The Process of Starting a Business - Essay Example

Business Management By Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Energy efficient windows in China 7 Methods of overcoming these issues 9 How good entrepreneurs manage their time effectively. 11 Conclusion 12 Question 2 13 Introduction The process of starting a business is complicated. An individual would need to make investment in form of time and capital. There are also challenges associated with lack of adequate knowledge on business procedures, lack of adequate skills on innovation, identification of target market and development of good quality products that meet needs of the clientele. The knowledge of the effectiveness of marketing of products and ideas to prospective clients is also a major challenge faced by many entrepreneurs. In recent years, though people have had improved access to capital (Badi & Badi, 2005). This is due to increased efforts by governments as they strive to promote business ventures started by individuals. Governments across the world are often faced with challenges associated with increased population levels. This massive increase in the number of people has resulted in fewer employment avenues (Lall & Sahai, 2008). To be able to create a source of livelihood for all these people. Governments have taken to providing capital and technical support to business to aid growth. The main challenge currently facing the start up business ventures is thus problems associated with the individual business person. To achieve success in a business venture prospective business man should dedicate much of time and resources towards the business. This should be done especially at the early stages of the life of the business (Forbat, 2007).The entrepreneur should also posses the right level of attitude towards the business. Attitude will cause and individual to set the right kind of goals. These goals once set will be a source of constant motivation to the entrepreneur to work consistently to achieve the set goals. The entrepreneur should also take much of time from other personal engagements to give the business time to grow and develop (Badi & Badi, 2005).This would essentially mean that other commitments like relationships and social interactions are given less time. These sorts of sacrifices are what an entrepreneur whose main objective is to be able to grow a successful business should be able to take. There exist three very important issues that specifically involve an individual and the ability to work within these characteristics is the most important factor that can cause success of a business venture. The main motivation behind establishing a business is to be able be able effectively exploit and combine various factors that influence production activities to attain success (Forbat, 2007). To do this one requires to be a quick and effective learner, the entrepreneur should also be an observant individual who is quick to adapt and respond to change. The entrepreneur should be able to quickly identify challenges, at a very fast pace develop ways and means of tackling these challenges, and finally do a follow up on all the changes implemented to determine what has worked and what needs to be changed further in order for the business venture to grow into profitability (Badi & Badi, 2005). Numerous aspects of an entrepreneur’s life would influence the success of a business venture; the most important aspects though are personal motivation, the ability to be able to balance between business and personal life and leadership skills( Bessant &Tidd, 2008). Personal motivation: the single most important factor toward the attainment of success by a business. This is the drive from within an individual that would first motivate an individual to set up a business (Baron, 2012) . Different individuals have varied motivation for setting up a business. Some people set up business from the motivation to grow as an individual or to be able to grow wealth. These Individuals are more committed toward attaining success in the venture. There are also individuals who set up businesses to substitute their incomes from employment or to be able to maintain a certain lifestyle. This is usually a lesser motivation and once serious situations which require personal attention begin to set in the individuals would simply give up. Other individuals set out to do business because they possess an inner drive to take risk and benefit from the assumption of risk. These are the individuals who will consistently push on because they have an inner drive and may never quite until the venture comes to fruition. Another aspect like the desire to have independence is also a very important motivational factor (Badi & Badi, 2005).These individuals are not comfortable working under any body and hence have an intense drive to start their own venture and achieve success. Individuals who have this particular mindset have a high success rate when matters entrepreneurship is concerned. This desire to lead is always from within an individual’s character. Society contributes greatly to the desire by an individual to succeed. Unemployment is also a major source of motivation to entrepreneurs; there are individuals with good academic qualifications who have not been able to secure employment even after long periods since completing their education. This scenario usually leaves individuals with only one alternative, to seek self employment. Such individuals though are not usually motivated by any serious challenges and only use business as an alternative. This depicts lack of sufficient motivation and thus success of such ventures would be very difficult. All these sources of motivation are the most important in the success of a business venture. Majority of business succeed due to the input by the owner of the business. The business owner should posses a particular mindset and attitude in relation to his business. A proper mindset will ensure that the entrepreneur is able to set goals for himself. These goals will provide a source of constant motivation to the individual. Goals are usually set for a particular period of and once set the individual will direct all his efforts toward achieving the goals. Once the first goal is set and achieved the business owner will constantly work towards setting other goals and directing all efforts in the direction of the goals (Lall & Sahai, 2008). Another important personal factor that is important in the setting up of a business is the ability to balance between the business and other personal commitments. Before an individual sets out to start a business venture, they have other personal commitments. These include family, friends and for those who are employed they have work commitments. This would require a very delicate balancing act. For one to be in a good psychological state they have to be around friends and family. Family would provide moral support while friends would offer insight on various activities relating to life. An individual also requires time to rest and unwind. All this activities may occupy a substantial amount of the entrepreneur’s time. But even though they are very important to the life and personal growth of the entrepreneur there are some sacrifices which have to be made. The business especially during its early day would require the owner to dedicate most of his time toward the growth of the business (Forbat, 2007). This would mean that all other activities in the life of the owner are temporarily put on hold. This is to be able to provide enough time for the growth of the business. A new business requires establishment of systems, the recruitment of personnel, establishment of a client base and intensive marketing activities to familiarise everybody to the business. All these activities need money, but, since the business is just being set up it may not be able to sufficiently raise enough capital to effectively carry out these activities. The owner must, therefore, be personally engaged in most of these activities. The individual would require much time to be able to do interviews for new employees and select the suitable ones. A lot of time will also be required to put in place working system. A new business would not generate a lot of sales revenues in view of the fact that it is relatively unknown. An intensive marketing process would thus be necessary; the entrepreneur has to do the marketing alone. This can take place either through engaging friends, neighbours and other players in the sector. Much time is consumed in all these activities, the entrepreneur should therefore be willing to work for long hours at the expense family and friends. This requires an individual with the right level of determination to effectively go through with it (Forbat, 2007).The third factor and one that is also very important is the need to develop leadership skills. To become a successful entrepreneur an individual needs to first be a very good leader. A good leader will be able to from the very beginning drill into his employees the vision that has been set for the new company and the appropriate steps that are to be taken toward the achievement of the set out objectives. Leadership will also entail recruiting, remunerating and maintaining a skilled workforce. A leader is also able to identify the various talents that his team of employees have and allocate every individual to an area that they would be most suited for. Good leaderships skills may appear naturally among certain individuals, this is however very rare and most entrepreneurs have to learn how best to become leaders. A prospective business owner who has all intentions of becoming successful should thus develop their leadership capabilities. Within an organisation, there are a variety of employees, all these employees come from different backgrounds, and they have different personal problems and also have different characters. To be able to handle all these individuals requires a person with a very good ability to lead. This ability to lead would entail being a very good listener and observer. Good leadership requires good listening to all employees needs and being able to provide a solution. Good observation characteristics will also enable the entrepreneur to be able be able to study all his employees, this will enable him master their behaviour and in case of a problem it can be effectively handled. Energy efficient windows in China In order to set up a business that deals in energy efficient windows in China is a very complex venture for a first time entrepreneur. The business owner will first have to encounter a wide range of challenges before being able to establish themselves in the market. Effective research on the market is thus very essential ( Bessant &Tidd, 2008). Market research will enable the entrepreneur to know his target market. There is also the need to establish the source of raw materials as well as get employees who can produce windows. This is because the entrepreneur’s knowledge on windows may be very limited. An undertaking like this will therefore put the entrepreneur in a real test of personal motivation, the capability to juggle between work and life and finally the ability to be a leader (Lall & Sahai, 2008). Personal motivation: The business owner is new to the world of business and has no experience in either the selling of making of energy efficient windows. To be able to take such a risk requires an outstanding individual. The business owner must first learn the business in and out. To learn a new trade from scratch will require that the start up owner have an appropriate level of attitude. The right attitude and correct form of mindset is needed to overcome any obstacles that may be encountered. It would require an individual to set goals, the individual will then have to work within his set timelines to make sure that he masters all about the business. With the right level of motivation the business owner will be able to accomplish all his set goals. The accomplishment of goals set will then serve as a further source of motivation for setting of other goals and working towards achieving success (Gasparski, 2011). The ability to balance between personal life and business will be very important in this scenario. To establish a new business requires much commitment and investment in terms of time. To establish working structures will require the business owner to be consistently in touch with his work. The business requires the recruitment of qualified personnel. This is a very detailed process that would take much of the business owner’s time. Recruitment of employees entails; advertising; this is a step to notify any qualified candidate of an available position (Baron, 2012) .The qualified applicants will then apply for the vacancy and the business owner will do evaluation and employ the most qualified candidate. This process is quite time intensive, only those who are highly qualify is to be employed. Since the entrepreneur has very little knowledge on the business and has to depend on the new employees for orientation. A new business also requires the availability of much advertising, marketing a new business would require much money. Enough money may not be available to the entrepreneur at this particular time, the business owner will, therefore, be forced to market his new business on his own. All these activities will take up much of the business owner’s time. There will be no adequate time to be with friends or even family. Even though, this might not be the in the best interest of the proprietor, this would be the best option (Minniti, 2007). Finally, the proprietor will need good and effective leadership skills. An individual who has decided to venture into a particular business must have indentified the existence of a gap in the market. For the gap in the market to be efficiently filled the own must have a vision for the business. A good leader in the business should be able to share with his employee the vision he has for the business. This will result in the employees buying into the idea and working very hard to achieve it. A good leader should also posse’s good interpersonal skill, this will enable him to relate with the employees closely. Good employer – employee relations will raise the profile of the business. Failure to show leadership qualities may cause the venture to sink before it even commences(Gasparski, 2011).Bad leadership will cause difficult working relationship with the workers the workers may thus rebel causing huge losses to the business venture. A good leader is also able to identify the talents, strengths and weaknesses of the employee. This information is the used to put every individual where they will be most useful (Gasparski, 2011).The weak individuals can also be taken through some sought of training to strengthen their abilities. An outstanding leader in the business world is able to motivate his employees and rally them behind a common cause. All these traits of an outstanding leader can be learnt although to some individuals leadership comes naturally and they are able to quickly establish themselves in the business world (Badi & Badi, 2005). Methods of overcoming these issues Personal issues that affect anew business owner and could potentially cause failure can be dealt with in a variety of ways; Attending training sessions: this facilitates learning from the experiences of other entrepreneurs. Valuable lessons on how to become a successful entrepreneur can be learnt from people who have been through the same experiences. Successful businesspersons can be able to provide would be entrepreneurs with an assortment of advice on how to set up a business. Lessons on how they encountered personal issues to be able to make it in business will serve as a motivational factor for new entrepreneurs that they can also make it in the business world (Bessant &Tidd, 2008). The establishment of structures within the business, these structures can function without the presence of the owner of the business. All successful business relies of already available structures to function. Business of this magnitude does not require the physical presence of the owner of the business in order to run the daily activities. A new business owner needs to put in place structures. Once these structures are in place, the business owner is able to go about other activities without any worry that his personal conduct may cause his business to fail. The owner can the take time to be with family and friends while his business also prospers (Minniti, 2007). Before an individual ventures into any sort of business, they should conduct research. Market research will enable the would be proprietor to be prepared for the task. The results can enable him balance his time well, this by being able to first know how much of his time the business will take. In case of any unique leadership qualities that may be required, the business owner can make efforts to attend leadership training to be able to handle the business. When setting up a business that would employ a large number of people. Skills on how to manage human beings will be very critical vital. The owner will, therefore be forced to attend classes on how to manage human resources. Knowledge on management of human beings is important; this is because various people come from different backgrounds and posses their own unique behaviour. To deal with all this people from diverse background would require good understanding and hence the importance of gaining the training. Reading of books: books about business by different authors can help an entrepreneur identify and eliminate challenges that may be encountered in the running of the business. These books can also be kept and used for reference in future. How good entrepreneurs manage their time effectively. Successful entrepreneurs use exhaustively all the time that is available to them. Proper use of available time is a key determinant of the success of all undertakings. Effective management of time can be achieved through a variety of means; A good entrepreneur should set his priorities right: often faced with a variety of tasks all needing attention, the most important thing would be to set the priority right. The entrepreneur will write a list of what need to be done. The activities are then arranged in an orderly fashion with respect to the level of agency. The entrepreneur the needs to pick the activities that are in need of his attention first before embarking on other activities. Minimum time will thus be taken in doing all activities and thus leaving enough time for the business owner to do other things (Badi & Badi, 2005). Ability to focus is also a key component of being a successful. Once priorities have been set a certain level of focus is required in order to be able to fulfil all the activities. Loss of focus is very common source of wasting time. The business owner hence needs to put his focus on the right activities and strive to archive them. A business owner must be able to do things in an organized way. To be organized will ensure that all details about any activity that is to be done have been clearly set out. This saves much of time, as the entrepreneur does not need to move about. Once they set out to do a particular chore all the facts relating to the said chore are easily accessed thus saving a lot of time. Big and complicated tasks can be split into small and manageable sizes, this makes complex tasks look simples and thus save much of time in the handling of such tasks. The task can be divided into a series of smaller pieces, on clearing with one task, it is declared done with before proceeding to handle other parts of the task (Badi & Badi, 2005). Investing in new technology: with the innovation of mobile telephony and the existence of internet connections. Business people are now able to conduct business activities from anywhere in the world. This could be even while travelling and at home. This kind of technology has enabled the saving of much time. New technology simplifies activities and makes tasks much easier. In a manufacturing plant, for example robots can be used to assemble or package commodities thus saving the owner plenty of time. To save time a businessperson can also outsource some of the activities or services required. This gives the entrepreneur enough time to concentrate on his main activities and leave activities of less importance for other individuals to do on his behalf. The owner should also be able to assign certain activities to various individuals within the organization. This will save the proprietor much time as he leaves other people to handle various tasks while he does others (Minniti, 2007). Conclusion Question 1 There are numerous challenges faced by prospective entrepreneurs in the process of establishing a business enterprise. One challenge would be the lack access to adequate capital to start the business; however, personal issues are the greatest threat to the success of the new business venture. This manifest in many forms, lack of personal motivation by the entrepreneur may be a significant problem, the inability to balance between work and other obligations could result in the venture’s failure. The entrepreneur should also be a good leader. If a business owner can deal with all these personal challenges then the business is highly likely to be a success. Question 2 The setting of realistic and goals that can be achieved is a key time saving component. Much time is wasted in pursuit of goals that are far from reach. This time could instead be used constructively to set realistic goals. The owner works toward achieving these goals, then embarks on achieving other goals. A successful entrepreneur in effort to maximise on the available time will set aside time to read emails, take phone calls, and meeting of clients. The rest of the time, he invests in on working to achieve productivity in the business. A successful entrepreneur saves time by making a diary of an entire month in advance, thus the owner is able to plan for activities well in advance and thus save much of time( Lall & Sahai, 2008). Bibliography Badi, R. V., & Badi, N. V. 2005. Entrepreneurship. Delhi, India: Vrinda Publications. Bessant, J. R., & Tidd, J. 2008. Innovation and entrepreneurship. Chichester (England: J. Wiley. Baron, R. A. 2012. Entrepreneurship: An evidence-based guide. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Forbat, J. (2007). Entrepreneurship: The seeds of success. Petersfield: Harriman House. Gasparski, W. W. 2011. Entrepreneurship: Values and respinsibility praxiology. New Brunswick: Transaction. Lall, M., & Sahai, S. 2008. Entrepreneurship. New Delhi, India: Excel Books. Minniti, M. 2007. Entrepreneurship: The engine of growth. Westport, Conn: Praeger Publishers. Read More