My Enterprise Skills - Essay Example

Introduction It is not long ago since I realized that I possess a number of skills and abilities that are useful in life. During the 2009 summer holiday, I started a campaign that was aimed at creating awareness on the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse. Its success was dependent on a number of skills and abilities. Though this event is not an indication of all the activities that I have been involved in, it points to a number of skills, abilities, and attributes that I possess and I am able to apply effectively. Skills, abilities and achievements I have initiative, I am independent and self-driven. The drug awareness campaign was my initiative. This can justify that I am able to identify things that require attention so as to get on with them. Furthermore, I am enthusiastic and always interested about new activities. Since I am self-driven towards accomplishing goals and objectives that I set, I was able to get into tasks quickly and complete my work within schedule. In addition, I was not discouraged when I came across some challenges such members leaving the association, discouragement by my peers, and withdrawal by some financier. Note that, even in school, I am able to set the paths for my own learning. The awareness drive involved a great deal of resource management and people skills that I was able to apply. I holistically managed situations, people and the project to a successful outcome. When working out something, I often assess the significance of competing priorities in attaining certain goals, and this was helpful in the campaign. This attribute has earned me the title of ‘prioritizer’ among my peers. It is through leadership skills that I was also able to bring together a number of young people in the community to advocate against drug abuse. My decision making skills and problem solving skills were also well demonstrated. Though it is sometimes a challenge to arrive at decisions, I was able to independently make decisions. This is an attribute that I enhance through constant identification, development, and practice of various problem solving approaches and techniques. It is through the ability to make decision and solve problems that the awareness campaign I have mentioned above was a success. Generally, I take responsibility for my actions, and this has often necessitated that I determine alternative solutions as well as issues that can lead to drawbacks before arriving at a decision. Well, this was critical during the awareness campaign. It is also worth to note that I am critical of various views and I only arrive at a conclusion when I have gathered substantial information. I possess planning and organising skills that were instrumental in making sure that the necessary resources were in place and that things were in order. I was able to draw up an effective plan and a realistic budget of the resources that were needed in the project. Because I often set goals and objectives for my activities as well as layout plans on how to achieve them, this was not a hard task during the drug awareness campaign. Furthermore, I was able to complete activities to the required standards, and through planning, I was able to share tasks, responsibilities, and outcomes. I also have communication and negotiation skills that I used effectively. I was able to communicate effectively with other people irrespective of their class and status. Since I can effectively use persuasion to present a view point, convincing the youth and members of the community on the importance of the campaign was not a hard task. I am an active listener, and this attribute allowed me to get well with people’s views. I was also able to handle conflicts and negotiate solutions. In fact, I have often found myself negotiating tasks, activities, issues, and ideas with other people. While I am able to present ideas or viewpoints impromptu, I carefully worked out my presentations before presenting. I believe that creativity and innovative skills were instrumental in designing an effective program that made an impact to the youth. I was able to use creative thinking and approach to come up with ideas that I developed into a workable outfit. While this was a challenge, I came up with interesting ideas without much difficulty. I am never short of new and interesting ways of doing things or solving problems, an attribute that facilitated my leadership success on this community project. I was able to use lateral thinking when dealing with various problems and issues. I am always inclined to establish the consequences of particular actions or ways of doing things before engaging into an actual activity, and this saved me a lot of problems. I am also able to identify issues and interactions that need to be addressed; the drug issue was one of the subjects that needed attention in our community. There are several other skills that I possess, and which I was able to use effectively to the success of the campaign. I was able to effectively make intuitive decisions under uncertainty; while the awareness campaign involved a lot of uncertainties, the outcome of the project justified the directions that I took. My teamwork and collaborative skills allowed me to work cooperatively with people. I understood different attitudes and other people well to interact constructively and reach into agreements on controversial matters. My assessment skills, strategic skills, and networking skills, proposing, and selling skills as well as my positivity, flexibility were also demonstrated in the drug awareness campaign. Starting my own company Despite the uncertainties that often face businesses I desire to own a large company, and one dealing with health and fitness issues. Its core business would be to provide a number of health and fitness services such as spa services, indoor sports, weight training, among others. These would be provided through fitness centres. This fitness centre would be characterised by a fitness complex with all the facilities under one roof. These facilities would include spa equipments, indoor sporting equipments, weights, running mills, and other health and fitness equipment. The company would be based at Birmingham, but would aim to capture the global market. Its main vision plan, therefore, would be to expand nationally, regionally and eventually globally while providing unique health and fitness services. While these services have existed before, the company would seek to differentiate its products through personalized training as well as through emphasis on catering in the needs of individual client. It would be a large company of an international standard that will maintain a friendly and close relationship with its clients, an aspect typical of many small personalized fitness companies. While the success of the fitness centre would depend on a number of factors, there are a number of attributes, skills, abilities I possess that would be instrumental in starting and running the company. These are highlighted below. As a second year student in business study, I have gained a number of attributes and skills related to enterprising. I am positive, hardworking and willing to take risks. A business venture involves taking risks and if one is not up to the challenge, it would be difficult to succeed. It is an essential requirement in entrepreneurship that one is positive and hardworking. In addition, I have drive, motivation and focus. With the challenges that face start ups, it is essential to have drive and motivation to succeed; otherwise, it would be easy to abandon a practical and lucrative business idea especially given that unchallenging alternatives are often available. I am always focused. Being able to manage resources and people effectively is a skill that would be beneficial to me as an entrepreneur. It is through this skill that I would be able to bring together an effective team to manage and run the company. In addition, it would be helpful in effective utilization of resources to ensure maximize benefits. Since I would assume a high-level managerial role, leadership skills would add up to the benefits of this essential skill. My decision making skills, problem solving skills, and assessment skills would also be very useful in setting up the fitness company. The whole process of starting up a business venture involves making decisions. Essentially, the initial step of setting up a company is the decision to do so. This, however, depends on a number of other procedures that require skills such as assessment and analytical skills, and problem solving skills. It is always important to assess the business situation and profitability of the industry before starting up a business venture. Intuitive decision making under uncertainty is another ability that would be vital in starting the company. Planning and organizing skills, and creativity and communication skills would also contribute immensely to the success of the company. All business organizations, including start ups require proper planning (Pinson & Jinnett 2006). Being able to put different elements together into an organized outfit is also vital for effective operation and success of a business (Pride, Hughes & Kapoor 2009). Doing this would further require communication skills. Since there are several other companies operating with similar business concept, creativity and innovation would be useful in designing strategies aimed at giving the company a competitive edge. Other skills that I possess and would be useful in working out the company include team building and collaborative skills, strategic thinking skills, networking skills, proposing, and selling skills. Being able to facilitate teamwork as well as to work in teams is fundamental for any organizations including business enterprise. Strategic thinking would be necessary to work out the best solutions for the business and company, while networking, proposing, and selling skills would be vital in selling the company and its products. Skills to develop and actions to take While I possess a number of skills that are suitable for enterprising activities, it is important that I continuously develop and enhance these skills (Lee-Davies & Bailey 2006). In summary, these skills that I need to develop are as follows: Creative problem solving and decision making skills, Planning and organizing skills, Communication an negotiating skills, Persuading skills, Selling skills, Resource management and people skills, Strategic thinking, Creativity and innovation skills, Intuitive decision making under uncertain circumstance skills, Networking skills, Skills for initiative and drive. My action plan involves a number of things, some of which I have already started. The first step was to set goals, which resulted to my enrolment in an academic degree program that could instil enterprising skills on me and improve my existing skills. Therefore, I am currently in a business study degree program. The action that I need to take now, therefore, is to complete the degree program. Besides that, my plan is to get involved in both college and community activities where I can put these skills into practice and further boost my skills. I am already involved in a community organization based at Birmingham, in the United Kingdom where I apply my leadership qualities as the chairman. My plan is to expand the organization and make it self sustainable to avoid complete reliance on donors. This, however, involves a number of things and activities that include proposing and selling the idea. Therefore, this will be an avenue to develop my skills further. Certainly, this process will require application of all the skills that I have listed above. Besides this, I will join at least two college clubs or associations whose main objectives relate to enterprising. My aim is to engage in constructive club debates and activities that would enhance my enterprising skills. Furthermore, these clubs or association would provide a good platform for interaction with other students in our college and from other learning institutions, experienced business executives and community, and the society in general. It will also be through clubs and associations that I will have the opportunities to participate in college, national, and international seminars, workshops, and debates. This interaction will be a good avenue for enhancement of many skills, but notably communication skills, networking skills, persuading and selling skills, planning and organizing skills, and creative thinking skills (Hargie, Saunders, & Dickson 1994). It is an old saying that experience is the best teacher (Burton, 1938). My action plan also includes working as an intern in three different health and fitness companies where I would apply my enterprising skills and get more practical experience. The main aim is to understand the holistic working of a company, and more so, of a health and fitness company without the limitations of a single company. This would require that I have at a minimum of six months spending at least two months in each company. Additionally, I plan on identifying mentors and role models who can guide me into achieving my goals. Personal reflection The tasks involved in owning a company are challenging, but with the right tools and attitudes, it is possible to succeed. In comparison to employment, owning a company has more challenges and responsibilities, which, if not handled properly, can result to a lot of problems to the owner. Such problems can include loss of financial assets, legal problems, and even health problems. It is, therefore, essential that one is equipped with the right tools. These tools include knowledge and skills on enterprising as discussed above as well as practical experience on these skills. The acquisition of these skills is a challenging process. It requires patience, determination, and dedication. For instance, the minimum academic period required to study these skills is at about four years. A period of four year is long, and lack of determination and motivation would not make it easy to stay on. My motivation comes from a number of things. First, the benefits of education are enormous and acquiring skills that would help me tackle various challenges is a motivating factor. Furthermore, I am internally motivated because I like to see new ideas work out, and the thought of succeeding as an entrepreneur is, in itself, a motivation. Moreover, challenges often offer opportunities for development in person and this is a motivating factor as well. It is worth to note that challenges are synonymous with success in life and choosing employment over starting up a business venture is not a smooth ride either. Choosing employment does not mean that one is not under the any risk. The employer companies are also susceptible to instability and failure, meaning that one can loose a means of livelihood when a company collapses or restructures. In this regards, therefore, benefits of owning a company over employment are a motivation that override the associated challenges and risks. This can also explain why I chose to start my own company. The reasons for choosing to start my own business vary. If the company succeeds, the benefits are huge. Furthermore, while discipline, respect, dedication, and focus are essential requirements for an entrepreneur (Pinson & Jinnett 2006, working in organizations that have inflexible working schedule – which is characteristic of many employers – may not offer the quality of life that I want. In addition, I do not fear to take risks so long as the decision is strategic and well informed. Reference lit Burton, TW 1938, Experience, the best teacher: essays on morals, J.A. Want organization, United States. Hargie, O, Saunders, C & Dickson, D 1994, Social skills in interpersonal communication, 3rd edition. Routledge, Australia. Lee-Davies, L & Bailey, S 2006, Developing work and study skills, Cengage Learning EMEA, United Kingdom. Pinson, L & Jinnett, J 2006, Steps to small business start-up: everything you need to know to turn your idea into a successful business, 6th edition. Kaplan Publishing, New York. Pride, WM, Hughes, RJ & Kapoor, JR 2009, Business, Cengage Learning, United Kingdom. Read More