The Important Entrepreneurial Motivation Characteristics - Assignment Example

BUSINESS PLAN AND ENTREPRENEURIAL MOTIVATIONS CHARACTERISTICS Task Entrepreneur Steve Jobs In my opinion, entrepreneurship can be defined as the ability to come up with an idea which has a potential to start a business from the scratch and manage it along with the risk with which it is associated with. In this essay, we are going to discuss about Steve Jobs as an entrepreneur. In his era, Steve Jobs can be considered to the greatest entrepreneur of the era because of his ability to create new inventions and manage his business amidst competition and challenges present in the market (Hisrich, Peters,& Shepherd, 2013). While still a life, Steve Jobs was considered as a visionary, inspiring and brilliant person. It was these qualities coupled with determination that made him to create today’s valuable company, thus introducing the element of change to many industries and in the process affecting our day to day activities. Jobs used his intuition to make major decisions and come up with his ideas which mostly were shaped from desperate life experiences (Hunter, 2012: 42). To describe Steve Jobs as an entrepreneur, wee will look at his entrepreneurial characteristics so as to identify what was it that drove, motivated or inspired him to leave a legacy he has left today (Mancuso, 2014: 101). 1. Self-confidence and Optimistic Are you aware with the Mac and iPod? Sure, I believe you are and they were as a result of the discovery of the potential of the Pixar early on before anyone else. The invention of the Pixar touch was as a result of the self-confidence and optimistic nature of Jobs as he was dedicated to his work. He thought of the best ideas and gave all his energy to make create the idea as his dreams. This invention was later used by other companies to various purposes and under different circumstances like in car manufacture, toy story amongst others (Kuratko, 2009: 18). 2. Able To Take Calculated Risk During his time, Microsoft was renowned for its products and its ability to change to applications which were user friendly. Apple’s ideas and design were not known in the market therefore it was a great risk for Jobs to introduce the idea of the ideas and designs in the market at the time. However, Job was not distracted by the fear of his ideas and design failing in the market, but went a head to introduce the product in the market and the result was that the audiences’ attention was captured. Therefore, this has led to Steve Jobs Company being the largest manufacturer of PC, Tablets and Mobiles in the market. 3. Respond Positively To Challenges Challenges can be quite stressful to any entrepreneur as there is always that fear of failing in your new venture. However, this was not the case with Steve Jobs as he responded positively to challenges to come along his way in his company. An example is that in 1997, apple as a company was experiencing financial problems leading to the resignation of the then chief executive officer and ushering in Steve Jobs to the seat. This did not discourage him from managing the company as he went ahead to request for financial assistance and make alliances that would see the company through the trying period. One year down the line and under Steve Job management, the company made tremendous profits which arose from the sales of the products produced and invented by the company. 4. Flexible and Able to Adapt A good entrepreneur is one who is ready to adapt to new environments when he is faced with challenges. When jobs was fired in 1985 from a company which he had founded years back, He did not despair rather embarked on other projects which were later to be a success. He went ahead top purchase some share on the Lucas film that was alter reformed into Pixar animation studios largely known for the production of toy story among others. 5. Knowledgeable of Markets A true entrepreneur is one who has accurate information about the market. While managing and expanding his company, Jobs already knew the market he was venturing into and answered to the demand by producing the various features and designs of Apple products present in the market today. Throughout his inventions, Job places emphasis of satisfying needs of audiences, which are easily noticeable like inventing the iPhone, which serves as cell phone and MP3 player by simplifying the task of the simplicity and productivity of the gadgets into one gadget. 6. Independent Minded Steve Job unlike his colleague bill gates had an independent mind of hoe he wanted his products to look like. Through his inventions and designs, Jobs integrated cultural aspects of the targeted audiences, giving it an edge over other companies like Microsoft which did not think much of the original ideas. Moreover, Jobs has been always keen on making first-rate product to satisfy the needs of his audiences in all major dimensions. 7. Responsive To Criticism Criticism can either play a big role in creating or destroying an entrepreneur. When Jobs was criticized over its poor waste recycle program, he did not take it as an offense rather took it as step to recycle all his e-waste leading to the expansion of his recycling program to all US customers who purchased their products especially their new Mac. The result was that Jobs ended up in building a positive image for the company as the company was now considered an eco-friendly company (Zimmerer & Scarborough, 2017). 8. Dynamic Leader Leadership style used in the company can also determine the success or failures of the entrepreneurs. As a dynamic leader Jobs was open to change element in his company and life. An example this was his decisions to force apple to work on the four type of computers saved the company from wasting time and unforeseen lost as he stood out among other engineers and decided things which were important and things which were not important thus drawing a list of things to focus on (Kushell & Kushell, 1999: 19). In addition, Jobs was always aware of the happenings or activities of all major departments within his company as he was always an active leader within the company, hence rectifying major things which would have gone wrong in the production or invention process (Isabella & Simmons, 2014). 9. Take Initiative A good entrepreneur should be able to take initiatives which are to act as stepping stones for the projects he or she has in mind. An example is that two brothers who invented the airplane had to take the first initiatives of finding out things that it possible for other creatures and objects to fly. Jobs being an initiative business person, after his trip from India made alliances with Wozniak, who was concentrating on building small types computers as he had already seen the potential of the inventions in the market. Their coming and working together led to the introduction of the Apple 1prototype in the market. What this meant was that Jobs saw a potential in his friends invention’s and took the first initiative of convincing him to partner with him and refine the inventions into one that would be accepted in the market (Hacker, 2010: 145). 10. Responsive to Suggestions A good entrepreneur should be ready and willing to listen to opinions and advices from other concerned parties. Jobs were such an example as he was responsive to suggestions made on his products and inventions by other parties. An example was the case of the Grossman who wrote an article on the time magazine that iPad was not created with a lot of content in its features. Jobs reacted and responded to this by ensuring that the next generation of iPad had more tools which were considered to be contents. Moreover, through his life Jobs was always an individual who would always listen to employees and other persons to understand the point they were saying before making a decision son the issue at stake (Schweikart & Doti, 2010: 8). 11. Creative Creativity is the mother of all designs. Steve Jobs as an entrepreneur was creative enough in his products and designs. The products largely range from tablets, iPads, cell phones known as iPhones among others. He created a lot of products which were considered revolutionary as they were different from early ones created before. An example is that Jobs invented iCloud which was an online storage device for music, photos, files and software which replaced MobileMe a device which was invented earlier and was not also an online storage device. In addition, incorporating fashions in his designs shows elements of creativity in Jobs as audiences today choose products which they can easily identify with over those which they consider plane and boring (Koontz & Weihrich, 2007: 149). Task 2 Executive Summary The purpose of this business plan is to raise funding and interest in order to create a social enterprise that will serve the community by introducing new ventures and strategies to help them run their daily businesses while opening new employment opportunities for citizens living in the community. The intended amount needed for the set up of the social enterprise will be $250,000 (Blackwell, 2011). Products and Services As mentioned in the executive summary, the funding will be raised from banks and potential investors with the intent to create a platform in the less developed countries to discover new strategies to help in their farming and energy costs. The enterprise will raise revenues to support its staff and management from selling renewable sources of energy to the community, charitable causes which will be started with an aim to expand the enterprise into a bigger entity and the donations programs which be conducted by the community with the intent to thanking the enterprise for its role among them. The Financing The management of the social enterprise will major financiers will have an intent of raising the $250,000 from banks and potential investors to be used in launching the operations of the enterprise in the community. Since the enterprise is a stock organization, equity positions and distributions income will be distributed to major parts of the projects so as to create the chances of creating profits while serving the community at the same time. Upon receiving the capital from banks and potential investors, the enterprise will open its main office and begin to write grants to other profit and non-profit organization to help in the cause started in the community. The initial funding obtained from the banks and potential investors will be used as follows by the enterprise: Establishment of the social enterprise entity, financing for the initial capital to be used in the social enterprise, a general working capital for the social enterprise among other important functions necessary in the setup for the social enterprise in the community.The funds will be used as follows by the social enterprise Projected Startup Costs Initial lease Payment and deposit $25,000 FF&E $65,000 Leasehold improvements $25,000 Security Deposits $10,000 Opening Deposits $2, 500 Enterprise Vehicle $10,000 Marketing Budget $20,000 Miscellaneous and other unforeseen costs $10,000 Total Startup Costs $157, 500 Missions Statement The mission statement for the social enterprise will be to provide donations that supports positive community causes to energy, farming and ventures that improve the living conditions of individuals living in the community. Management Team The management team will be composed of five members who will be responsible for various functions with the social enterprise. The five member team of the management will be tasked with the following responsibilities. The first member will be the general manager and will be tasked with the responsibilities of developing and recommending the social enterprise operational procedures, setting new strategies and visions to be achieved by the enterprise, providing leadership in the development of financial plans, goals and projections. The second member will be the financial manager whom will be tusked with overseeing financial and administrative management, ensuring that all staffs and parties are paid in a timely manner, overseeing internal controls of the social enterprise and prepare rough estimates of cash requirements and received by the social enterprise. The third member will be the expert receptionist who will be tasked with the basic role to interact with different individuals in the community and those visiting the office while also learning the marketing opportunities present in the community and the strategies to win or obtain these opportunities. The fourth member will be the senior marketing controller and he will be tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that points of sales and marketing goals are achieved, measure sources of activities both based on performance and return on investment done in the community and identify new marketing opportunities for the social enterprise in the community. The fifth member will be the monitoring and evaluation officer who will be tasked for monitoring major process or activities of the social enterprise and issue out advice on areas which are lagging or strategies that may be resourceful in the expansion and development of the enterprise. Sales Forecast The management of the social enterprise will expect a growth at the start of the operation of the social enterprise and below are the expected financials of the operations over the next three years to justify the operations of the social enterprise in the community. Profits and Loss (Yearly) Sales $655, 290 $714, 266 $778, 550 Operating Costs $377, 526 $391, 666 $424, 768 EBITDA $212, 235 $251, 173 $275, 927 Taxes, interest and depreciation $99,649 $108, 901 $117, 691 Net Profit $112,586 $148,165 $164, 129 Expansion Plan The founder of the social enterprise, Steve Jobs expects that the social enterprise will expand in the course of the first three years of operation as witnessed in the sales forecast. The management of the enterprise will focus their attention on implementing good marketing campaigns which will work to targets banks and potential investors to aid and invest the business as the size of the target market will also be growing over the year thus creating new markets for the social enterprise to venture on. Moreover, the management of the social enterprise will also target other corporations and enterprises that will want to use the social enterprise as a conduit for the charitable activities. Marketing Plan The social enterprise will conduct an extensive marketing campaign that will ensure that the indigenous inhabitants of the community are all aware of the existence of the social enterprise among them. The marketing objectives for the social enterprise will be Conducting regular events that will generate publicity of their products to the community and to collect revenues for their operations. Secondly, the marketing objectives of the social enterprise will enhance their online presence in the community by creating a website which will shed other information regarding their roles and whereabouts in the community. Marketing Plan and Objectives The marketing strategies for the social enterprise will be based on collecting revenues from various sources through engaging public relations and other marketing firms to raise awareness of the enterprise charitable function in the community. Various publicity activities will be used by the social enterprise to generate day to day activities, news, events and projects of the social enterprise through various mediums like Media, social media and other channels. Pricing The pricing of the products and services offered by the social enterprise will be favorable and all information about the products and services of will be availed on the enterprise website and use of media. Appendix Enterprise budget Enter General assumption References Smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://www.smallbusiness.co.uk/ Department for BusinessInnovation & Skills. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2014, from https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-innovation-skills Business Wales. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://business.wales.gov.uk/ Business Wales. (n.d.). Retrieved November 16, 2014, from http://wales.gov.uk/topics/businessandeconomy/help/?lang=en HUNTER, N. (2012). Steve Jobs. London, Raintree. MANCUSO, J. (2014). Making the Steve Jobs movie: an entrepreneurial case study. KURATKO, D. F. (2009). Entrepreneurship: theory, process, practice. Mason, Ohio, South- Western Cengage Learning. SCHWEIKART, L., & DOTI, L. P. (2010). American entrepreneur the fascinating stories of the people who defined business in the United States. 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