Entrepreneur interview and Personal Analysis - Term Paper Example

Introduction The current business world is highly competitive with people striving to better themselves financially by coming up with innovative business ideas. This explains what entrepreneurship is all about. Given the current tough business conditions and increased competition in the global and local markets, entrepreneurs need to exploit the available business opportunities so as to remain relevant (Storey and Greene 2010). Entrepreneurship involves the creation of business opportunities, and this has a ripple effect on the economy (Burns 2010). Being an entrepreneur means that one owns the business thereby bears all risks and profit (Stokes and Wilson 2010). For an individual to be an excellent entrepreneur they should be aggressive, innovative, competitive, determined, focussed and responsible (Down 2009). This paper offers an in-depth analysis of the concept of entrepreneurship by interviewing a local business owner who has defied all odds to reach the top. Summary An interview session is conducted with a young inspiring entrepreneur engaging in business consultancy, photography and co-running a liquor store. The rationale for the selected interview questions is its basing on a set that effectively analyses the traits of entrepreneur and thus provides the required basis of entrepreneurship. Besides, the questions also help in gaining important insight into emerging issues in entrepreneurship, the challenges experienced by entrepreneurship and thus the avenues through which to tackle these. From the answers provided in the interview, an evaluation of the entrepreneur is undertaken through various approaches including the Big 5 personality, the model entrepreneur and Gibbs entrepreneurial values. Cognitive approaches, traits theory and socio-psychological approaches are also used to understand the entrepreneur’s mindset. The motivation for starting businesses by the entrepreneur includes her need to make more income and her interest in practicing her hobby. In a proactive manner, she realizes an opportunity in the community in terms of liquor business and thus co-owns a liquor store. Upon reflection, it is appreciated that the interview with the entrepreneur and the accompanying analysis and evaluation has led to better understanding of the entrepreneurship concepts studied in class. Entrepreneurship traits are clearly discernible in the interviewed entrepreneur, and insight into the challenges that accompany entrepreneurship is gained. Interview Questions and Rationale As I was thinking about the entrepreneur that I should interview in this assignment, a brilliant idea came up. I settled on interviewing a young inspiring entrepreneur in the neighbourhood who can be described as a jack of all trades. She shares multiple roles under the same hat as she is a business consultant, a photographer and a co-owner of a retail liquor store. I could not help but wonder what makes her tick. This explains the reason I chose to interview her for this task on her entrepreneurial capabilities and the challenges faced in all her business undertakings. Interview Questions i. What inspired you to start your own business? ii. What made you resign from your job in the banking sector? iii. How long have the businesses been in operation? iv. What is your field of engagement? v. What are the goals and objectives of your various businesses? vi. From what I have learnt and from the knowledge I have about entrepreneurship, performing multiple jobs calls for effective time management and focus. How do they all work together and what challenges do you face? vii. How do you deal with these challenges? viii. Given the competition in the market, how do you capture the attention of your customers? ix. What criteria do you use to hire, train and maintain a skilled workforce given the limited resources? x. Have the recent trends in social networking, globalization and outsourcing had an impact on the local business environment? xi. From what I get, your businesses mostly uses online advertising, the most notable being blogging. How does blogging affect your business locally and internationally? xii. Where do you see the business in the next five years? xiii. What are your future expectations? xiv. What other opportunities do you plan to explore in future? xv. What advice do you have for other small business owners? Rationale of the Questions These questions are designed to analyze the character traits of a successful entrepreneur. They form a basis for understanding entrepreneurship. They can also be used in various conceptual frameworks to express business management better. They also help to establish the impact of the recent changes in the business landscape and how they affect small businesses and entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship involves accepting risks, and this is evident from the questions given to the entrepreneur (Stokes and Wilson 2010). These questions help us to learn about the challenges faced by entrepreneurs and how they deal with them. They also demonstrate the significant role played by advertising in businesses. They offer advice and recommendations to other entrepreneurs operating in the local market. All in all, these questions are meant to help in understanding the concept of entrepreneurship in small businesses. Interview Answers i. The photography company was inspired by a hobby, consultancy by profits and the liquor store by my friend. ii. To gain independence and to make money in a more involving and satisfying manner. iii. For five years. iv. In the photography company I work alone, in the consultancy firm I am the CEO and in the liquor retail shop I am a co-owner. v. To become players in the global market. vi. Through proper time management, focus and hard work. vii. My family supports the work that I do and my persistence and self-drive. viii. Owing to the size of our business, we use all available means of advertising to reach our customers including internet, radio, television, newspapers and magazines among others. ix. Through advertising for any vacant positions, conducting an interview and choosing the candidates with the most relevant qualifications. x. They have changed the way of doing business since they have led to increased competition and better ways of conducting business. xi. My blog is mainly centred on sharing information with other people and it has helped to attract many customers locally and internationally. xii. Five years are a short period though I want to make my consultancy firm global and open a film company. xiii. As an entrepreneur I expect more challenges, however, the future looks promising as more business opportunities continue to emerge. xiv. I plan to expand the operations of my photography company and open other branches of the liquor store. xv. Entrepreneurs should take more risks and always be on the lookout for new business opportunities and threats. Evaluation of the entrepreneur The entrepreneur in this case is the best example of a risk taker as she quits a secure job in the banking industry to venture into the uncertain world of entrepreneurship. This has paid off as it is clear that she makes more money than she would have been in the formal employment. The road to success for the entrepreneur has not been easy, and it has been through sheer hard work, focus, determination and efficient time management (Stokes and Wilson 2010). From this case, we learn about the importance of spreading one’s risks in business as the entrepreneur has done in photography, the liquor store and consultancy. Various models and theories will be adopted in evaluating the entrepreneur. The Big 5 Personality Dimension of Entrepreneurs These are the five character traits of an efficient entrepreneur. They should have self efficacy or confidence in whatever they do and should not be discouraged by rejection (Landström 2009). The entrepreneur believes in herself and refuses to be put off by any negative response. She is ambitious and has set goals and objectives which she intends to attain. She is convinced that all her businesses have a brilliant future, has the need for autonomy and has laid future plans for her businesses. She is a risk taker as she quit her job to venture into the unknown future (Hatten 2011). She continues to take risks in various businesses, and this has paid off. She also has a locus of control which is the internal driving force that enables her to achieve all her goals as explained by Stokes and Wilson (2010). The Model Entrepreneur The model entrepreneur is one who has all the desirable qualities of an entrepreneur. He should have the required knowledge and technical skills to conduct business (Stokes and Wilson 2010). The entrepreneur in this case has the required knowledge and skills having worked in the banking sector and uses this to run her businesses effectively. She has the required entrepreneurial management and this are clear from the applied business policies. The entrepreneur has strategic management competencies which are necessary for the business success. The entrepreneur has strong personal attributes that have contributed to her accomplishment in operating many small businesses. These are the building blocks attributable to the entrepreneur’s success. Gibbs Entrepreneurial Values These are the values that a model entrepreneur should have in order to run a business. They should have a strong sense of independence in making decisions concerning the entity, an outstanding and a strong sense of ownership, distrust bureaucracy and its values and hard work. Additionally, they should be action oriented and have exceptional belief in informal arrangements, freedom to take action as an individual (Stokes and Wilson 2010). From the interview, it is clear that the entrepreneur possesses all these values, and it explains why her businesses are successful. Approaches to Understanding Entrepreneurial Mindsets These are approaches that are taken in understanding what motivates entrepreneurs and their way of thinking. They are as follows: Cognitive Approaches These involve the decision making process used to make entrepreneurial decisions. There are various aspects in this approach including how individuals perceive and interpret the world, cognitive bias, social and cultural environments (Stokes and Wilson 2010). These aspects affect the individuals’ values including self-efficacy and how the entrepreneurs react to challenges. Trait Theory This theory explains how innate qualities affect how to act in different situations. The entrepreneur has a strong sense of self confidence, is hard working and focussed (Stokes and Wilson 2010). Social Psychological and Sociological Approaches These approaches explain how social structures affect individuals’ behaviour. These may include the government and other business organizations. These affect the operations of enterprises since they govern the operational activities. Motivation for Starting a Business Starting a business is hard and even the most successful entrepreneurs can attest to this (Stokes and Wilson 2010). There are many reasons behind motivation to start a business which are either push or pull. These are also referred to as reactive and proactive (Storey and Greene 2010). For the case of this entrepreneur, it was to generate more income and to pursue her hobby in photography. The entrepreneur has a passion for photography and decided to turn this into a money making venture. Business/marketing consultancy is a lucrative venture, and she generates a considerable amount of money from it. Motivation for starting a business is opportunity based or necessity based (Stokes and Wilson 2010). The entrepreneur quit her job to gain independence and this move is proactive as explained by Landström (2009). She agreed to co-own the retail liquor store as competition in the region is minimal, and this helps her to exploit this opportunity (proactive). There are other reasons behind motivation to start a business which are redundancy, disagreements with employer, unemployment and job insecurity. All these factors are reactive; however, none of them made the entrepreneur start the businesses. Reflective Discussion This has been an eye opening experience as it gives a practical application of the entrepreneurial knowledge learnt in class. Entrepreneurship is a significant area of study in the business field and has a ripple effect on the economy as a whole (Stokes and Wilson 2010). The entrepreneur described in the case offers valuable information and vital lessons. This exercise has led to a better understanding of the challenges that are faced by small business owners and how they solve them. In the given case, the entrepreneur is involved in different businesses thereby spreading risks and maximizing on income. The responses given by the entrepreneur on various issues show that they have the traits, skills and capabilities discussed in class. The entrepreneur is a risk taker as she quit her job to start her own business. She has self-efficacy and self-drive and she is visionary. This means that her businesses have a sure future based on the solid foundation made of visionary leadership. The entrepreneur can be described well as a role model to many other entrepreneurs and those who want to start their small and medium enterprises. This is because she has what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur which is strategic management competencies, knowledge and technical skill, entrepreneurial management and strong personal attributes (Stokes and Wilson 2010). The entrepreneur has the appropriate cognitive behaviour to enable her to overcome the challenges encountered in business. Finally, she has all the necessary entrepreneurial values for the effective operation of a successful business as expressed by Down (2010). Entrepreneurs face numerous challenges as observed in the above interview. Firstly, competition has increased tremendously over the years. Entrepreneurs need to up their game so as to compete with other players in the market. The second challenge is the lack of a wide market base. A small business limits the number of customers which can easily translate to small profit. Small and medium entrepreneurs have limited resources which it hard for them to hire qualified staff and to expand the businesses (Burns 2010). Entrepreneurship calls for hard work, determination, ambition, focus and self efficacy (Stokes and Wilson 2010). The personal challenges that I would encounter in undertaking entrepreneurial activities include lack of ambition, inadequate efficacy and lack of strategic and entrepreneurial competencies. Conclusively, there are many challenges facing entrepreneurs in small businesses, in the modern world, but those who are equipped with the appropriate skills and knowledge will continue making huge strides. There are numerous entrepreneurial lessons that can be learnt from the interview conducted. Firstly, success in businesses is achieved by taking risks and through hard work and determination. Secondly, small businesses should embrace advertising as a way of creating awareness for the existence of their products and services. Thirdly, small entrepreneurs should spread risks so as to make more income and to reduce the risk of a sharp fall in case one enterprise crumbles. Fourthly, entrepreneurs should work hard as success does not come easy. Last but not least, they should uphold all the values and lessons learnt in this class. References Burns, P 2010, Entrepreneurship and small business: Start-up, growth and maturity, 3rd edn, Palgrave Macmillan. Down, S 2010, Enterprise, entrepreneurship and small business, SAGE Publications Ltd. Hatten, TS 2011, Small business management: Entrepreneurship and beyond, 5th edn, Cengage Learning. Landström, H 2009, Pioneers in entrepreneurship and small business research. Springer. Stokes, D & Wilson, N 2010, Small business management and entrepreneurship, 6th edn, Cengage Learning EMEA. Storey, DJ & Greene, FJ 2010, Small business and entrepreneurship, Financial Times Prentice Hall. Read More