4 Entrepreneurial Skills Every Founder Can Learn From Teachers

Forbes

09-05-2025

A teacher instructing students in a classroom setting.
Teacher Appreciation Week, first championed by Eleanor Roosevelt, who convinced Congress in the 1950s of its importance, honors educators for their dedication. Yet beyond their classroom contributions, we should recognize teachers' remarkable entrepreneurial abilities.
As a former public school teacher who left the classroom in 2009 to create a youth entrepreneurship program, I've navigated this transition firsthand. Behind every successful teacher stands an entrepreneurial leader, innovator, and problem-solver who thrives despite tight constraints. The qualities most valued in top entrepreneurs—resilience, adaptability, creativity, and grit—are the skills teachers develop and demonstrate daily.
Here are four ways teachers are natural entrepreneurs—and lessons business leaders can learn from them.
Ask any teacher what they've accomplished with minimal funding, and you'll hear stories that rival those of the most determined startup founders. The numbers tell a sobering story: According to the Association of American Educators, 94-95% of public school teachers spend their money on classroom supplies, averaging $673 annually out of pocket. For teachers in high-poverty schools, this figure climbs to $761, according to EdWeek.
Even more striking, AdoptAClassroom.org reports these personal expenditures have increased 44% since 2015, with the average reaching $860 for the 2022-2023 school year. Meanwhile, the typical school-provided supply stipend hovers around just $300-500.
Whether creating classroom materials from scratch, transforming limited supplies into engaging projects, or crowdsourcing necessary resources, entrepreneurial teachers master doing more with less.
Entrepreneurs facing early-stage constraints can adopt this mindset. Teachers show that limited resources create opportunities for innovation rather than barriers to success.
Great entrepreneurial teachers break down complex ideas into accessible lessons for students with diverse learning styles. They adjust their communication in real time, responding immediately to confusion, questions, and moments of understanding.
Founders pitching to investors, building teams, or marketing products need the same skill: the ability to make ideas clear, actionable, and compelling. Effective communication isn't about talking but ensuring the message reaches its audience. Teachers practice this essential skill every day.
No lesson plan survives first contact with students. Teachers adjust continuously, modifying lessons, fixing technology issues, handling unexpected situations, and advancing learning.
This mirrors the entrepreneurial process of testing ideas, gathering feedback, changing direction, and improving. Teachers live this cycle daily.
When I taught in public schools, I regularly had to scrap entire lesson plans when I discovered:
This constant adaptation taught me to think quickly and create solutions with whatever resources were available, skills that proved invaluable when I launched my own venture.
As Laura M. Burke, Chief of Innovative Systems & Empowerment at VALE – Venture Academy of Leadership & Entrepreneurship, explains, 'Educators have long been some of the most entrepreneurial people. When you consider the collaboration, risk-taking, and learning from failure that educators do every day, it's no wonder they have such strong entrepreneurial mindsets. They try new strategies that sometimes don't work, adjusting, trying something different, and continuing until they achieve that lightbulb moment from students.'
Burke's words capture why teachers exemplify entrepreneurial thinking, often without the formal title.
A successful classroom isn't just about curriculum—it's about culture. Teachers foster belonging, trust, and motivation, creating spaces where students feel secure enough to take risks and grow.
In my classroom of 35 students, we functioned as a cohesive team with our own culture, mottos, and designated responsibilities. Students had specific jobs—from technology manager to discussion facilitator—that fostered personal accountability and collective ownership of our learning environment.
We celebrated successes together and worked through challenges as a unit, reinforcing that everyone was responsible for the classroom space and our educational outcomes. This approach to building community and shared purpose parallels how successful founders establish company culture.
Startups aiming to build innovative cultures can learn from an entrepreneurial teacher's ability to create shared purpose and psychological safety. A great classroom provides a model for what makes a great team.
The growth of teacher entrepreneurship isn't just a feel-good trend—it's an emerging economic force. As of 2022, Teachers Pay Teachers reported over 85 million downloads of educational materials, with top sellers earning six-figure annual incomes by sharing resources with other educators worldwide. For many teachers, platforms like TpT have opened up sustainable income streams beyond their traditional salaries while creating new professional pathways.
In addition to online marketplaces, teacherpreneurs are launching micro-schools, learning pods, tutoring services, and curriculum consultancies. Former public school teachers often find they can earn more and have greater autonomy by building their own education-focused businesses rather than staying within traditional systems.
This surge in entrepreneurial activity among educators points to a broader shift in education: Teachers are no longer just implementers of curriculum—they're becoming creators, innovators, and business leaders shaping the future of learning.
As more teachers explore entrepreneurship, their work is not only transforming their own careers—it's introducing fresh ideas, innovative models, and personalized approaches to education that could ripple outward to benefit students, families, and communities.
When I left my public school classroom in 2009, I didn't see it as abandoning education—I viewed it as expanding my impact. The frustrations I experienced trying to implement innovative teaching approaches within a traditional system became the catalyst for creating my program.
Starting WIT (Whatever It Takes) required the same skills I had honed as a teacher:
The transition felt natural because the entrepreneurial mindset was already embedded in my teaching practice.
My story isn't unique. Consider Lindsey Wander, who taught math, biology, and STEM in California's low-income neighborhoods. Despite creating an engaging classroom environment, she found that time constraints, budget limitations, and administrative barriers prevented her from giving struggling students the individual attention they needed. Recognizing this gap, she relocated to Chicago at age 30 and launched her own tutoring business, which evolved into WorldWise Tutoring. Her venture aimed to improve academic performance and develop confident, independent learners and future leaders, extending her educational impact beyond what was possible in the traditional classroom setting.
Former teachers are founding education technology companies, alternative schools, teacher training programs, and curriculum development firms. The skills that make them effective in the classroom—empathy, communication, organization, and creativity—translate perfectly to entrepreneurship.
What's particularly remarkable is how many teacher-entrepreneurs focus their ventures on solving problems they experienced in the classroom. This authentic connection to the challenges they're addressing gives them unique insight and credibility that outside entrepreneurs often lack.
This Teacher Appreciation Week, let's expand how we celebrate educators. They aren't just teaching—they're leading, building, innovating, and adapting daily. Some even take their skills beyond the classroom to launch businesses, showing that entrepreneurial spirit thrives in education. The journey from classroom teacher to education entrepreneur confirms this natural progression.
Founders have much to learn from educators; perhaps, teachers represent the original entrepreneurs. The classroom experience provides the foundation for successful ventures far beyond school walls.