What Are the Characteristics and Personal Traits Needed For Becoming an Entrepreneur - Essay Example

Reflection Report Executive Summary This paper assess the knowledge about an entrepreneur, how an entrepreneur is created, what are the characteristics and personal traits needed for becoming an entrepreneur; furthermore it discusses the meaning of an entrepreneurship and how professional planning is required to build a successful entrepreneurship. The theory will then be applied to my personal experiences and characteristics in order to conclude whether I can be a successful entrepreneur and how. Contents 1. Introduction 4 2. Characteristics of an entrepreneur 4 2.1. Who is an entrepreneur 4 2.2. Characteristics of an entrepreneur 5 2.3. Responsibilities of an entrepreneur 5 3. Reflection of personal characteristics and traits 6 4. Theories and styles of entrepreneurship 7 4.1. What is entrepreneurship 7 4.2. Entrepreneurial leaders 8 4.3. Theories of entrepreneurship 8 4.4. Models of entrepreneurship 10 4.5. Examples of entrepreneurs 10 5. Reflection of my professional experience 11 6. Conclusion 12 7. Recommendations 12 1. Introduction The world is seeing a new generation of entrepreneurs rising up. Today, young entrepreneurs are showing the skill and talent though which they can initiate big businesses and execute their ideas successfully. They do not need to have relevant experience, rather just the personality, skill, and knowledge put to right use. This report will discuss the characteristics and traits needed to be a good entrepreneur along with a reflection on the likelihood of me becoming an entrepreneur. With the discussion of my personal skills and experiences, I will reflect how I have the ability to become a successful entrepreneur as well just like some of the many young ones out there. 2. Characteristics of an entrepreneur 2.1. Who is an entrepreneur? Often it is understood that there is no difference between an entrepreneur and a person who simply runs a business. In reality, there is a huge difference between the two. An entrepreneur does not just run a business, an entrepreneur does not just manage, he is not just a leader, and he is not just an owner; he is much more. The definition of an entrepreneur can vary person to person and how each person perceives an entrepreneur. According to one definition, an entrepreneur is a passionate individual who has the ability to build an opportunity into an organization (Hofer, 1991). He often serves as the link that connects the ideas and knowledge to the practical construction of a business, and uses that valuable link to create profit and grow economically (Braunerhjelm, 2010). 2.2. Characteristics of an entrepreneur: An entrepreneur establishes a business, manages it, and leads its employees with the aim of fulfilling future goals and sufficiently using/managing existing resources. All successful entrepreneurs have certain characteristics that make them stand above others. Entrepreneurs have the ability to learn from their surroundings and from others. They take ideas and motivation from people as they communicate effectively and create their networking. They believe in other people and appreciate them. They are self-confident as they have a firm belief in their abilities and ideas. They are also self-motivated and highly determined as they don’t compromise on their growth or don’t let anything influence their abilities (Wickham, 2006). They are innovative, creative, and initiative; they have the ability to think of new ideas and ways to execute them with the available resources. They have analytical abilities which allow them to not only have ideas but to analyze the possibilities, risks, and likeliness of applying those ideas. They focus on results and likely conclusions, and lastly, they are good decision makers (Gergen, 2011). 2.3. Responsibilities of an entrepreneur: An entrepreneur is responsible for four analytical tasks which include scanning, monitoring, forecasting, and assessing. An entrepreneur must not only have the characteristics and personal traits of establishing and managing, he must also have the tendency and abilities to maintain the business activities and understand their role in the society (Dawkins, 2015). Entrepreneurs must not forget that they play a major role in the economy and overall production in the vicinity. They are responsible for maintaining order and ensuring that their organizations are serving the right purposes for the best interests of all (Gartner, 1988). Scanning gives them the task to identify the key elements and characteristics of their business activities and production. Monitoring includes tracking and being updated with the development opportunities, critical events, factors affecting profitability, and the quality of work being carried out. Forecasting includes risk management, predicting projects for future, and ensuring sustainable development (Trent, 2008). Assessing includes reviewing and preparing application strategies with short-term and long-term goals. Through these strategies, an entrepreneur can be successful and can maintain the business for future profitability and risk management (Dollinger, 2005). 3. Reflection of personal characteristics and traits The biggest asset of an entrepreneur is the vision, the idea, and the capacity to think. Without an idea, an entrepreneur wouldn’t be able to initiate, establish, and maintain a successful business (Cooper, 2013). I believe my education and life experiences have developed my personality in a strong way which I believe is essential to be an entrepreneur. When I look at myself, I see many qualities that could make a successful entrepreneur, and the most defining quality is my passion and willingness to be as good as I can. Without passion and intention there is nothing, so the first step towards my success is my positive passion towards my goals. I have the ability to think, generate creative ideas, and have a vision into the future. Networking and effective communication has been recognized as an important characteristic in an entrepreneur which helps in understanding people and sharing ideas for discussions (Lal, 2003). My life in China, Britain, and my travelling experiences has allowed me to interact with several new people for short and long term relations. This has made me a good communicator as well as strong in creating my own network. I can participate in teams and have a good gold over my social skills. This can help me to communicate and work better in teams which would make a good entrepreneur. I have always believed in my capabilities and am determined towards my goals which are other important characteristics of an entrepreneur. I believe I have been determined towards my goal of studying in England and I have achieved that through self-confidence and motivation. This gives my confidence that I can further achieve my desired goals in life and be the type of entrepreneur that I have always imagined to be. I hope my personal qualities help me to contribute in my role as an entrepreneur and I can use my abilities to the best purpose. My personal qualities also include being calm in handling difficult situations, taking challenges, and learning new ideas. This creative approach leads me to innovate and come up with new ideas especially related to my field of Event Management as I am passionate and throughout my course I have been carrying out research and learning how to establish and manage as an entrepreneur. I believe my knowledge and skills have built confidence in me which would allow me to carry myself as an entrepreneur and become successful one day. 4. Theories and styles of entrepreneurship 4.1. What is entrepreneurship? When the entrepreneur develops the idea and plan, and strategizes the use of the available resources with the calculated risk and profit; entrepreneurship takes place then. Entrepreneurship is the process of establishing a business with an innovative idea and with the objective of profit maximization (Gasparski, 2011). The entrepreneurs serve as the leaders as well as the managers of the organization. They adopt different leadership styles through which they govern and connect to their organization and people (Greenberg, 2011). Entrepreneurial leaders are important as they are the binding force of the team. They promote recognition, appreciation, opportunities, and exploration of new ideas through influencing and playing a role model figure (Renko, 2015). 4.2. Entrepreneurial leaders: These leaders hold the abilities to influence and motivate their team to work towards challenges and future growth through their own actions and behaviors (Allen, 2011). They adopt entrepreneurial behavior which promotes passion, creativity, vision, experiment, and teamwork in their organization resulting in a positive corporate culture (Kuratko, 2013). This form of entrepreneurial leadership is a characteristic of an entrepreneurship and every person that establishes an entrepreneurship must also develop the leadership styles (Schyns, 2005). The two types of leadership styles that entrepreneurs adopt are autocratic and democratic. The autocratic style of leadership is like dictatorship where all the decisions are made by the central authority, the entrepreneur himself without any involvement of the employees or team members (Hulsing, 2009). This style requires no discussions or participation in decision making by other members (Frese, 2014). This style promotes motivation to the leader and a faster decision-making process. The democratic style of leadership is where the entrepreneur involves his team members and employees for advices, ideas, and discussions on the decision making process. After consultation with the group, the decisions are made. This style motivates the employees and creates a strong social bond between all the members and the entrepreneur (Lynch, 2012). 4.3. Theories of entrepreneurship: An entrepreneur may have different traits which allow him to follow different theories of entrepreneurship. It highly depends on the structure of the organization, the influence of bio-demographics, the cognitive and behavior influences, the personality traits, and type and nature of the business (Roper, 2012). According to these factors entrepreneurs follow different theories such as the risk bearing theory which focuses on high risks in entrepreneurship to stay healthy and competitive. Another theory focuses on land, labor, capital, and organization as four factors that are necessary for production in entrepreneurship and these contribute in effective entrepreneurship (Shane, 2000). However, Max Weber’s theory focuses on the sociological aspect saying that entrepreneurship is all about social culture as it influences the performance and role of the entrepreneur to work for the benefit and expectations of the society and for their best interest (Praszkier, 2011). Casson’s economic theory focuses on economic conditions and factors that motivate entrepreneurship (Casson, 2003). Schumpeter believed that entrepreneurship is about innovation and those entrepreneurs would be successful who focus on innovation, foresight, and creativity. An entrepreneur must display new ideas, creativity, discoveries, and new sources of resources that would shape the organization. These entrepreneurship theories show what entrepreneurship is based upon according to the theorists and sociologists. Entrepreneurship is all about the activities that generate opportunities and ideas for economic benefits and profitability that brings overall economic growth and prosperity (Kumar, 2008). Entrepreneurs work for the best interest of their people through their innovative ideas using resources and using advanced technologies to further add value to the business (Shah, 2015). Entrepreneurs work for the society and for their people and this is evident as they have a deep impact on the young students. Nowadays, entrepreneurship has impacted the education so much that it has influenced the youth and helped them in understanding and fostering an entrepreneurial attitude. This knowledge helps youngsters to nurture potential entrepreneur qualities while they still students (Alain Fayolle, 2006). 4.4. Models of entrepreneurship: According to Timmons Model of Entrepreneurial Process, there are three factors that lead to a successful entrepreneur: opportunities, teams, and resources. The entrepreneur has to search for his opportunities, and then he shapes up a team, and then gathers and explores the required resources needed to execute the idea (Minniti, 2006). Figure 1 Tiimmons Model of Entrepreneurial Process (Minniti, 2006) 4.5. Examples of entrepreneurs: Some of the examples of young and successful entrepreneurs are Larry Page, the co-founder of Google in 1998 who gave the revolutionary idea of a search engine which completely changed the computer generation. He proved to be a successful entrepreneur with a unique idea and way to use technology (Delgado, 2004). Mark Zuckerberg is another young entrepreneur who co-founded Facebook at the age of 29. He changed the meaning of social media and with his creativity he made the most influencing social media site which connects people and entertains them across the world. He plans activities in a manner that increases the economic growth as well as social development (Griffin, 2010). Steve Jobs was an entrepreneur who invented and co-founded the Apply Company. He bought his ideas into the market by launching the revolution of the Smartphone. He was the pioneer of the personal computer revolution as he saw the potential in the design and graphics that could be created using the latest technologies (Mann, 2014). 5. Reflection of my professional experience Entrepreneurship is based on several theories which can be used to become a successful entrepreneur. According to my personal attributes and characteristics, I believe I can focus on the economic and social theories to build by organization upon. According to these theories, I would be an entrepreneur who would work for the interests of the people and focus on economic conditions to gain profitability. My experience into the professional field allows me to communicate well and deal with people in the best possible way. Also, dealing with a wide range of customers has given me the ability to understand people and what they expect from event management companies. This knowledge would help me to drive strategies and plan the activities that would take place in my organization. Moreover, I have also worked in teams and it is one of the things I like to do best. Working in a team motivates me and allows me to interact with more people resulting in personal and professional growth. Entrepreneurship is all about how to carry a team together and keep them motivated. My friendly and understanding personality will help me to form a democratic style of leadership where I will consult and discuss all the decision making agendas with my team members and come up with the best solution. Involving every member would give them confidence and would help in generating new creative ideas. My urge for new research and having a constant source of information allows me to learn new things and develop ideas from everywhere. This helps me to understand the ways in which young entrepreneurs such as Stave Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg put their ideas with economic growth in mind and best use their resources. For example Zuckerberg used the massive advertising space on Facebook to gain economic benefit and ensure future profitability (Griffin, 2010). Such ideals and examples give me the motivation and determination to study strategies and create plans of how to lead to economic growth and future sustainability. 6. Conclusion Thus, I believe my personal growth, determination, and my professional knowledge will greatly help me in becoming a successful entrepreneur. Not everyone can become a successful entrepreneur just by running a business, but I believe I have the potential of a new vision, passion, and insight into the field of Event Management which would lead me to become a successful entrepreneur. The characteristics and qualities that an entrepreneur must have are present in me, I believe, and if I move forward with sheer determination and confidence, I will be able to become successful. 7. Recommendations I believe that I can become a better entrepreneur and increase my chances of becoming successful if I take advice from professionals and my teachers who would help me to improve my skills and strategic knowledge. I could share my vision and ideas with professionals who could guide me through the economic conditions, resources, and establishment of an entrepreneurship. 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