Personal Requirements of Most Successful Entrepreneurs - Coursework Example

Running Head: Individual Assignment Individual Assignment Customer’s Name: Customer’s Course: Tutor’s Name: 19th April, 2012. Introduction Entrepreneurship is termed as the act associated with the organizing and managing a business and when operating the entrepreneur faces risk of either making some profit or losses form his operations. An entrepreneur can therefore be termed as an individual who take risks to organize and conceive ventures. The act of becoming an entrepreneur is quite demanding and has its associated drawbacks but the operations can also be very rewarding. Thus one ought to posses the necessary characteristics so as to succeed as an entrepreneur (Ries, 2011). This report sets out to demonstrate the personal requirements of most successful entrepreneurs, it also offers a brief description of fine successful entrepreneurs from Australia and lastly it offers my own reflection in regard to entrepreneur learning, the strengths and weaknesses that I possess that may assist me in becoming a prospective and a list of recommendations to solve the weaknesses that I have. Personal requirements of becoming an entrepreneur There exist certain common characteristics that are depicted by all successful entrepreneurs. Naturally individual entrepreneurs have some characteristic that tend not to be common in all entrepreneurs despite that all entrepreneurs are said to have a kindred character, a constitution and an viewpoint as well a drive and enthusiasm. Though there exist wide ranges of characteristic that are possessed by most successful entrepreneurs. This paper will only major on some of the most common characteristic possessed by most successful entrepreneurs they will include: internal locus of control, risk taking, commitment, independence, and a leader by example and lastly an effectual reasoning. Internal locus of control One of the major characteristic of a successful entrepreneur is locus of control. This entrepreneur characteristic necessitates for a high level of personal belief. An individual ought to have a high belief and confidence in himself and his ability to control the current circumstance (Cunningham & Lischeron 1991; Hisrich & Peters, 1996). When an individual lacks this characteristic it becomes impossible for him to engage in the establishment of a new venture. Locus control assists in that it individual are able to engage in risks and other exposures that are closely linked to the establishment of a new business venture. The belief in ones inner control is termed as a vital factors foe an entrepreneur to hold on to the drive as well the energy that is required in the establishment and management of the new business venture (Hisrich and Peters, 1996). Independence Another common characteristic with most successful entrepreneurs is independence. Its definition is closely linked to but to some extent different from that of internal locus control. While independence is more concerned with the belief that, for an individual to succeed in his venture, he must undertake things at his own designated time and in their own way locus control on the other hand mirrors personal confidence on their abilities (Hisrich & Brush, 1986). Individual with these characteristic are faced with a lot difficulties while working as employees of organizations. The aspect of individual responsibility for the results often leads to the development of entrepreneurial personality. Entrepreneurs are commonly attributed to the high need for personal achievement. Risk Taker Risk taker is another common characteristic that is associated with most successful entrepreneurs. The act of becoming an entrepreneur involves a lot of risk taking and it necessitates for individuals who are confident and those who have a strong belief of their ability to achieve and at the same they are prepared to be responsible of their actions and desire achievement. Risk taking entrepreneurs are seen to be capable of taking risks that are vital in the achievement of their role as an entrepreneur. Risk taking despite its nature (psychological, financial or social) is termed as an essential component of the entrepreneurial development since it measures potential benefits associated with the undertaking and the costs associated with the process (Hisrich & Peters, 1996: SAIT, 1998). In relation to this aspect entrepreneurs tend not to be resistant to fear, but instead they tend to give their life approach much priority and in that way fear, boredom, failure, dissatisfaction and drudgery greatly overshadows the persistent fear to achieve success. Leader by example Most entrepreneurs are leaders, they do not only lead themselves but they are also gifted at leading the other employees working under them. Most of them acknowledge the importance role that is played by team work in the success of their ventures and they tend to appreciate the contribution of others, support and reward them based on their contributions. With their absence the activities are not carried out in the right manner. They tend to take a close look on the contributions made by the juniors and thus they tend to achieve entrepreneurial freedom and prosperity. Commitment The act of becoming an entrepreneur requires commitment and most entrepreneurial ventures will not be a success if commitment lacks. Most authors view commitment as a major drive to becoming an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs tend not only to have the commitment to do something but also to do it and engage in it from beginning to end. Thus in essence it involves the long term commitment and the urge to continue with the venture. Commitment is most entrepreneurs’ stems up form the notion that most of them believe that they are doing something worthwhile not only to benefit t themselves but also to benefit the society in which they are operating. Effectual reasoning Most schools and other institutions of higher learning introduce the concept of tactical decision making as vital factors for most new business ventures. The process mostly starts with the identification of clear goals that are later translated into distinctively clear objectives that enlighten the business strategies and later establish the tactics. The starting point of decision making is in fact at the exact opposite of that of the entrepreneur that takes into considerations the strategic resources, abilities and inequitable advantage that are under the entrepreneur control and then chooses a budding opportunity that these potentials make them exclusively placed to take advantage of (Drucker, 1985). Great Australian Entrepreneurs Diana Williams Diana is an Australian entrepreneur who has started and operated a successful exercise business which her Gyms catering for women only. The business which she started in 1989 is worth $90 million in revenue. Diana is a pioneer and when she started her business no one had thought women only gym would be a thriving business (Fernwood, 2011).. Furthermore she faced objections that a business that only caters for women contributes to inequalities. This enterprising woman has been awarded many accolades and her business has being among the top privately owned businesses in Australia. Michael Malone Michael runs iiNet that provides internet services to the people of western Australian. He began from his own home trying to provide internet for his own home network in 1993, in true entrepreneurial spirit he expanded to offer services to his neighbors. In 1999 the company offered shares to the public with Michael becoming its CEO (Milman, 2011). Today the company operates Nationwide and as its CEO Michael continues to be an entrepreneurial innovator coming up with new connectivity technologies including Naked DSL, Internet protocol TV. He remains a firm believer in internet innovations to transform lives. Michael’s achievement can be credited to creativity and ability to exploit business opportunities. Nicole Kersh Nicole grew up working at company offering cable solution owned by her parents. Being female she was expected to shy away from these cables but instead she embraced the business and started 4Cabling in 2006 which now brings in more than $3 million in yearly revenue (Milman, 2011). Nicole owes her success in a male dominated IT market to her bravery, experience and innovative pricing strategies that mean her lean startup can offer lower prices to networking companies than other established players. Nikki Durkin Nikki is an example of an individual born with intrinsic entrepreneurship skills starting trade on eBay at the Age of 15. She tried a couple of times before succeeding in an online business named 99dresses, that sees its customers exchange the extra clothes they have no use for internet coins, which they can purchase clothing items others have submitted to the site (Milman, 2011). Nikki at only age 20, illustrates that one can succeed in business even at a young age. Nikki is an entrepreneur who can credit persistence (she experimented several times before succeeding) and creativity as the factors contributing to her success in Business. John Singleton The story of John Singleton is one of a person who rises from humble occupation to become a prosperous businessman. He began as a mail boy in an advertising firm and later rose through the ranks of J. Walter Thompson to become its Director for the creative Department (Creswell & Trenoweth, 2006). Together with colleagues they began SPASM a company that deals with providing advertising content to clients. Singleton has business interests in advertising, Media, horse racing, he also own a stadium. Singleton owes his success to a good creative mind and good professional networks. Reflection and Action Examine in depth and reflect on your entrepreneurial learning from this unit. From the learning of this unit there are various aspects that are evident this includes the notion that successful entrepreneurs are derived form diverse ages, race, and gender and income levels. But most successful entrepreneurs share some common attributes which includes: confidence, commitment, locus of control independence, leadership and many others. Though most successful entrepreneurs depict this traits the level at which they are depicted vary form one entrepreneur top the other. There also exist a number of drives that motivate a person to becoming an entrepreneur and this drives also vary form one individual to the other. One of the most common drives is the urge to be independent, while others are also born entrepreneurs and by engaging in entrepreneurship they tend to fulfill their desires. Entrepreneurs are faced by various problems when establishing new ventures. Some of the common problems include but are not limited to financial problems, marketing problems as well as management problems. An entrepreneur plays various functions which includes but are not limited to: promotion, bearer of risk as well as uncertainty, innovation and staffing. Entrepreneurs within a society are said to bring certain benefits. According to this unit entrepreneurship termed as a major driver to economic development of the locality as well as that of the country (Acs, 2006). Entrepreneurs in most countries are regarded to as major mover of innovations in a country and they are also said to contribute greatly in terms of a country economic development. One of the major importance’s of entrepreneurship is the creation of capital which over time brings savings as well as investment. Another benefit is the promotion of balanced development with the region as well as the country (Johannisson & Nilsson, 1989). Entrepreneurship is also said to offer employment opportunities and augment the people purchasing power. Most entrepreneurs assist a lot in reducing the level of concentration of economic power. These units assist me a lot in differentiating between an entrepreneur and a promoter. Identify the strengths and weaknesses that you perceive you have in becoming a prospective entrepreneur. Not all entrepreneurs posses all the characteristic that are associated with successful entrepreneurs. In most cases an entrepreneur tend to outsource duties that he perceives that he cannot perform them well this over time ensure the success of the venture since the outsourced activities are performed by individuals who have a strength in them. In essence each one goes through difference experience in life and all of us tend to differ from one another in our abilities as will as our potential to succeed. Most entrepreneurs posses both strengths and weaknesses which demonstrates the differences for the success or failure of a business venture (Drucker, 1985). I perceive a wide range of strengths that will assist be a lot in becoming a prospective entrepreneur. One of the strength that I possess is being a self motivated individual. I tend to co and perform duties on my own without any supervision thus this strength will assist me a lot in becoming an entrepreneur. It will be very easy for me to cope in such a situation since no one is needed to push me around when performing my duties. Another strength that I posses is that of been action oriented. I tend to contribute constantly in a team about ideas, different scenarios and also on various ways to make progress from the current position. Thus with this attribute I believe that I possess a quality of been a prospective entrepreneur. Despite the strengths I posses I still have some weaknesses which may hinder me from been prospective entrepreneur. One of the weakness that i posses is not been conscious of time wasted. Time in business terms is also termed as a resource that manager should ensure that it is not wasted. With proper time management a business venture tend to achieve more as compared to another business with poor time management. This seems to be my major weakness. Another weakness that I posses is the afraid of changes, I am resistant to change and this may hinder my success of the business since the business environment is changing. Change seems to be every where and with the current business environment and other changes that occur globally no one can afford to resist the changes. As an individual is resist change due to since I lack the competence to change. Another major weakness that I face as a prospective entrepreneur is that I depend a lot in other people so as to attain goals. Achievement of goals seems to be a vital factor in the success of a new venture and since I have this weakness, it may hinder my future ambition of becoming an entrepreneur. Dependence on other people may at time cause the failure to the achievement of the set goals. Strategies you would need to ensure success Since I posses a weakness that is associated with poor management, the recommendation would be the deployment of another individual who can manage time better than I can do and the individual ought to posses good time management skills. This weakness can also be solved by undertaking a course in proper time management and over time I will be able to manage time. The weaknesses that I posses in relation to resistance to change can be solved by training programs. The training programs that will be used ought to be designed in such a way that they move form the broader perspective to the specific perspective. The training programs should also be implemented so as to enhance change and it also needs to be evaluated so as to measure of the change has really occurred. The use of training programs will ultimately diminish my personal lack of ability to change by demonstrating how individuals should be brought to the change process. The weakness of been too reliant on other individuals so as to achieve the goals can be solved by been selloff reliant. This means that even though I depend on the efforts of other people I ought to apply the a higher percentage of efforts than the other this will mean that even though the goals are not all achieved a higher number of the goals will be achieved. Conclusion In conclusion it is evident that entrepreneurs play a vital role in the building of a country economy. Also most successful entrepreneurs tend to posses certain similar characteristics which include but are not limited to: internal locus of control, commitment, effectual reasoning, risk taker, independent and a leader. Australia has a number of most successful entrepreneurs such as Diana Williams, Michael Malone, Nicole Kersh, Nikki Durkin and John Singleton. I possess some strengths that will assist me in been a prospective entrepreneur and the weaknesses which may hinder me in being a successful entrepreneur. The strategies offered will play a major role in ensuring that I solve the weaknesses which in perceive so as t become a successful entrepreneur. References Acs, J. (2006). “How is Entrepreneurship Good for Economic Growth?” Innovations, MIT Press Journal (Winter 2006): pp.97-107. http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/itgg.2006.1.1.97 Allen, K. (2001). Entrepreneurship for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, Inc., Creswell. T & Trenoweth, S. (2006). 1001 Australians You Should Know. Sydney: Pluto Press Australia. Drucker, P. (1985). Innovation and entrepreneurship. New York: Harper & Row. Ernst & Young (2011). Michael Malone-iiNet, Retrieved from http://eoy.ey.com.au/www/595/1001127/displayarticle/1609846.html Fernwood (2011). Refreshing the Brand: an Interview with Fernwood’s Founder Diana Williams, Retrieved from http://www.fernwoodfitness.com.au/what-s-new/news/refreshing-the-brand--an-interview-with-fernwood%E2%80%99s/ Hisrich, R. & Brush, C. (1986). The Woman Entrepreneur: Starting, Financing and Managing a Successful New Business. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books. Hisrich, R & Peters, M. (1996). Entrepreneurship: Starting, Developing and Managing a New Enterprise. Illinois: Irwin. Johannisson, B. & Nilsson, A. (1989). Community entrepreneurs: networking for local development. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development. 1: 1. 3-19 Milman, O. (2011). Australia’s top 10 female start-up entrepreneurs. Retrieved from http://www.startupsmart.com.au/success-stories/australias-top-10-female-start-up-entrepreneurs/201111034428.html Ries, E. (2011). The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. United states: Crown Business. South Australian Institute of Technology (SAIT) (1989). What is an entrepreneur? Small Enterprise Series, September. Read More