Reflections on Entrepreneurship - Essay Example

Reflections Name: Tutor: Course: Date: Reflections Introduction Entrepreneurs are people who promote the development of the economy and the market. To be an entrepreneur has become a dream for many students. In this class, I get a general understanding of entrepreneurship, the nature of entrepreneurship, the characteristics an entrepreneur should have, and some tips to become a good entrepreneur. However, it should always be remembered that practice makes perfect. The theoretical knowledge in the textbooks is limited. To be a good entrepreneur, we should still put what we have learned into practice. The reflection of what I have learned during the thirteen weeks of study is explored in detail below. Week 1 The first key point in week one of study is the unit structure. This is about workshop and reading weeks. First are assessments. I realized that through assessments I can obtain information on entrepreneurship and how to develop business plans. Second is how to use the moodle. Using the moodle is one way of covering the required units and understanding theory. Access and use of the moodle is important in course wok completion. Third are E-books. Using e-books is critical in selecting and sieving relevant books and references of this study. Specific emphasis is given to McGraw Hill as a source of current editions and coverage on entrepreneurship. Therefore, I think it is important to take and understand workshops and readings. The second key point in week one’s study is about the unit outline and assessment overview. Before the class, I could not define entrepreneurship as newly started business with innovative and creative tendencies. After the class, I realized that I am in the dark; the term has a definition, process and evolution. Focusing on entrepreneurial definition, there is the aspect of characteristics of entrepreneurs and the focus on revolution is not just the expected norm at work. I learned that I not only needed to define entrepreneurship but also describe is revolution and characteristics. Week 2 The topic this week focuses on the nature of small businesses. Before the startup of a new business, entrepreneurs’ characteristics should be analyzed to help entrepreneurs better understand themselves and make good plan for the business in combination with their personalities. Entrepreneurship differentiates the business owner from any other business manager. In this week, two important qualities; creativity and innovation are introduced in entrepreneurship. Creativity is the ability to generate new ideas to promote the business, while innovation is the implementation on the new ideas (Mahajan, 2014). I noted that I needed to pay attention to entrepreneurship to practice and theory. Another interesting topic this week is about being entrepreneurial. In my opinion, being entrepreneurial with service emphasizes the importance of service delivery. This is about delivering quality and service to customers in an innovative and creative way. I learned that by introducing service in entrepreneurship, a business gains competitive advantage. Week 3 In this week, the mind and personality of entrepreneurs are discussed. As discussed, the thinking and personality is very important for entrepreneurs. To understand personality entrepreneurial thinking, it is critical to craft a personal entrepreneurial strategy. First of all, entrepreneurs have specific personalities that enable them to be resilient and patient in delivering service. This requires entrepreneurs to assess their traits and understand their inner feelings. Creative knowledge economy is also important in entrepreneurship. Actually, I think entrepreneurs who qualify for knowledge always have a lot of experience and are highly educated. Secondly, is finding big changes in the society, and knowledge economy, and other macro-environments. I think everyone can observe the big changes mentioned, but not everyone will have the consciousness to take advantage of these changes and start up their own business. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, can not only realize the changes, but also utilize these changes (Sites.google.com, 2015). Finally, it is utilizing new knowledge. When computer science and the internet first came out, many entrepreneurs realized their dreams. However, I leaned that new knowledge always carries with higher risk and stress for entrepreneurs. As the knowledge is not mature, the uncertainty will definitely be higher. I think that entrepreneurs should think before they leap. Week 4 In this online class, sources of information for entrepreneurship are discussed. As sources of information can either be external or internal. Internal sources include personal interviews, surveys and observation. External sources include industry magazines, online searches, e-books and newspapers. I realized that entrepreneurs need information to establish the position of products and competitors in the market. I learned that investing in various sources of information is helpful in being ahead of the competition and introducing new products or services at the right time. I think it is important to consider major sources of credible information to help in building a data bank that can guide the company. As we all know, entrepreneurship is about creating, finding and observing opportunities, getting the right knowledge from a reliable source at the right time will help in product development and market leadership. In this class, I learn that for an entrepreneurship, it is also very important to keep a good network of opportunities. I love the definition that research as gathering data and conducting analysis of business opportunities. Opportunities are accessible to companies and individuals with good foresight and ability to predict patters and trends derived from analysis. I believe that it is important for a company to find cooperators and help when it faces good opportunities or challenges. Week 5 In this week, relationship management and its importance in entrepreneurship are discussed. In order to develop characteristics of successful entrepreneurship, it is important to establish relationship management. To start with, relationship management is about the connections between the different stakeholders and how they affect operations of the business. I learned that businesses depend on relationships and partnerships among employees and suppliers to deliver quality services and products to customers. An entrepreneurial leader enhances teamwork and drives team productivity. I believe it is the onus of the leader to provide direction and management through harmonious relationships. Secondly, getting started involves actioning or implementing the big idea. No idea is worth until it is implemented. I learned that the leader must be able to gather resources and strength to move the idea into fruition. I believe that relationship management draws on leadership that delivers better services and engagement between people. I think it is important to develop leadership characteristics in entrepreneurship to enable the idea flourish and become a reality. Week 6 Developing effective business plan is discussed in this week. Company access to business advice is also emphasized. Entrepreneurs are reminded not only to seek business advice, but also draw on effective business plan. Business plan provides a roadmap for marketing mix, product development and strategies. Companies should find ways to let people be interested in their products and spend more time in knowing and trying the product. On options of going into business, I think the business and legal structures should be paid special attention to. Again, there are many options of businessmen to get into business. Entrepreneurs should firstly obtain permits and approvals from the relevant authorities then establish a platform to conduct business. To understand how to make profit, the entrepreneur must know the supply chain very well and understand the needs of the consumers. For new ventures, it is of vital importance to prepare enough capital during each development stage of the business to support the business. Furthermore, I think accessing assistance and business advice can be through market analysis to find out the position of the new product, and competition analysis is needed to understand the potential threats. Week 7 The topics this week focus on how to finance business ventures. I agree that financing new and growing business requires a mix of debt and equity. However, sometimes we find that a finance mix is unbalanced before business realizes the need to create the right proportions. For example, bank loan and personal borrowing can uplift the business but it has to be returned at some interest. People did not realize that they need a combination of the two, but some entrepreneurs realized the need to have personal savings to protect the business. Thus, I believe that in most cases, businesses need financial information under other circumstances, the market can also lead the purchase of consumers. Although we are taught on management review and how to interpret balance sheets, income statements and cash flow statements, there is need to understand more on finance management. I learned from the management overview and knowledge on financial information is critical for an entrepreneur. I think it is critical for business leaders to be knowledgeable on business liquidity and revenue generation through keeping of financial records. Week 9 The materials this week focus on methods of resourcing the business and how to manage rapid growth of the entrepreneurship. It is good for a company to growth, but to rapid growth risky. However, after the new entrepreneurship business has been started up, it will always face rapid growth. If the company cannot manage the growth well, many problems would be caused. To manage the rapid growth, the following actions need to be taken. The first thing is to obtain reliable information. With the development of the business, the company needs to obtain information very quickly to provide support decision-making. For instance, suppliers’ information needs to be collected to forecast the cost and manage inventories. As the company growth quicker, resourcing the business with physical, capital and human resources need immediate renew. Thus, it is very important to resource the business. Human resource is about preparing relative technical skills and interpersonal skills. I think with the rapid growth of the business, technical skills would be needed in both production and organization. Different from business skill, technical skills are more professional and need a lot of time to cultivate (Small Business - Chron.com, 2015). I learned that it is not easy to cultivate technical skill solely by training. Therefore, like I will mention in week ten, it is important for HR to select qualified candidates. Week 10 Materials in this week discussed whether Human Resource Management (HRM) is important for entrepreneurship. The answer is definitely yes. The direct influence of HRM for a business is obvious. If HRs failed to hire the right people, the productivity of the company will be influenced, and if HRs couldn’t conduct immediate and appropriate training for employees, the overall abilities of the employees will also be influenced. Besides, there are some indirect impacts of HRM for a business. For instance, the behavior of HRs during the interview is a representation of the image of the company. Therefore, I think interview questions should be well organized to test the creativity, courage, leadership, and other qualities of candidates. Training should also cover the lectures about how to cultivate those good qualities. I learned that during the selection, HRs should show their professional to candidate and give them confidence in the entrepreneurship. Finally, entrepreneurs should give speech at regular intervals to let every employee know the spirit and culture of the entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs need to be managed and innovation controlled in the organizations. Management of business must have a proper mix of innovations and incremental changes as well as upholding relationships between individuals. I learned that future leaders should also have some characteristics like entrepreneurs and manage innovations. Week 11 This week discussed schools of entrepreneurial thought and social entrepreneurship. I think business have a responsibility to its stakeholders as outlined in the shareholder and stakeholder theories. I believe that contemporary issues in large businesses are about sustainability and responsible practices to customers and communities. Small businesses care about the quality of supply chain and how they can gain more market share by reducing on costs and increasing on revenue (Business 2 Community, 2015). However, ethical practices by employees becomes an issues where the company’s credibility to provide original products are in question. I learned through entrepreneurial theories that company’s growth is by gaining more resources, capabilities and claiming more market share. Social entrepreneurship is incorporating stakeholders in sustainable practices in organizations (Ashoka.org, 2015). I think the current issues on sustainability and quality supply chain need to involve people and the environment. Conclusion To be a future entrepreneur, we need to develop our creativity and be innovative. In addition, we should make overall consideration of the resources that the company has and can obtain before starting the business. A good entrepreneurial business doesn’t mean how fast the company grows at the beginning stage, it is how long the company can healthily last, and how stable the company can perform that counts. Self-control is important for an entrepreneur to lead an excellent company. In the 21st century, entrepreneurs should also take some enterprise social responsibility to make contributions to the development of the society. Reference list Ashoka.org, 2015, What is a Social Entrepreneur? | Ashoka - Innovators for the Public. [online] Available at: https://www.ashoka.org/social_entrepreneur [Accessed 23 Apr. 2015]. Business 2 Community, 2015, 3 Ways to Cultivate Mutually Beneficial Strategic Partnerships. [online] Available at: http://www.business2community.com/strategy/3-ways-cultivate-mutually-beneficial-strategic-partnerships-01164479 [Accessed 23 Apr. 2015]. Mahajan, N 2014, The Importance of Creativity in Business. [online] CKGSB Knowledge. Available at: http://knowledge.ckgsb.edu.cn/2014/08/13/marketing/the-importance-of-creativity-in-business/ [Accessed 23 Apr. 2015]. Small Business - Chron.com, 2015, The Difference Between Technical Skills & Business Skills. [online] Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-technical-skills-business-skills-25482.html [Accessed 20 Apr. 2015]. Sites.google.com, 2015, Intrepreneurship - Capturing the Essence of Excellence. [online] Available at: https://sites.google.com/site/elainebeaubien/why-train/articles/intrepreneurship [Accessed 24 Apr. 2015]. Read More