How You Can Become an Entrepreneur in the 21st Century - Coursework Example

How to become an Entrepreneur in the 21st Century Name Institution Professor Course Date Introduction The buzz regarding entrepreneurship is everywhere in the contemporary world. The word entrepreneur first surfaced in the 1723 to describe an individual who operates and organises a business through taking financial risk. In the modern world, entrepreneurship is highly celebrated and can include entre-entrepreneurship, micro-entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship and knowledge entrepreneurship to mention but a few. The road to success for entrepreneurs is often lonely and long and entails a lot of stress, big amount of sacrifice and brutal hours. An entrepreneur is an intricate integration of personality, attitude, skills and motivation. As a result, it has never been easier to become a successful entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is a kind of an enlightened gambling where occupancy and skills are crucial factors with luck playing a huge role. However, one can succeed as an entrepreneur with a feasible business plan and self-help guide. Entrepreneurship The Nature and Role of Entrepreneurship in Business The life of an entrepreneur in the 21st century may look tedious and boring to some. However, running your own company and becoming a boss is very stimulating on many diverse levels. One does not need a big brain, money or qualifications to succeed as an entrepreneur. All a successful entrepreneur does is developing something that constantly makes money. The most essential characteristics of a good entrepreneur are determination and energy. When Steve Job established Apple, he had no customers or money but he persuaded a local computer shop to order his imaginary Apple computers. He then persuaded a supplier to sell him the parts he needed to develop the computers using the orders he obtained from the computer shop as evidence he would pay back after delivering the order. Steve and his colleagues worked in a garage to develop the computers; delivered them as agreed and that is how Apple Inc began. Mohanty (2005) defines entrepreneurship as the knack for sensing a prospect where other sees confusion, contradiction and chaos. It is the knowledge to find control and marshal resources and to ensure that the venture does not run out of money when people need it most. A.H Cole defines entrepreneurship as the focus of a person or group of linked individuals, undertaken to initiate, uphold or earn profit through production and distribution of economic services and goods (Mohanty, 2005). Entrepreneurship seeks production and investment prospects besides organising a business to undertake a novel production procedure, hiring labour, raising capital and arranging the supply of raw materials and selecting people to oversee daily operations. Entrepreneurship entails a creative activity. This is because an entrepreneur is one who innovates. Entrepreneurship holds a knowledge base where knowledge is the means to an end. According to Mohanty (2005), entrepreneurship does not concern money making only, but it also include flexibility, willingness to think conceptually, imagination, creativity, capacity to mobilise production agents, ability to see change as a prospect and readiness to take risks. Entrepreneurship entails marrying passion and procedure with a good dose of persistence. In the 21st century, entrepreneurship is gaining momentum and scores of support agencies are coming forward to drive it a long way for success. Entrepreneurship entails the capacity to bring assets, materials, labour and other assets into integration that makes their value greater (Mohanty, 2005). An entrepreneur introduces innovations, a novel order and changes. The dynamic nature of entrepreneurship entails the creation procedure, calls for commitment of necessary effort and time, assuming necessary risks and monetary reward and personal satisfaction. Starting a business includes a great rate of failure because of intense competition, poor sales, inadequate managerial capacity or inadequate capital. Entrepreneurship surfaces and functions in cultural and socio-economic settings. It is a multifaceted and complex subject. The qualities of entrepreneurship include decision-making. Decision-making is one of the basic characteristic facets of entrepreneurship. A decision refers to a course of action consciously selected from among a manifold of alternatives to attain the desired result (Mohanty, 2005). As entrepreneurship entails both uncertainty and risk, decision making is essential on the side of entrepreneurs to establish and ran the business successfully. Accepting challenges is another characteristic of entrepreneurship. Apparently, entrepreneurship means accepting challenges amid uncertainties and risks. One must learn to accept challenges of all kinds and put his/her efforts in converting the odds into viable business prospects through pooling together the resources for running and building the enterprise in order to become an entrepreneur. According to Griffin (2015), the procedure of starting a novel business or business venture, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing is a portion of what entails entrepreneurship. Another important characteristic of entrepreneurship is risk taking. This characteristic implies assuming the responsibility for loss that may take place as a result of unforeseen eventualities of the future. An entrepreneur, through his/her deep insight and scientific perspective analyses the objectivity of the situation and lowers the risk greatly on one hand and improves the profit factor on the other hand. Building organisation is another major trait of entrepreneurship (Griffin, 2015). Entrepreneurship presupposes the skill and initiative on developing organisation. It is through delegation of power and appropriate leadership that organisation can be established. Organisation building is the most essential skill required for entrepreneurship as it facilitates the economic utilisation of other innovations. Skilful management is paramount in entrepreneurship because entrepreneurship entails dexterous management (Griffin, 2015). The fundamental managerial skill is the most essential characteristic aspect of entrepreneurship. For productive management of an enterprise, the role of an entrepreneur to supervise and initiate design of organisation-improvement projects in relation to upcoming prospects is very much essential (Griffin, 2015). Other major important aspects of entrepreneurship include innovation and mobilisation of resources. Mobilisation of resources is very crucial as resources are needed to perform activities that results in attainment of goals. According to Griffin (2012), an entrepreneur is an individual who is in a position to look at the environment, identify prospects to enhance the environment, gather together resources and execute action to maximise the identified prospects. Resources are found in scattered manner in the environment and need to be identified, perceived and mobilised by entrepreneurs in order to achieve business objectives. In this regard, entrepreneurs are different from other people in the population because of their innate ability to mobilise resources. Resources are required to guarantee success which holds the highest priority in entrepreneurs’ mind (Mohanty, 2005). Entrepreneurship entails features such as management skills, decision-making skills and innovations. Competencies entailed in entrepreneurship include risk taking, networking or teamwork, integrity, confidence, optimism and strategic planning. Attitudes involved in entrepreneurship include willingness and capacity to assume risk, foresightedness and vision, hard work, ability to adopt change, ambition, determination, commitment and ability to organise and administrate (Griffin, 2015). A good entrepreneur must be initiative, patient, persistence, information seeker, a positive thinker, self motivated, self determined, committed, efficient and a good planner. Scores of individuals encounter difficulties when trying to bring their notions to the market and establishing new business. However, entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial decisions have instigated numerous novel businesses throughout the globe. Griffin (2015) asserts that the history of entrepreneurship and of the growth of novel businesses is in many ways the history of great failure and of great wealth. Some entrepreneurs have been very thriving and have amassed vast fortunes from their capitalist efforts. For instance, when Microsoft Corporation conducted its initial public offer in 1986, Bill Gates cashed 350 million dollars for his share of Microsoft. Currently, his holdings valued at 53 billion dollars make him the richest person in the U.S and one of the global richest individual (Griffin, 2015). Research shows that most new businesses fail within the first few years. Scores of businesses that last longer or succeed do so because the entrepreneurs work long hours for every little income they get. The contribution of entrepreneurship in business can be measured with respect to its effects on major aspects of an economic system. These aspects include innovation, significance to big business and job creation. Griffin (2015) asserts that major innovations are likely to come from small businesses or individuals. For instance, small firms and individuals invented the personal computer, the jet engine, photocopying machine, helicopter and the disposable ballpoint pen to mention but a few. However, not all successful novel start-ups lead to edge dot-com enterprises. Entrepreneurship leads in creating of jobs. According to Griffin (2012), small businesses are accountable for creating eight of every ten jobs in America. Entrepreneurship supports development of a country’s economy. The growth of economy is as a result of human activity where this activity in people envisages organizer, worker and user of produced goods. Of these roles, the role of human beings in organising and coordinating the production means is greatly significant. Unless the resources and skill offered by nature are completely harnessed and turned into viable production units, human beings labour will remain principally unproductive and keeps the consumption level low. As a result, entrepreneurship is important and plays a crucial role in economic development. According to Decker, Haltiwanger, Jarmin and Miranda (2014), entrepreneurs innovate and grow thereby establishing employment for employees and value added for the economy Important Elements for Formulating and Evaluating an Entrepreneurial Business Plan for a Start-Up Organisation A small entrepreneurial start-up may function devoid of any explicit strategy. According to Petter (2013), a firm’s strategy is likely to subsist only in the head of the founder. Apart from being articulated via verbal communication with suppliers, employees and other parties, the strategy may be made explicit only when a business plan is required by outside investors. Most companies with developed management structure tend to hold some kind of strategic planning process. Gutterman (2012) claims that preparing a business with a global mind and audience is a challenging activity. This is because an international business plan requires serving different purposes. However, a business plan depends on such facets as what business one is planning, how one intends to utilise the plan and how one will be asked to evaluate and review the plan. A business plan is created for two main purposes which include to clarify ones vision and to sell the business to potential investors, partners and bankers (Gutterman, 2011). While there are no formal requirements when choosing the content of a business plan, one can follow established guidelines of successful businesses to ensure that one has collected all important information and considered all the pertinent issues. A business plan covers what one intends to do with his/her business. A business plan assists in providing direction by making the business owner discuss where he/she want to take the business and define what he/she wants out of the venture (Gutterman, 2011). In addition, a business plan offers structure to ones thinking and assists one in making sure that all essential areas are covered. More so, a business plan makes one to think regarding the future. For instance, a business plan helps a business owner to consider what he/she would de once the business is established. More importantly, a business plan helps one to communicate his business ideas to financiers, potential employees, employees, customers and suppliers (Gutterman, 2011). The procedure of writing a business plan requires tackling why, what, who, how, where, when and how much of your business. One must look deeper at his/her idea and how to turn the idea into a successful venture. The key elements of formulating and evaluating a business plan for a start-up organisation include: Business description that highlights what one plans to do and why one is starting the business Market analysis that underscores the target customers, what these customers want from the business Competitor assessment that entails who your competitors are and what the competitors offer Marketing plan that highlights how one will reach his/her customers Operating plan that underscores how one plans to implement his/her business idea Financial plan that underscores how much money the business will cost and where the business owner will get the required funds Executive summary that entails the basics of the business Business Description As regard, the first element, business description, the section should offer an general idea of the venture and its goals and objectives. Readers of the business plan want to understand why the business should subsist (Gutterman, 2011). This can be achieved through development of a mission statement. A mission statement communicates the principles and purpose of what one is doing and why. Effective mission statements should explain why the venture should exist and what it hopes to attain. The business description section should also provide an overview of the business, its legal structure, definition the business and services and products the owner intends to offer to consumers. Market Analysis As regard market analysis element, the business owner plan should discuss the market and how he/she intends to approach it (Petter, 2013). The section should discuss the characteristics of the market, the target profile of customers, competition and how one plan to obtain advantage of the competitors to establish a successful venture. Competitor Assessment With respect to competitor assessment, the business owner should include an analysis of his/her specific competitors. The business owner should first define his/her competitors and profile them and assess them based on their weaknesses and strengths (Gutterman, 2011). . The analysis of the competitors should entail their relationship with clients, market share, price, distribution, advertising, price, service and product features, length of time in market and their financial strength. Other factors to consider when doing competitor assessment include pricing, distribution and promotional activities. Operating Plan As regard operating plan, the business owner should highlight the internal structure, equipment and operations required to operate the business (Petter, 2013). This section calls for description of the management and ownership, resources and production that include production methods, operations and facilities and equipment, legal issues such as intellectual property protection and compliance. Financial Plan As regard financial Plan, the business owner develops an estimate of his/her profit potential. In this section, the business owner describes the present financial position and forecasts of future financial statements (Gutterman, 2011). The expenses, product demand and revenues draw on the market research. The financial projections should be realistic and valid. The business owner should offer projections for between two to five years and should include forecasted income, forecasted cash flows, forecasted balance sheet and breakeven analysis. Executive Summary In the last element of a business plan, the executive summary, the business owner should underscore the essential factors of his/her business (Gutterman, 2011). This section should summarise the business owner’s goals and mission, the product, market, marketing plan, management team, major components of the operations, funding needs, cash and profit forecasts and return on investment. Important Elements of Managing Rapid Growth and Overcoming Obstacles in an Entrepreneurial Environment Advancing business involves both challenges and opportunities. The prospect to transform a business into a market leader is striking. However, this prospect involves risk that would outshine capacity. To prevent that drawback, an entrepreneur requires elements such as a Strategic plan integrated with sufficient financing Communication technology, The right information Empowered employees Rapid advancement in entrepreneurial environment is a doubled-edged blade. Many entrepreneurs fail because of failing to manage growth. In this regard, managing rapid growth in an entrepreneurial environment calls for good management, solid technology foundation and a creative artistic style. When demand outshine capacity, more money gets lost leading to displeased employees, shoddy services and products, and strained customer relationships. Rapid growth can kill a business if the business lacks proper management. Entrepreneurs must, therefore, define their development objectives and then settle on how much growth one can support and how much funding one need to promote that growth. In addition, the entrepreneur should remain focused on the client’s experience, commit time to develop future value and establish the right culture Entrepreneurs need a well-defined growth strategy to manage rapid growth and overcome the obstacles in the entrepreneurial environment. This strategy should define human resources information systems, processes, and tools that one need to attain the business targets. According to Ogbor and Ogbor (2009), the success of a growth strategy for a business relies on the capacity to move from entrepreneurial management style to a professional one. This entails adapting the changing situations such as growth in the business. A successful growth policy relies on a stretchy management structure that allows a business to react rapidly to market demands. An entrepreneurial firm calls for an entrepreneurial attitude and growing business needs both managerial and entrepreneurial mindset (Ogbor & Ogbor, 2009). Introduction of ICT in the entrepreneurial environment enhances sales, financial control and productivity. Business should also plan to expand facilities, hiring new talent and adding machinery. Technology is another element that helps in managing and overcoming the challenges involved in an entrepreneurial environment. Managing rapid growth relies on holding the correct information systems. Other elements that help in managing rapid growth in an entrepreneurial environment include: Productivity, which involves the quantity of services or goods, produced from total inputs. Natural capital which entails aspects of nature involved in economic and human social systems Financial capital that allows entrepreneurs to buy the materials required to produce services and goods The intellectual capital that includes talents; creativity and knowledge of employees; efficient management systems; and productive supplier and customer relations: Intellectual capital holds three other elements, which include human capital, organisational capital and social capital Entrepreneurial capital that entails entrepreneurial commitment and competence Elements to overcome challenge in entrepreneur environment include: Ability to address tough issues Ability to create resolutions and strive to perfect them Resiliency during setbacks Willingness to work hard We-established problem-solving skills Ability to learn and obtain essential skills Significant Sources of Information and Assistance Including the Entrepreneurs and Significant Entrepreneurial Events over the Last Fifty Years Entrepreneurs require information regarding market, technology information, product information and financial information to mention but a few. One of the best means for an entrepreneur to get information is through other entrepreneurs. Other sources include observing firms. Merely watching what takes place in competing businesses offers information concerning potential customers, buying behaviour, ages, and gender among other facets. Different organisations offer information to entrepreneurs (Strokes & Wilson, 2010). One source of market information source is the local Chamber of Commerce. This organisation strives to enhance business information and conditions for entrepreneurial success. Business associations or trade groups may also offer important information. Libraries also provide information regarding population trends, consumer income, trends and other important data. The state and federal government offer services that help entrepreneurs collect and assess market information. Agencies such as Small Business Administration help new businesses to obtain funding. Such agencies also advise entrepreneurs about methods of collecting market information. Other sources of information and assistance include conferences, websites, books and articles. The incubation network in UK lobbies on behalf of industry, offer consultancy and networking prospects and produces publications (Strokes & Wilson, 2010). The incubators offer new entrepreneurs with information, advice, technical services and in some situations a place to establish a business. Most entrepreneurs get funding from banks and banks provide information regarding the costs of doing business. However, banks require a business plan before they extend credit to any entrepreneur (Strokes & Wilson, 2010). Apart from banks, other sources of finances for entrepreneurs include business angels, family loans, micro-finance schemes. According to Parker (2009), business angels are high new worth individuals who invest on their money, along with their expertise and time directly in unquoted firms in which they hold no family connection to benefit financially. Angel finance is a permanent source of start-up capital for entrepreneurs (Parker, 2009). Major Entrepreneurial Events Major entrepreneurial events in the UK and worldwide include: The Third ITC Enterprise Awards Dinner held in 2013 ITC Enterprise Awards Dinner held in 2012 The Science and Art of Mentoring held in 2012 Enterprise Awards Qualification Briefing held in 2012 ITC Enterprise Awards Dinner 2012 Launch event The Business of Influence held in 2011 ITC Enterprise Awards Dinner held in 2011 How to find and Leverage Partnerships held in 2010 Monetising Social media held in 2010 How to Reach the Key Decision Makers held on 2010 Finance Options for Entrepreneurs held in 2009 Global Entrepreneurship BlogWorld Expo Small Business Technology Week EO Global events TiE ( The Indus Entrepreneurs) to mention but a few Conclusion Entrepreneurs hold crucial roles in establishing novel businesses that fuel development in societies worldwide. The entrepreneur utilises technology and innovation to promote positive effect and activity in all aspects of life. A successful entrepreneur learns to determine, select, communicate and describe the nature of a prospect that holds attractive potential to turn into a thriving venture. A successful entrepreneur is capable of describing the valuable contributions of a business and develops design of a venture model that is sustainable via a competitive advantage. A successful entrepreneur identifies prospects, innovate, take risk and mobilise resources besides executing his/her visions References Decker, R., Haltiwanger, J., Jarmin, R., & Miranda, J.(2014). The role of entrepreneurship in US job creation and economic dynamism. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 28 (3), 3-24. Griffin, R.(2012). Management. UK: Cengage Learning. Griffin, R.(2015). Fundamentals of management. UK: Cengage Learning. Gutterman, A.(2011). A short course in international business plans 3rd Ed., eBook. USA: World Trade. Mohanty, S. (2005). Fundamentals of entrepreneurship. India: PHI Learning Pvt.Ltd. Ogbor, J., & Ogbor, J.O. (2009). Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa: A strategic management perspective. UK: Authorhouse. Parker, S.(2009). The economics of entrepreneurship. UK: Cambridge University Press. Petter, G.(2006). CIO and corporate strategic management: Changing role of CIO to CEO: Changing role of CIO to CEO. India: Idea Group Inc (IGI). Strokes, D., & Wilson, N.(2010). Small business management and entrepreneurship. UK: Cengage Learning EMEA. Read More