Becoming an Entrepreneur in the 21st Century - Coursework Example

Entrepreneurship Name Date Course Entrepreneurship Self-help Guide Introduction In the 21st century, the concepts of entrepreneurship are increasingly becoming common. More people are seeking to be entrepreneurs in different fields. Entrepreneurship in the 21st century involves commercialization of an innovation. An entrepreneur is therefore requited to come up which some innovation that can be commercialized. A lot of confusion is currently being witnessed with regards to who an entrepreneur is. Entrepreneurship should not be considered as an ordinary business. Entrepreneurship may start with a small idea and it does not necessarily require an individual to have huge sums of money in order to become an entrepreneur. Young people are increasingly seeking to become entrepreneurs (Mohammed & Baburo, 2014). This is due to the high number of innovations that the young people are developing. The increase in the use of technology has impacted positively on entrepreneurship. A lot of innovations are being made as a result of using technological concepts. It is difficult in the 21st century for one to be an entrepreneur without using the concepts of technology. Entrepreneurship also has a lifecycle as new products and services may emerge at any time to counter the existing innovative product or service. This is an important aspect that most of the entrepreneurs have to consider. The concepts of innovations play an essential role in terms of improving on the economy of a country. Most of the entreprenual ventures have ended up becoming multi-billion enterprises. The paper is thus self help guide of becoming an entrepreneur in the 21st Century among the global audience. The nature of Entrepreneurship and its Role in Business In order for one to be an entrepreneur, the business skills are highly required. An individual cannot be entrepreneur without the knowledge of how business operations are carried out. Entrepreneurship requires innovations by an individual as the first step. However, innovations alone cannot work as commercialization of the innovative idea is required. In the 21st century, an individual can become an entrepreneur in any field. This is because innovative products or services can be developed in all the fields. However, the business skills have to be applied in any of the field that the entreprenual activity is being implemented. Most of the entrepreneurs have been forced to take up short courses on business management in order to improve on the business skills. However, some of the entrepreneurs understand the concepts of business and have not undertaken the business courses. An entrepreneur does not necessarily need to be highly educated in the 21st century (Raheem, S, 2014). The main requirement is becoming innovative and understanding the business operations. The lack of business skills have seen a lot of potentials entrepreneurs failing to commercialize on their innovation and hence leading to failures. Entrepreneurship is important in business as it creates a competitive advantage to a business. The competitive advantage is a result of the innovation and unique ideas. The uniqueness plays an important role in the process of customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is an important tool that is required by a business and hence the important role that entrepreneurship plays in business. Understanding of Entreprenual Behaviors An entrepreneur is quite different from the ordinary business people due to their behaviours. It has been highlighted that entrepreneurs think differently from the ordinary people when dealing with the same situation. The decision that an entrepreneur makes is quite different from that of an ordinary person they see an opportunity in every situation. An entrepreneur not only comes up with an innovation but is also willing to take risks. Risk taking is one of the major behaviours of an entrepreneur (Hatten, 2015). Risk taking may involve leaving a stable and well paying job to commercialize an innovation with no certainty that it will be successful. In the 21st century, in order to become an entrepreneur, an individual has to be willing to take risks and deal with any losses that may occur as a result of the risk. Resilience is also important among the entrepreneurs and it determines the ability of an individual to commercialize an innovation. Working in a team is also important t for an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is always willing to work with others for the purposes of solving problems through developing diverse solutions. It is through teamwork that brainstorming can be carried out which is also important for an entrepreneur when coming up with an innovative idea. An entrepreneur is also willing to take up any challenge that is related to the business. This has contributed positively on the ability of entrepreneurs to make improvements with regards to different processes within the organization. Communication and Creativity In order to become an entrepreneur, communication skills are highly required. The communication skills are required for the purposes of communicating the innovative ideas with the others. It is also useful when working with a team in order to come up with various ideas. Good communication skills are also useful as the entrepreneurs may be required to communicate with other stakeholders such as the investors. Most of the entrepreneurs may not have adequate funds to commercialize their ideas. This requires the assistance of investors or financial institutions. An entrepreneur has to convenience the financial in situations that the innovations will work in order to obtain the required funding (Brush, 2012). This requires a lot of good communication skills. It is for this reason that some of the potential entrepreneurs usually fail to succeed as they cannot convince the investors and financial institutions to back their innovations. Creativity is the core of entrepreneurship in the 21st century. An entrepreneur has to be creative in order to come up with an innovation. Creativity requires some knowledge on a given filed. The acquisition of knowledge is therefore important in enhancing the creativity among the entrepreneurs. In order for one to be an entrepreneur, it is important to ensure that they undergo some form of formal training. It is for this reason that education plays an important role in ensuring that the individuals are able to exploit their creativity. Creativity enables the individual to come up with ideas that promotes innovations. Important elements in formulating and evaluating a business plan An entreprenual business plan is unique and it requires some important elements that will ensure that the plan is successful. A business plan contains the information about what a business does. All the information about what the entreprenual enterprise will be carrying out has to be considered in the process. Detailed information is useful in ensuring that all the activities are planned for. A detailed description of the needs of the company and what requires in order achieving its goals and objectives is important and has to be in the business plan. Information indicating why the business is superiors as compared to the others operating in the same industry has to be indicated in the business plan (Business, 2015). This could be the innovative ideas that the business has put in place. This is important as it may be useful to the investors or financial institutions that may be willing to finance the business. The information about the products and services of the company should also be provided in the business plan. The description of the products and services will provide the stakeholders with adequate information about the business. The information about the market research analysis should be provided. This indicates that an entrepreneur has to carry out a research about the market situation. The list of competitors may be provided in the market research. This information is useful as it may be used by the company to develop the market strategies that are aimed at dealing with the competitors. The information about the market should be detailed but not generalized information. Some of the customers may not like the product or service of the company despite being innovative. Generalized information may therefore be misleading. Detailed information about how the organization will be managed should be included in the business plan. This should included the management positions and the responsibilities of the managers and the employees. Most of the entrepreneurs may start their businesses on their own. However, with time more people may be required for the effective management of the company. It is for this reason that the information about the management of the company should be available in the business plan. The presence of the management information is also important to the investors (Drucker, 2014). This is because it indicates that the entrepreneur is thinking about the future of the company. The information about the competitive advantage that the product or service has over the others is important and should be provided in details in the business plan. During the make research, it is important for the entrepreneur to talk to some of the potential customers. The views of the potential customers with regards to the products should therefore be provided in the business plan. The information is important in ensuring that the investors have a picture of the likely performance of the product in the market. However, the information from the customers should be accurate so as to determine the strategies that may be used to attract the customers. Entrepreneurship is mainly about innovations and the product or service being developed may be completely new in the market. The competitors may steal the idea for their own benefits if it has not been protected. It is therefore important to include the patent or measures that have been put in place to protect the intellectual property of the organization. The investors may also be interested in the measures that have been put in place to protect the products so as to avoid any losses in case the innovation is stolen by the competitors. The sales and marketing strategies should also be described in details in the business plan. The sales and marketing strategies usually contain the detailed information of how the business plans to attract the customers. Attracting the customers is the most important aspect of any business. The innovative idea may fail to make any impression in the market if awareness is not created among the customers through the marketing process (Karlan & Valdivia, 2011). The sources of funding should also be provided clearly in the business plan. This information is important to the investors as they may also be targeted for the funding of the business. The financial projection information must be provided in the business plan so as to provide the investors with details of the revenue that the company is likely to generate. The information about the financial projection is useful to the investors in terms of highlighting how the company is likely to finance the loan provided through the revenue generated. Elements of Managing Rapid Growth The management of the rapid growth will require the presence of various measures to deal with the changes. The entrepreneurs will be required to network from time to time. This will involve attending seminars, building a strong network with the other entrepreneurs and paying attention to the ideas that are brought forward by others. This process will be useful in ensuring that capacity is build to effectively manage the rapid growth of the business. Developing a strong brand will be important for the business in terms of ensuring that rapid growth is achieved. The social media may be used for the purposes of branding the company. Developing a positive image of the company is useful in ensuring that the growth and development is enhanced. Developing a good relationship with the investors may also be important in ensuring that the business is able to achieve growth and development (Onetti, et al, 2012). A good relationship with the investors may play an important role in ensuring that some of the challenges are dealt with. Flexibility is also an important aspect that may be embraced by the business for the purposes of ensuring that it is able to deal with various challenges. Dealing with challenges will also require hiring highly qualified personnel to carry out different activities at the organization. The highly qualified employees will also play an essential role in ensuring that the processes within the organization are carried out in a professional manner. The organizational culture of the company should also inspire innovations so as to enhance the operations of the organization. Sources of Information The main source of information for the entreprenual activities includes the journals and books. The information from the literature review is also an important source of information for the entrepreneurship. Some of the entrepreneurs who are well known are usually ready to share their experience with the other people. Consulting the experienced entrepreneurs can be useful in obtaining more information about the concepts of entrepreneurship. The social media and the internet make it easy to contact the entrepreneurs through the use of social media. Some important events have taken place in the past with regards to entrepreneurship. In 1723, the idea of entrepreneurship was put forward by Robert Reich (George & Bock, 2011). However, the features of entrepreneurship at the time are quite different from the current features of entrepreneurship. The concepts of innovations and risk talking have currently emerged and have played an important role in terms of enhancing entrepreneurship. In the last quarter of the 20th century a lot of entreprenual activities have taken place. It is through entrepreneurship that Microsoft and Apple were established. This is an indication that entrepreneurship can play an important role in terms of contributing to the advancements in the society. Consulting the entrepreneurs who were responsible for the great innovation is therefore important in obtaining valuable information. During the networking process contacting the experienced entrepreneurs is important. However, it is also important to note that the sources of information about entrepreneurship should be critically scrutinized to avoid using information that is not accurate. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that entrepreneurship requires the business skills in order for the process to be successful. Innovations and creativity is also required in entrepreneurship for the purposes of achieving success. The commercialization of the innovations is the core of entrepreneurship in the 21st century. The entrepreneurs should also be prepared to take risks and accept losses. It is evident that a business plan is required for the commercialization process and opening the entreprenual business. Detailed information of the products and services as well as the operations of the company has to be provided in the business plan. A marketing strategy and marketing information has t be provided in the business plan. The information about the financial issues has to be provided in the business plan as it is important to the investors. The entrepreneurs may require the support of investors or banks for financing different organizations. The growth and development of the organization may also require some strategies to ensure that the operations are successful. It is evident that the business has to employ highly qualified employees in order to ensure that different activities are carried out effectively. Networking is important to the entrepreneurs as it is essential in terms of providing more information. The entrepreneurs may also consult the experienced entrepreneurs who have made an impact in the world. List of References Business, 2015, How to write a Business Plan, Retrieved on 23 April 2015 from, . Mohammed, S, & Baburo, T, B, 2014, Assessing Impact of Entrepreneurship Eduaction on Students’ Job Creation Ability after Graduation, European Journal of Business and Management, 6(27), 149-158. Raheem, S, 2014, Business Revolution through Corporate Entrepreneurship, Journal of Poverty, Investment and Development, 5, 52-62. Hatten, T, S, 2015, Small business management: Entrepreneurship and beyond, Cengage Learning. Brush, C, 2012, International Entrepreneurship (RLE International Business): The Effect of Firm Age on Motives for Internationalization (Vol. 5), Routledge. Drucker, P, 2014, Innovation and entrepreneurship, Routledge. Karlan, D, & Valdivia, M, 2011, Teaching entrepreneurship: Impact of business training on microfinance clients and institutions, Review of Economics and Statistics, 93(2), 510-527. Onetti, A, et al, 2012, Internationalization, innovation and entrepreneurship: business models for new technology-based firms, Journal of Management & Governance, 16(3), 337-368. George, G, & Bock, A, J, 2011, The business model in practice and its implications for entrepreneurship research, Entrepreneurship theory and practice, 35(1), 83-111. Read More