entrepreneurship Students in Oman

Abstract

Purpose – Feasibility Study or Business Plan (B-Plan) is inseparable component of many entrepreneurship programs at higher education level. In parallel, B-Plan is weighted component of The Entrepreneurship Module which has been offered commonly at all higher education institutions past 8 years in Oman. In this study, it is aimed to analyze perception and experiences of B-Plan by the perspectives of the students who studied Entrepreneurship and prepared B-Plan. Design/method/approach – Accordingly, the research has been designed to analyze B-Plan perceptions and experiences of the students from various programs and major at higher education level. As research method, the survey has been conducted with 562 students from Medicine, IT, Business, Engineering, Nursing majors and programs which commonly offering same Entrepreneurship Module at public and private HEIs in Oman. Findings – Some findings have confirmed significant differences of perceptions and experiences by gender and program. Regardless of gender and program, all participants were agree on that the most difficult part of B-Plan is financial management. What the most liked of B-Plan are teamwork, innovating, creating revenues. What the most disliked of B-Plan are financial management, business entitle, fundraising. Bigger team size negatively affects B-Plan perceptions/experiences. Males are capitalizing their B-Plan relatively higher than females. Females are more positive than males any perception and experiences on B-Plan. Discussion – There are considerable outcomes to revise and restructure B-Plan in Entrepreneurship Module in Oman and similar contexts as well. The students are not fully persuaded about why B-Plan required and confident enough to prepare B-Plan.