Entrepreneurship and High-Risk Propensity - Essay Example

Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the act of becoming an entrepreneur. It involves the process of turning innovations into economic goods (Livingston, 2007 p21). The process of entrepreneurship may lead to the formation of new enterprises or organizations or the transformation of the already existing ones into more productive firms. Entrepreneurship as a discipline is not limited to the business field alone. There are some aspects of the society that calls for entrepreneurial activities. This is referred as social entrepreneurship. In the corporate world, social entrepreneurship is also referred to as philanthropy or corporate social responsibility (Bailetti, 2012 p54). There is also political entrepreneurship which is a discipline involving the application of the entrepreneurial principles by politicians to benefit from the political arena. Intra-prerneurship is another form of entrepreneurship that entails the application of the entrepreneurial principles within the organization in order to transform the whole organization by changing the way things are done in that organization. Within the organization, an entrepreneur acts as an agent of change, seeking to change the status quo of the organization. The entrepreneurial activities involve changing the way the business is done through an introduction of new goods and services or new processes. It also entails the exploration of new sources of material for use in the production process as well as new combinations that gives quality products while minimizing on the costs incurred. Thus, entrepreneurship is about creating business efficiency and effectiveness. It involves the process of creation of new business entities or making the already existing ones more productive (Livingston, 2007 p45). My future ambition is to become an astute entrepreneur, establishing new business and making them more productive and profitable. This is in line with the entrepreneurial characteristics that I posses. The fact that I have discipline is a pathway towards enabling me become an entrepreneur. This characteristic is desirable for any one aspiring to become an entrepreneur, in that it determines the commitment that the individual will have towards the business they seek to establish or run (Reynolds, 2007 p17). Even though capital and visionary objectives may count as necessities towards becoming a successful entrepreneur, they do not count as does discipline. Discipline ensures that individuals commit themselves to the business they want to start or the one they are heading, giving it all their efforts. It is this discipline that ensure that the entrepreneur do not give up trying when the business seems not to be performing as expected (Bailetti, 2012 p120). Further, discipline ensures that individuals takes responsibility, and are accountable for each of their activities. Without discipline, an individual would skip some of their duties and opt to indulge elsewhere, when they are not supervised or monitored by other people. It is discipline that guarantees individuals good leadership, which is a necessity for achieving success. To achieve team work, which is a necessity for success in any business undertaking, an individual needs to be disciplined. It allows them respect other members of their team and accept to be led by others without feeling as though they are the best in everything (Howkins, 2005 p11). High risk propensity is the other of my trait that can see me through my ambition of becoming an entrepreneur. This characteristic is desirable since the world of business is very dynamic, and some occurrences are never foreseen or anticipated until they occur (Duening, 2009 p66). It is difficult to adapt to market changes, if an individual lacks this trait in them. Risk taking propensity allows an individual to invest in a field that others consider inappropriate to commit their resources. A high risk taking propensity allows individuals to seek for resources to start businesses, when they are in shortage of such resources. If individuals lack this trait, they will always fear to try new things for the fear of failing (Reynolds, 2007 p22). This trait allows an individual to go back and re-establish a business, which they had tried before and failed. Though entrepreneurs are required to be great risk takers, they should take calculated risks. This is necessary to mean that they should analyze and asses the chances of succeeding or failing just before they decide to engage in any business undertaking. Risk taking propensity of an individual allows them to become leaders and engage to invest in an area where no other person has ever invested. While other people perceives life as a choice between whether to take or not to take risks, entrepreneurs perceives life as full of risks, and thus considers risk taking as inevitable(Livingston, 2007 p119). Thus for an entrepreneur, living is about taking risks. Leadership, a trait that I posses is inseparable from entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs lead because they are ready to take charge and to be responsible for having things done (Livingston, 2007 p72). Since entrepreneurs believe in themselves so much to the extent of not trusting others very much, they always seek to take the responsibility of running the system so that they can handle the challenges that comes with it. This trait allows the individuals to move forward tirelessly since they perceive other people as dependent on them for direction and guidance. This, however, does not erode the fact that teamwork is necessary for entrepreneurial success. Thus, an entrepreneur leads by example but allows others to make observations and recommendations regarding their roles (Livingston, 2007 p63). They listen to the opinions of other team members, may it be from the lowest of the employee and consider incorporating such suggestions to improve their personality. It is this trait that ensures that entrepreneurs remain optimistic about an idea even when all the other doubt its feasibility and viability. Since leadership is about decision making and problem solving, it is not an option for any entrepreneur. This is because, there are situations, which arise, and a deadlock is reached. This is the point at which the leadership role of an individual is put in action, to resolve the issue and end the stalemate. The decision making has to be done, regardless of whether it does not favor some parties. Thus, leadership entails being principled and able to stand ones ground (Livingston, 2007 p35). Mastering the art of negotiation is a characteristic that gives me confidence that I am in the right track to becoming an entrepreneur. Negotiation and communication skills are necessary skill that needs to be possessed by any one aspiring to become an entrepreneur (Livingston, 2007 p150). This is because in the cause of running their business, communication and negotiation is inevitable. The entrepreneur is required to negotiate for raw materials from the producers, requisite products, and services from suppliers and contracts with the distributors. The entrepreneur is also required to negotiate for labor services from the prospective laborers. Inevitable is the role negotiation plays in securing resources for use by the entrepreneur to run their businesses (Howkins, 2005 p43). The entrepreneur has to negotiate with financial institutions for funding of their business projects once they do not have sufficient resources to start and run these enterprises. Communication is yet another skill that an entrepreneur cannot afford to lack. There are many instances in which the entrepreneur is supposed to pass information. Communicating to the employees serves to disburse the expectation of the entrepreneur regarding the business performance. Communicating with other stakeholders such as the financiers, shareholders to the business, the immediate surrounding community, as well as the government is a requirement of the business representative (Livingston, 2007 p123). This being the position that the entrepreneur holds in the business, then communication skills becomes a necessity to them. These are skills that I possess, which I believe will see me through my ambition of becoming an entrepreneur. I am an agent of change, a trait that is necessary for entrepreneurs to succeed in their business aspirations. An entrepreneur is never satisfied with the status quo. Theirs is to seek for ways to improve constantly the status of the business, seeking for new ways of doing things and for the best technology that is appropriate for this improvement (Livingston, 2007 p67). Entrepreneurs love what they do, and they never settle at anything less than attaining the best. The entrepreneur is an opportunist who keeps abreast with the changes taking place in the surrounding environment and in the global arena, just to learn what the next new thing coming in the market is, and how they can take advantage of this to make a venture out of it. Entrepreneurs like to be the first ones to do something new that the other has not done. This motivates them to keep analyzing the environment in a bid to indentify ideas that can be implemented to become new business ideas (Livingston, 2007 p24). Resilience and tolerance are the other characteristics that entrepreneurs posses that allow them to be in the business even in the time it is not performing as required or expected. Without it, the entrepreneurs would easily give up on the event that a business they initiate fails to give them the desired results. Since success does not automatically occur with any idea invested in, they need to be resilient to withstand the lows of the business as it picks its momentum in order to reap the benefits later when the business have thrived (Duening, 2009 p68). Work Cited Bailetti T., 2012. Technology Entrepreneurship: Overview, Definition, and Distinctive Aspects. Technology Innovation Management Review. 53-120. Duening, T., 2009. Technology Entrepreneurship. Academic Press. 63-69. Howkins, J., 2005. The Creative Economy: How People Make Money From Ideas. Penguin. 10-45. Livingston, J., 2007. Founders at work: Stories of startups' early days. New York: Berkeley, CA: A Press. 21-185. Reynolds, D., 2007. Entrepreneurship in the United States. Springer. 14-25. Read More