How Did I Become an Entrepreneur - Essay Example

How I became an entrepreneur Student’s Name Instructor How I became an entrepreneur The journey to becoming an entrepreneur has been an interesting one. When I joined campus as a new student in the first year, I found myself wondering what I was going to do with the extra time I had after class. I was in a foreign country but I still wanted to keep in touch with my culture. I have been a very ambitious person from my childhood and I like to make much of every minute I have. Towards the end of the first semester, I felt the urge to find something to do with the extra time. Back home, I used to help my mother with mat making which she used to make for commercial purposes. After a long time making the decision, I finally decided to settle on mat making but just as a hobby. I went to a textile shop in Canberra where I bought one meter of latch canvas padding, a carpet needle and a bundle of yarn. My first mat was ready in a week’s time and I placed it on my door. I did not know that this would be the beginning of my entrepreneurship journey. When three of my friends came to visit me in my room, they asked me where I bought the beautiful mat. I told them that I had made the mat myself and they were very intrigued. They wanted similar mats and it is at this moment I knew that a business opportunity had come up. I agreed to make the mats for my friends at a small profit margin. Within two week, I had made $150 having made three mats. As I came to learn, word of mouth is the cheapest yet one of the most effective marketing techniques. I received so many referral customers who had liked the mats I made for my friends. Having attended the entrepreneurship class, I know understand the important skills, qualities, knowledge, Attributes required to be an entrepreneur. There are several skills that a successful entrepreneur must possess. To begin with, every entrepreneur must have management skills. Management in this case involves, planning, implementing and control. ‘Failing to plan is planning to fail’. To help in the planning process, I learnt the importance of a business plan to an entrepreneur and as my business grew; I started developing one for my mat making business with the aim of attracting potential investors, suppliers and employees (Broder, 2015). With a business plan, I have been able to understand the industry in which my business is operating in. In the business plan, I was also able to analyze my potential customer, who they are and how to get to them. I was also able to understand my competitors, their strength and how I should position myself to gain competitive advantage Drucker, 2007). Finally, with the business plan, I was able to develop income statements, balance sheets, break even analysis and financial ratios all of which is important in managing expenses. Implementation is the act of putting the plan into action. Regarding implementation, I created an implementation schedule for my business plan which I am still using with the bid to establish my business professionally. In is important that as an entrepreneur you are able to control to ensure that the budgeted results are in line with actual results (Drucker, 2007). The other set of important skills that an entrepreneur must have is interpersonal skills. These skills help entrepreneurs in communication and interaction with others. I used to think that the most successful entrepreneurs have special interpersonal skills that could not be taught in class. However, as I transitioned from a student to the entrepreneur that I am today and having attended the entrepreneur class, I realized that the classroom only provides a platform for us to absorb and develop the skills and many of the interpersonal skills are learnt as you interact with people. As a young entrepreneur, I have learnt that good interpersonal skills make the difference between a successful entrepreneur and an unsuccessful entrepreneur. I have realized that everything I do resolves around interpersonal skills. Poor communication with the customer, for instance, can ruin a potential sale even if the product. Good interpersonal skills could also be the line between an entrepreneur attracting a potential investor or not (Smith, 2015). Finally, another set of skills that are important as an entrepreneur are functional skills which include accounting and marketing. An entrepreneur is the owner of the business and as such, he/she one is involved in making decisions related to the business. As an entrepreneur, the accounting skills I learnt in class have gone a long way in helping to keep track of all my expenses and manage my profits. As the owner of the business, I have had to choose my own marketing techniques for my mats make arrangements on how the customer will get the mats and set pricing for the mats (Smith, 2015). There are several qualities that an entrepreneur should possess in order to be successful. The first quality is perseverance. As an entrepreneur, one is faced with many challenges as well setbacks during his or her quest for success ( Joseph & Media, 2014). Personally, I have faced many challenges and setback in my quest of growing my mat business. Since I had started my business as a hobby, I had no plan in place on how I would finance and operate my business. The demand of mats increased significantly and I did not have enough cash to purchase raw material or even to hire someone to help me out. I found myself foregoing my social life since the little free time that I had was used up making mats to meet customers’ deadline. Despite of all this challenges, I persevered and continued to pursue my passion when my situation appeared bleak. The second quality that an entrepreneur must possess is a high level of self-discipline. Unlike a formal work environment, there is no one to supervise or force you to do your duties. As an entrepreneur, I had to be self disciple in order to grow my mat business. I stopped going to parties and hikes with my friends’ in order to concentrate in my business. I spent most free time making mats to meet the high demand. If I had divided my attention, I would have not produce quality mats as well met the customer deadline. Therefore, my self-discipline enabled me to concentrate in my mat business hence having a positive outcome. Passion is another quality that an entrepreneur should posses. Personally, I have a passion in making mats and, therefore I enjoy my business which makes achieving success much easy. Lastly, an entrepreneur should be self-confidence since one is responsible for his or her own success (Petrilli, 2015). As an entrepreneur, I have been able to promote myself and my business on a continues basis. I have used utilized word of mouth and social sites as marketing tools to market my mats to potential customer. Business success begins in the mind of the founder and, therefore, one should posses’ important attributes if he or she is to have a winning startup. As such, not everyone can be a successful entrepreneur (Hanks, 2013). There are five attributes that every successful entrepreneur possesses. The first attribute is being innovative in everything you do. One should be able to differentiate himself from other and this can be achieved through offering a new product or service as well as modifying an existing product (Hanks, 2013). I have been able to build up an iconic brand by making customized mats. I design my mats in line with the customer’s requirement hence making it hard to find a replica in the market. This has enabled me to differentiate my products and attract customers to my business. Moreover, as a result of customizing my products in accordance with the customer’s needs, am able charge high price as compared to the market rates. Entrepreneurs are also risk takers. Starting a business is a risk as one is not sure if it will fail. There are also other risks in the course of expanding the business, hiring new workers as well as investing capital. When I got my first three customers, i never looked back; I used up all my upkeep money to buy materials and invested all my time and efforts in the business. I even borrowed money from friend to financing my mat business hoping that I will pay back the debt using the profits that I will earn from the business. As a result, I was able to grow my business and make it successful. The third attribute of a successful entrepreneur is that he or she is willing to work hard. The success or failure is always a 100 percent dependent on the founder. Therefore, one needs to work vey had in order to get his/her business off the ground (Hanks, 2013). For my case, I worked hard to grow the business. I dedicate my time and resources to the business in order to get my business from the ground. However, the sacrifices that I made to grow my business were not hard since I had a passion in making mats and, therefore, I didn’t feel like it was work. Lastly, successful entrepreneurs know how to manage people and money. If a person has the best idea in the world but he/she is unable to make it profitable then he is not a successful entrepreneur. This means that an entrepreneur should be able manage all practicalities of the business. After selling my first 8 mats, I started to view my hobby as a business and therefore I came up with a business plan and budget. Through planning and managing my business, I was able to convert me idea in to a profitable venture. In my quest to become an entrepreneur, I have gained a lot of knowledge from a number of sources. To begin with, the Entrepreneurship class has taught me a lot about entrepreneurship including the skills, qualities and attributes that a successful entrepreneur must have. I also leant a lot from the bi-weekly readings posted on the moodle. For instance in week 2 in the required readings I learnt that in order to be an entrepreneur, one must have courage, be creative and have a lot of commitment all of which I have learn in my small business management. In week 4 readings, creativity and innovation were outlined as the main characteristics of entrepreneurs. I leant that to remain competitive in the marketing, creativity is a necessity. The entrepreneur must also be committed and be ready to drive change when need arises. In week 6, I learnt what a business pal is and the important elements that every business plans I have. From the reading I learnt that an entrepreneur cannot operate businesses without a plan as that would be likened to working in a forest without a map. In week 8, I learnt how entrepreneurs can raise funds through equity financing and debt financing. In week 10, I learn the difference between entrepreneurs and intraprenuers. In week 12 readings, I learnt about the duties of an entrepreneur to the business (biweekly readings). From the above report, it can be concluded that entrepreneurship requires a lot of hard work, dedication, commitment and perseverance. However, entrepreneurship is liberating and all the effort. Owning the small mat making business has not only taken care of the extra time I have but it has also helped me become independent and I do not have to rely entirely on my guardians for financial support. References Drucker, P.F. (2007) Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2nd Revised Edition, Oxford: Elsevier. An introduction to business plans. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/38290 Smith, C. (2015). Entrepreneurial skills the skills you need to build a great business. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCDV_76.htm Broder, L. (2015). How to develop the soft skills of the successful entrepreneur. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/243059 Hanks, N. (2013). 5 key attributes successful entrepreneurs possess. Retrieved from http://smallbusinessbc.ca/blog/5-key-attributes-successful-entrepreneurs-possess/ Joseph, C., & Media, D. (2014). Qualities to become a successful entrepreneur. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/qualities-become-successful-entrepreneur-2292.html Petrilli, L. (2015). An introvert’s guide to networking. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2012/01/the-introverts-guide-tonetwor?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter Weekly lecturers and Bi-weekly workshops and readings Read More