Previous career experience often provides the starting point for a business. Employment in an industry enables 'niche' opportunities to be identified, networks of contacts to be built up and skills developed, as demonstrated in the contextual learning theme of the entrepreneurial learning model. People develop distinctive expertise which they can use in their own business. The commercial and technical or professional skills and insights or 'practical theories' provide a knowledge base and reduce risk. However the move from employment to self-employment or entrepreneurship is not always simple, and many who have done this have found that they needed to learn the additional skills of running a business, for which their previous career had not prepared them. These are covered in the section on 'personal skills and readiness' later in this chapter.
Education, training and professional development often provide the knowledge, the reali-sation that entrepreneurship is possible and some of the contacts necessary to start a business. There are more graduates in certain subject areas, such as art, design, fashion and computer gaming, than there are career opportunities, and self-employment is a neces¬sity for an increasing number of them. Unfortunately this can produce too many small creative businesses struggling to make a living, and business skills may not have been developed at college to the same extent as creative skills. Practice and experience in the industry provides a major advantage over education alone, and whilst graduate enterprise is to be commended, it may not be an ideal initial career choice.
Social and community networks and connections provide many experienced entrepreneurs with subsequent business opportunities; through their networks, they become aware of opportunities and are able to use these to develop business ventures. The community can also be a resource and stimulus for social enterprise. Social and economic problems in communities, such as unemployment, lack of amenities such as leisure facilities, a shop or childcare, have been the spur for many social entrepreneurs to get started. One advantage of social enterprise is that there is an almost inexhaustible supply of needs which can be translated into opportunities, as social problems and needs change with demographics. So needs such as community dentistry, teenage literacy, and English language learning for