Mastering Basic Concepts of Creativity and Risk-Taking as the Key to Success in Entrepreneurship - Essay Example

Reflective report By Reflective report Executive summary This reflective essay will be organized into five main parts. The First part will be the introduction of what entrepreneurship entails and how the entrepreneur in Tulle’s case understands it. This part will further strive to give a link between entrepreneurship theory and the practical case. Secondly, there will be an explanation of how applicable the entrepreneurial learning is. This will entail a combination of the learnt aspects within the entrepreneurial groups and the broad experiences within the learning concept. The third category will involve an explanation on how the main concepts of entrepreneurship are effected. A comparison will revolve around the theory and the practical experiences of the interviewed entrepreneur. The main part will come at section four where the interview with Tellee’s entrepreneur will be discussed both critically and exclusively. This will simply act to strengthen the general and specific aspects of entrepreneurship as discussed above. The conclusion will cover the reflective report in totality while providing a learning experience for those who intend to venture into entrepreneurial act. The essay will hence act as a reverence for future entrepreneurs. Introduction Many businesses have trodden in the paths of success with most people laying these crops of success to be behind simple laid down frameworks. This is not always the case as most businesses normally start from simple ideas from entrepreneurial minds, which are determined to see the ideas work. The entrepreneurs exhibit all the zeal together with character and they always want to see their ideas grow and come into existent to fill the detected gap (Barringer pg. 67). Such individuals are not ready to give up on their pursuit and defeats never exist in any of their vocabulary. This reflection therefore gives us a hint on what exactly entrepreneurship would be as opposed to the well laid down frameworks which are much inapplicable. Entrepreneurship requires that an individual comes up with an idea and they actually effect it. Without actually putting the ideas into action, it is normally in vain trying to be an entrepreneur given the most definite end, which is a fail (Bjerke pg. 89). In such efforts, an entrepreneur will always strive to put all plans and indications on how to develop the ideas using their skills; in such a process, the entrepreneurs end up sharpening these skills. How effective is entrepreneurial learning? Reflection is of massive importance because individuals should always learn from their experiences in order to become more effective and efficient in the future. It is always said that the importance of history or historical occurrences is that they helps us shape up the future by turning the previous challenges into opportunities (Borch pg. 134). Through reflection, we are able to adequately evaluate our past behavior and use the same to set targets for the future realizations. This I have realized in my personal experiences where the records I keep about my experiences have helped me do an evaluation of myself the same way an outsider may have done the same. This has the possibility of making me perceive reflection as a tool that has realized my personal development this far. Entrepreneurship learning is important given the fact that an entrepreneur is a person who has decided not to work for or under anyone. The other unavoidable fact is that entrepreneurs face a lot of difficulties and obstacles as well as fears and with such heavy weight and risks, the payoff for an entrepreneur is also likely to be higher (Bornstein & Davis pg. 236). This reflective paper takes the approach of discussing the business model of Tellee’s Restaurant in the entrepreneurial aspect. The reflective paper will therefore involve a discussion of the general business fundamentals involved while starting the restaurant, the main ideas around it as a new venture and an interview with the founders of the restaurant. The essay will hence give the broad perspective of a discussion on the relevant theories on entrepreneurship. In addition, the entire reflection process will entail a discussion of some previously formulated theories. This will help bring out the importance of the entire process concerning entrepreneurial development. The reflection process is meant to come up with findings in its conclusion on the manner in which personal development is likely to be realized through entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurial Concepts Effectuation The entrepreneurial journey is not a smooth one as it starts with an exhibition of interest and a clear vision for success to be realized. On our journey in entrepreneurship, we had to find out who among the groups had interest in entrepreneurship before we laid down the visions we had (Corbetta, Huse & Ravasi pg. 567). This is because in as much as entrepreneurship would pay, the fruits would be unrealizable if non-interested individuals were included in the mix. This is due to the sole fact that an entrepreneur is only likely to work well in an area that interests her. If this is not adhered to it only means that such an individual will not be in the position of maintaining positive work ethic hence a contributory factor towards failure. Entrepreneurship is based on skills apart from just interest and vision (Drucker pg. 258). An entrepreneur as the head of a venture must therefore have all the skills required in the operations of the business by ensuring they are always knowledgeable across the field that they expect to venture into. Another important attribute as will be exhibited in the business module is that of investments. A return will never exist without an outright investment of any manner whether resource wise or time. The main forms will always be time, assets of designated value and intellectual property, which is the idea. Another fact is that a well-choreographed entrepreneurial plan will always result into rapid growth, which calls for diverse organization of operations. An entrepreneur will hence be required to most of the time delegate tasks to enhance efficiency and effectiveness (Volkmann, Tokarski & Grunhagen pg. 450). The employees must also be people with the right skills for the right jobs and must be allowed to conduct their duties with the minimal interference. Entrepreneurs must as well be people who are willing to take risks in terms of the amount of money and time they intend to invest in their respective businesses. Most of the time an entrepreneur will find themselves working withy people that they have never met before and required to perform tasks that do not have any clear direction. This may appear as a challenge and hence an entrepreneur is required to take the risk of instantly doing a reorganization of the roles and the activities they are expected to perform, institute the effective plans, and put them into action (Tracy pg. 98). Their relationship with the individuals they find themselves with must as well be quite professional and objective. As opposed to the reliance on the old-fashioned way of thinking, entrepreneurs ought to always think out of the box and adopt the modern means of ensuring success in their operations. Like in the case with the restaurant in question, the strategies may be well intended and much in place but their effectuation is what counts. Entrepreneurship requires that ineffective strategies be abandoned while at the same time effecting new and applicable ones (Shepherd pg. 321). The business models strategies like those that cost minimization and market leadership together with quality service provision ought to be adopted on a continuous basis. Another critical incident will entail an enquiry on what each of the team members is good at. It is true that some will not be free revealing such inner details about themselves. Such are characters whose direct loyalty concerning entrepreneurship must be taken quite keenly and with great caution (Forbat pg.146). When a big proportion of the members exhibit the nature of being able to help find viable models for the business, then it is wise to conclude that such members are proactive and hence influential entrepreneurs. This means most would be in an agreement incase a strategy having an impact on Tellee’s Restaurant is proposed. Theories such as bird-in-hand have the effect of making it possible for actions to be taken using the readily available resources (Garcia, Ribeiro & Roig pg. 456). Entrepreneurs just as we mentioned are risk takers and must always use the shortest time possible and the available resources to take advantage of a situation. This is to enable efficiency in the mode of competition by taking opportunities before their opponents are able to grab the same opportunities. In our group, we found frequent meetings to be of utmost importance as it would act to encourage the members. In addition, we would be able to help such members through enhancements of their weaknesses given the prior experiences exhibited by each of the members (Hine, D, & Kapeleris pg. 88). This is from the theory that, “experience is always the best teacher.” The wealth of knowledge that is endowed upon the other partners in the business, the others would as well share in the same. Interview with Tellee’s entrepreneur This was meant to find out more about entrepreneurship and the whole idea about the commencement of the restaurant. It involved an understanding of the experience of the entrepreneurs from the point they commenced the business, the overview of the business, the whole idea about the formation of the business and the issues they had to face while staring the business (Shane pg. 342). In addition, it would be important to find out the economic and social impacts on the business and the way through which the entrepreneur has always taken to go through them. When the interview with the entrepreneur was set every member of the groups was excited and this was all because they would get to ultimately fined the chance to deal with a renowned business man at personal levels. As outlined above, their experience would be among the first things to enquire about (Ricketts pg. 96). Followed by the overall situation of the business since inception to the level at which it was currently. The entrepreneur proved welcoming as they saw us as prospective partners in realizing their growth path. This is because he had just landed on a new idea that required implementation (Price pg. 224). The scope of the discussion was narrowed down and from the company representative we were able to realize that the business was majorly constrained by costs in terms of the constantly rising employees’ wages and unethical practices, which made the costs of permits to escalate. Supplier costs were also another component of the costs apart from the extremely higher start-up costs that the business had to invest. The representative made a suggestion that their discussion made it clear that supplier costs are likely to be introduced through a selection of the right supplier who presumably would fix the best prices. Other extra employees and suppliers would as well be placed on stand by incase demand went up unexpectedly. This strategy is a good one as it helps in ensuring customer loyalty. In the service industry, service to the client is quite important. These form most of the costs that were involved in starting the company (Hisrich & Peters pg. 269). To counter such costs the company had to institute a revenue stream plans effective enough to ensure the company is at break even and even makes profits. This is through a categorization of the customers into profile customers, target, and current and put in place marketing strategies to help in winning even more customers. Profiling was supposed to help the business attract the customers hey target for their business. Regular customers are mostly targeted since they would aid in the ease of determining the profitability of the business. Because of being able to determine sales with ease, the restaurant is able to determine the flow of revenue and even formulate strategies to increase such sales to level that the business is in the position of getting their desired revenue. The business as well has the target of converting the competitor’s customers into their own by offering the best services and prices; this will ensure that in the end such customers become current customers to the business. Such strategies have made it possible for the business to have best and loyal customers over the years (Karlof & Lovingsson pg. 287)). On advertisement to attract more clients, Glen mentioned that they would find a suitable social network for the sake of placing their adverts and interact one on one with their customers. This is conducted with the objective of creating a mutual connection with the customers and maintains perpetual relationship with such customers (Katz pg. 128). This site is already bearing fruit, as the restaurant is able to provide information to its customers on the services that they have for them on a frequent basis. In the process of conducting this interview, it was amusing to know that Glen had no knowledge in restaurant prior to opening the restaurant. This would act against their operations, as it is required that an entrepreneur needs to at least posses a grasp of that which they deal in to allow for control and efficient management of their operations (Pande pg. 480). Glen told us it was inevitable for him to remain ignorant for long and so it meant he had to learn on the go. Glen and the partner took a risk of opening the branch without conducting enough research on the market situation. This in an entrepreneurial case is much in place, as it would guarantee good returns for the entrepreneurs given the high level of risk that exists (Ozkan & Chell pg. 290). Differentiation as a strategy enables clients to have a variety of the same product. The differentiation they engaged in would entail a provision of the same foodstuff but through varied preparation. Glen and the partners were quite positive on the success that they were likely to reap from such differentiation of their products (Kaushik pg. 438). This is because of the fact that success is relative depending on the individual and hence can be exhibited in individuals in different forms. According to Glen and a bigger proportion of the other partners, success was already exhibited by simply trying the concept irrespective of its success or failure. The social networks that Glen and the partners found to be most desirable for the business were face book and twitter. This is because of their nature of being less complex in nature, its ability to reach many customers at a go and the variety that the method is able to access. The system has the ability of accessing customers across all strata (Kuratko pg. 278). Young or old and from the competitors alike and this is due to the sole reason that a business may need to make huge sales and as a result have big bank accounts but it is worth noting that the old customers are still important to the business. The company requires to make growth as one of the key objectives of the restaurant. This means that losing any single customer will not do any good whatsoever to the prospects of the company. Conclusion The key to success in entrepreneurship is to master the basic concepts of creativity and risk taking. It is realizable that a business requires some fundamental ingredients for it to realize some form of growth. Apart from simply the employees and the customers who are the key drivers of entrepreneurship, the strategy employed is equally important. From the interview, we are able to see that the venture is not going to continue without some of these resources, which are key given the model to be employed by the business (Lowe & Marriott pg. 588). The business requires an appropriate number of suppliers both to supply the food trucks and the food to be supplied to the clients. It is true that the business of the restaurant is not likely to be successful without the products that they deal in and the customers are likely to migrate to the other providers in the event that the restaurant will not be in the position of giving them the services, as they require them. The quality of the products provided to the customers as well as the prices must all be quite competitive. The quality of the services provided will depend on the type of employees the restaurant decides to engage in their business (Miner pg. 240). Therefore, the business must strive to engage the right employee for the right job and this means that during recruitment the skills must be tested and proved. The quality of the products on the other hand will be pegged on the suppliers or from the places where they obtain their supplies. Time is of essence to the customers, customers normally prefer getting their supplies when they require them. This means there should never be any form of delay in the service provision a situation that will go a long way in making sure that the employees engaged are enough in number. Customers are the kings in any form of business because without them there is never business. This only implies they have to be handled with a lot of care. The company should establish a very active customer care, which ensures that customer concerns are handled with a lot of care and decorum (Madura 262). The interview made our group learn many aspects when it comes to entrepreneurship. Both successes and failures in most start-up are things that are allowed by the individuals who run a business. Works Cited Barringer, BR, (2012), Entrepreneurship lessons for success, FT Press: Upper Saddle River, NJ:. Bjerke, B, (2007), Understanding entrepreneurship, Elgar: Cheltenham, UK. Borch, OJ, (2011), Entrepreneurship research in Europe evolving concepts and processes, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK. Bornstein, D, & Davis, S, (2010), Social entrepreneurship: what everyone needs to know, Oxford University Press: New York. Corbetta, G, Huse, M, & Ravasi, D, (2004), Crossroads of entrepreneurship, Kluwer Academic Publishers: Boston. Drucker, PF, (1985), Innovation and entrepreneurship: practice and principles, Harper & Row: New York. Forbat, J, (2007), Entrepreneurship the seeds of success, Harriman House: Peters field. Garcia, A, Ribeiro, D, & Roig, S, (2007), Entrepreneurship concepts, theory and perspective, Springer: Berlin. Hine, D, & Kapeleris, J, (2006), Innovation and entrepreneurship in biotechnology, an international perspective concept, theories and cases, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK. Hisrich, RD, & Peters, MP, (2002), Entrepreneurship (5th ed.), McGraw-Hill/Irwin: Boston. Karlof, B, & Lovingsson, F, (2005), The A-Z of management concepts and models, Thorogood: London. Katz, JA, (2002), Managing people in entrepreneurial organizations: learning from the merger of entrepreneurship and human resource management, JAI: Amsterdam. Kaushik, D, (2013), Understanding entrepreneurship: concepts, theories and practices, Cyber Tech Publications: New Delhi. Kuratko, DF, (2009), Introduction to entrepreneurship (8th ed.), South-Western: Australia. Lowe, R, & Marriott, S, (2006), Enterprise: entrepreneurship and innovation : concepts, contexts and commercialization, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford. Madura, J, (2007), Introduction to business (4e [ed.]. ed.), Thompson/South-Western: Mason, OH. Miner, JB, (1996), The 4 routes to entrepreneurial success, Berrett-Koehler Publishers: San Francisco. Ozkan, M, & Chell, E, (2010), Nascent entrepreneurship and learning, Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK. Pande, J, (2009), Enterprising entrepreneurship concepts & guidelines, Swastik Publications: Delhi, India. Price, RW, (2004), Roadmap to entrepreneurial success powerful strategies for building a high-profit business, American Management Association: New York. Ricketts, MJ, (2002), The economics of business enterprise: an introduction to economic organization and the theory of the firm (3rd ed.), Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK. Shane, SA, (2008), The illusions of entrepreneurship: the costly myths that entrepreneurs, investors, and policy makers live by, Yale University Press: New Haven. Shepherd, DA, (2005), International entrepreneurship, Elsevier JAI: Amsterdam. Tracy, B, (2000), The 100 absolutely unbreakable laws of business success, Berrett-Koehler: San Francisco. Volkmann, CK, Tokarski, KO, & Grunhagen, M, (2010), Entrepreneurship in European perspective concepts for the creation and growth of new ventures, Gabler: Wiesbaden. Read More