STEP Training
The Student Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion (STEP) is an entrepreneurship training program which has been successfully implemented around the globe. Doorways is a certified provider for the STEP Training.
About STEP
Developed as a training for students by the Frese Group at Leuphana University, but now also used more broadly, the STEP Training develops (young) people’s skills, knowledge, and confidence to pursue an entrepreneurial career. In the 6- to 12-week training, participants learn step-by-step to start their own businesses. The STEP Training targets individuals with limited prior entrepreneurial experience and individuals in the early stages of the entrepreneurial process.
In countries with adverse labor market conditions and limited employment opportunities, STEP Training can be part of a solution. Entrepreneurs have the potential to boost the economy and contribute substantially to new job creation. The training provides them with an effective means of creating jobs for themselves and other people in the community. A key benefit is that the students learn to take charge of their professional future. Through the training, the students become more proactive and independent, which supports them in overcoming the extreme unemployment rates among youths and the challenging job market conditions they are facing. Unemployment and poverty are inextricably intertwined. This is the point where the STEP Training seeks to make a difference.
STEP Training Concept
STEP Training participants form teams and engage in the start-up process of a real micro business during the training. They proceed through the entire entrepreneurial process from preparing to launch to managing a real business. This involves that they identify and evaluate new business opportunities, acquire equipment and raw materials, deal with suppliers, and enter the market to offer their product or service to real customers. The participants thus take an active role and learn entrepreneurship „on-the-job“. They experience becoming an entrepreneur under real business conditions. They receive real-life feedback and develop a better understanding of the tasks and challenges of an entrepreneur. This is key to develop a feeling of true mastery of entrepreneurship, a belief of „I can do it“.
STEP Training participants form teams and engage in the start-up process of a real micro business during the training. They proceed through the entire entrepreneurial process from preparing to launch to managing a real business. This involves that they identify and evaluate new business opportunities, acquire equipment and raw materials, deal with suppliers, and enter the market to offer their product or service to real customers. The participants thus take an active role and learn entrepreneurship „on-the-job“. They experience becoming an entrepreneur under real business conditions. They receive real-life feedback and develop a better understanding of the tasks and challenges of an entrepreneur. This is key to develop a feeling of true mastery of entrepreneurship, a belief of „I can do it“.
The STEP Training has been evaluated in multiple randomized controlled trials (RCT) with a training group and a control group. A comparison of the pre-training measurement with post-training measurements enables to assess the impact of the STEP Training. The findings support that STEP Training enhances participants’ intentions to start a business, the confidence in their entrepreneurial skills, their knowledge about how to start a business, and their action planning for starting a new business.
STEP was developed in cooperation with scholars Uganda and is build on an approach to entrepreneurship that is more in line with the realities of entrepreneurship in the Non-Western World. With every new implementation, the STEP Training content is adapted to the local context in cooperation with local partners. The training sessions are conducted by local trainers who receive a train-the trainer workshop to become certified STEP trainers. The workshops are led by a team of STEP master trainers and in each workshop, up to 12 new STEP trainers are instructed on the methodology and content of STEP. This approach enables our partners to implement the training sustainably and builds capacity on the ground.
The Difference Between STEP Training and Other Business Trainings
The STEP Training stands out from traditional entrepreneurship training programs by prioritizing the cultivation of an entrepreneurial mindset and actionable knowledge over theoretical concepts. Unlike conventional approaches that often rely heavily on classroom lectures, STEP employs a hands-on, action-oriented methodology. Participants start small-scale businesses from the very first sessions, allowing them to immediately apply everything they learn. This deepens the level of understanding and helps them to build confidence in their entrepreneurial skills. Additionally, while participants in traditional training programs may leave the program with only a business plan, STEP participants are working on their business plan from the first session onwards and are basing their plans on actual experience. This allows them to refine their ideas and gives them a head-start in their entrepreneurial journey.
Furthermore, STEP Training is uniquely tailored to the needs of entrepreneurs in the Global South, as it was developed in collaboration with African researchers. This ensures that the training is grounded in local realities and avoids the pitfalls of imposing Western-centric concepts that may not resonate with the participants’ contexts. Furthermore, STEP Training is strictly evidence-based, drawing on rigorous scientific research on entrepreneurship, management, and psychology to craft a curriculum, rather than mimicking what other training programs may offer. In the STEP Training, scientific evidence is broken down into actionable, easy-to-understand principles (“action principles”) that build the core of each session. Research has shown that this method increases the likelihood of successful long-term transfer of training outcomes.