How Did I Become an Entrepreneur - Essay Example

Name: Tutor: Title: How Did I become An Entrepreneur Course: Date Describe the skills, qualities, knowledge, Attributes required to be an entrepreneur Throughout this course, I have learnt that there is no guaranteed formula for one to follow to become a successful entrepreneur. Anyone can become an entrepreneur regardless of age, gender, income level and race. When I look at individuals who have become successfully entrepreneur I learn that they differ in terms of education and experience. However, literature shows that many successful entrepreneurs have some common personal attributes, qualities and skills including creativity, dedication, leadership, passion, flexibility and self-confidence (Timmons, Gillin, Burshtein and Spinelli, 2010). However, it is critical to mention that most of these skills are not inborn, they can be learned. Creativity: Creativity is paramount for me to become a successfully entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur I need to be creative so as to come up with a unique idea or new product. An entrepreneur needs to have the drive for improvement and innovation. This entails the urge for continuous learning, inquiring and thinking outside the box. Dedication: An entrepreneur should be motivated to work hard, work for more than 12 hours every day for the whole week, particularly at the initial stages so as to get the business off the ground. A unique idea without dedication cannot succeed. A great idea must be accompanied by hard work. Determination: An entrepreneur should have a very strong desire to attain success. This involves being persistent and able to bounce back after tough times. It means having the inspiration to keep on trying despite seeming to experience failure at the beginning and believing success will be eminent at last. An entrepreneur should be motivated by success and not money. Flexibility: An entrepreneur need to move fast in response to varying market needs. As an entrepreneur, I need to be true to my dream whereas being careful of market realities. I need to be able to modify my vision to meet the changing needs of customers. Leadership: Being an entrepreneur does not only mean having the capacity to create rules and to set goals for my business but also making sure that I follow those rules and achieve my goals. Passion: Passion is what will get me started as an entrepreneur and keep me there. Passion will also give me the ability to persuade others to trust my vision. Moreover, it will help me to remain focused and have others believe in my plan. Self-confidence: This entails having being able to listen without being easily intimidated or swayed. This will happen because I am able to do thorough planning and this can decrease the risk’s level and uncertainty. Moreover, I know and have all it takes to be an entrepreneur and therefore feels self-confident getting into entrepreneurship. Reading Summaries From the weekly, I learnt that successful entrepreneurs possess a wide variety of personality types including inherent, family, education and career experience. Specific genetic qualities are not as important as acquired skills. There are desirable and acquirable behaviors, attributes and habits of successful entrepreneurship including determination, commitment, leadership, motivation, and creativity, tolerance of uncertainty and risk and passion (Kirby, 2002). I have also learnt that a business plan is critical to successful entrepreneurship. A business plan describes what my business will deal with, provides a market analysis as well as comprehensive description of the product and projects the anticipated economic future of my company. A detailed and thorough business plan is vital in attracting investors to my company. There are many sources of capital that I can use to finance my business including personal savings, friends and family, credit cards, banks and venture investors (Hisrich, Peters, Shepherd, 2013). Effective entry strategies for new ventures include differentiation, niche specification as well as innovation. Large organizations have more chances for chances since they are well documented and have larger financial capitals than smaller organizations. Thus, they can provide a complete product line as well as invest in product marketing and development. Moreover, they gain from economies of scale as they produce products in large amount, leading to reduced costs and lower prices. Furthermore, many large organizations, such as Starbucks, Boeing and Nike, benefits from credibility which a famous name provides. An entrepreneur is more likely to have a family member who as well operate his/her own business. Most entrepreneurs have families who are self-employed or businessmen/women (Timmons, Gillin, Burshtein and Spinelli, 2010). Book Review This book have taught me how to overcome the mentality of employee conditioning as well as show me how I can find fulfilment by starting my own business in line with my values. This book has shown me how I can reach profitability, get myself out of the daily grind and attain career and personal freedom as an entrepreneur. This book contain solid advice that I find useful in creating and managing my own business. It has helped me understand the fundamentals and principles of entrepreneurship. It contain great examples of young entrepreneurs, such as Bills Gate and Paul Allen of Microsoft, Michael Dell of Dell Computers, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple Computers, Phil Knight of Nike, Edward Land of Polaroid and Fred Smith of Federal Express, which makes me gain good insight about how to become a successful entrepreneurship. This book uses several case studies so as to demonstrate real business circumstances and different responses as well as behaviors of successful entrepreneurs. It has helped me know that entrepreneurship is right for me. It has taught me the behaviors I need to cultivate so as to become a successful entrepreneur. Moreover, it has made me aware of the challenges of entrepreneurship and hence, I know how to deal with them perfectly. The advice contained in this book has built my self-confidence and now I feel more than confident that my destined for entrepreneurship. After reading this book, I now feel I know all is required to become an entrepreneur and hence I believe I will have a smooth journey in my business journey and achieve my dream. Weekly Lectures From weekly lectures, I have learnt that as an entrepreneur I need to select the type of organization when starting my own small business. The basic types of organization include sole proprietorships, partnerships and corporation. I should evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each to be able to select the best type of organization. A small business has great strengths and I can increase my chances of success through careful planning. A small business has greater flexibility compared to larger businesses and the ability to respond quickly to community or industry changes. Moreover, when I start a small business I can be able to innovate and develop new products very fast and productively than larger organizations which are stuck in bureaucracy. Normally, a small organization takes less time to make decisions as regards responding to changes in demographics, fashion or advertisement from a competitor (Kirby, 2002). In addition, a small business has the capacity to modify its products in response to changing customer requirements. As an entrepreneur in a small business, I will be able to know my customer base very well than an entrepreneur in a large company. A small business can even allow customers to play a part in product improvement. The other strength of a small business is that the entrepreneur has an obsessive, almost compulsive aspiration to succeed. As a result, the entrepreneur works harder and better. Furthermore, many small businesses have an intangible value which emanates from a person who is fully engaged and loves what he is doing. This is the atmosphere of excitement and fun which is created when a person works to generate an opportunity for grander achievement than is otherwise existing. This can attract employees and motivate them to work hard, (Kirby, 2002). Workshops Bi Weekly From the workshops, I have learnt that it is critical to develop my elevator pitch which let people know who I am and what am dealing with and show them how they will benefit from my business. The elevator pitch should include description of the major benefits of my product to customers or else how my product outperforms my competitors so as to convince them to buy my idea. Moreover, I should include my basic needs, experience and credential in my elevator pitch so as I can attract investors to my venture. The elevator pinch should be concise; it should not take more than one minute. It is critical that the elevator pitch be short because concentration spans are short and hence an entrepreneur need to hook my audience fast or else they may not be hooked. I also need to design a PowerPoint which summarizes all information in my business plan and I should not present it in a hurry. It should take around 15 minutes to deliver it to my audience. It is important for an entrepreneur to practice the pitches because it is possible to be nervous about pitching the business. I can rehearse how to deliver my elevator pitch as well as discuss my business plan with coworkers, family and friends. Most critical is to ask for honest feedback from the people I practice with. For example, if I clearly expressed my ideas, if I sounded nervous, if I delivered it very fast or too slow or if I can add or remove some explanations to make it longer or shorter respectively. ICT & social media I have learnt that an entrepreneur need to communicate with a lot of people including customers, suppliers and distributors. Electronic mail, commonly known as e-mail provides a fast and relatively cheap way to send reports, letters and photographs to these people. I have also learnt that I need to do a lot of research before starting a business and an entrepreneur can get information on almost all subjects very fast in the internet. Usually, many organizations, government agencies, universities and businesses present information online at no cost. I have learnt that to become a successful entrepreneur I must develop strong social network with other entrepreneurs in person as well as online using professional and social media sites, such as LinkedIn. Moreover, I should use social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to create awareness of my idea. I need to create a Facebook Page and a twitter handle for my business. An entrepreneur needs to use these sites to market his idea as well as get the feedback of people as regard his idea or product and thereafter use this feedback to improve on his idea (Timmons, Gillin, Burshtein, Spinelli, 2010). Communication & networking you have done As an entrepreneur, I should carry out a research of my market. Before starting a business, it is critical to first find out whether people like my idea or product. This involves finding out whether what am planning to venture into is something new or else which can be new or else whether there is a high demand for it but low supply. There are a lot of sources which are free where an entrepreneur can get information as pertains the industry he is trying to venture into, especially in the internet. To get this information, I need to search for industry as well as trade associations in my target market and examine the press releases and articles they post. I should also analyze census data to obtain valuable demographic information as regards my target market. Moreover, an entrepreneur should endeavor to talk to potential clients so as to convince them to believe in his ideas. This means that to be a successful entrepreneur I must have excellent communication skills. Talking to potential customers will help me obtain honest feedback as regard my idea. This is important because my friends may try to be nice to me when I propose my idea to them but they cannot give me critical feedback which points out weakness that can be useful, though hurting to hear. Therefore, I will endeavor to attend industry and trade shows in my area so as to talk with exhibitors about my idea. Moreover, I should join pertinent professional associations. Attending networking events like local exhibitions hosted by the chamber of commerce will provide me with a great way to bond with other entrepreneurs in his field so as to get their support, ideas as well as open more opportunities for his idea (Hisrich, Peters and Shepherd, 2013). Inspiration My Inspiration to venture into entrepreneurship emanates from the fact that I desire to be as creative as possible and to give people something they have never used or seen before. Many people venture into entrepreneurship to make money, become famous or have the freedom they so much desire from being their own boss. However, for me I do it mainly for interest in being innovative and being able to think on my own. I have realized that when I work for another person it’s like I am helping that person achieve his vision but when I become an entrepreneur I will be motivated to come up with my own vision and work towards making it a reality. It’s fun to be in front a group of people that I have worked hard to bring together in an effort to succeed in a competitive world. I am inspired to start my own business because I believe I have all it takes to be an entrepreneur. I think of myself as being on top of creativity and hence has the ability to remain competitive. I am excited and enthusiastic to start my own business as I have a strong passion to share my skills and knowledge. I am also very willing and have the ability to learn how to operate my business. I am also determined to keep learning new ideas, people and life skills. Creativity and Innovation Creativity is the capacity to create a new product while innovation is the capacity to improve on the quality of that product to enrich the lives of people. I have learnt that to succeed as an entrepreneur I need to think and do new things. As an entrepreneur, I must be able to brainstorm a compelling idea. This doesn’t mean coming up with something brand-new or revolutionary. It just means that I need to be better in doing something than my competitor. However, having a unique idea does not guarantee success: An entrepreneur needs to be able to transform that idea into a real product (Drucker, 1985). I have also learnt that to be successful I must do that which I know and love not that which am told by other people I can do. This is where passion comes in. I must be passionate with my idea because if my heart is not in what am doing I may not have the energy to keep going. Moreover, entrepreneurs face many problems and hence as an entrepreneur I need to discover creative solutions to them. An entrepreneur needs a great tolerance to frustration and the capacity to think through challenges in order to become a successful entrepreneur. Your Risk-Taking After reading the chapter on your risk-taking, I have learnt that entrepreneurship always involves taking risk and therefore it is critical for an entrepreneur to determine what he can risk. Although an entrepreneur should expect to get a reward of his hard work, the possibility of risk is higher particularly at the beginning. Therefore, an entrepreneur should take stock of all his assets and determine how much money, time and energy h should actually invest. Apart from considering my savings, credit plus other sources of finance, I should also take into account how long I can survive without making an income. For small businesses, it is difficult to make profit immediately and hence I need to be able to go for a number of months or even some years without earning a salary. It is therefore important before starting the business to find out the likely downside of the project and subsequently invest just what is defined as acceptable loss in case the project fails to turn as expected. This limits the degree of failure in case the business doesn’t work out (Kirby, 2002). Social & Ethical Responsibility I have learnt that as an entrepreneur I should be ethical and responsible. Being ethical means making entrepreneurship decisions which are trustworthy and profitable. It also entails providing safe workplace as well as fair employment policies. As an entrepreneurship, I will endeavor treat all customers fairly. This means I should act in a way in which the whole society does benefit from my action. This also means ensuring that I act in a way which I maintain the equilibrium between the economy and the environment. Therefore, being socially responsible entails avoiding engaging in any harmful acts when performing tasks towards achievement on my business goals. It entails conducting my business while ensuring the balance between the long-term objectives and goals of the project and the norms, values and expectations of society (Kuratko, 2005). I have also learnt that an entrepreneurship should support the needy and disadvantaged people in the society. Therefore, as an entrepreneurship I need to engage in philanthropic, charity and sponsorship activities so as to benefit the community at large. In short, the actions of an entrepreneur should benefit everyone and this should be visibly observable in the community (Cochran, 1971). This means the effects of my successfully entrepreneurship should be felt even by the local community. It is pretty obvious that if the action of an entrepreneur tend to harm rather than benefit the larger society, then this will limit the scope on my profits. References Drucker, P. F. 1985. Innovation and Entrepreneurship. New York: Harper Business. Kuratko, D. F. 2005. The emergence of entrepreneurship education: Development, trends, and challenges. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 29(5): 577-598 Timmons, J.A, Gillin, L.M, Burshtein,S.L and Spinelli, S. 2010. New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century, A Pacific Rim Perspective. Hisrich, R.D, Peters, M.P and Shepherd, D. 2013. Entrepreneurship, Ninth Edition. McGraw-Hill Irwin, Boston. Kirby, 2002. Entrepreneurship. McGraw-Hill, Maidenhead Berkshire UK. Read More