Nature of the Entrepreneurial Mind - Assignment Example

Reading and Learning Journal Name Name of Institution Reading and Learning Journal Week 2 This week’s readings focused on the nature of the entrepreneurial mind. As a student of entrepreneurship, I realised that I needed to approach the subject with an open mind. The rationale for this approach is that entrepreneurship is a topic that is often discussed outside the educational setting thereby resulting in misinformation and false assumptions. This week’s reading enabled me to understand the nature of the entrepreneurial mind and to identify some of the common myths about the subject. First, I learned about the extensive research on entrepreneurship, leading to the identification of numerous entrepreneurial attributes. However, the reading showed that there is consensus on eight core attributes. These include leadership, commitment and determination, courage, opportunity obsession, creativity and adaptability, motivation, intuition, and tolerance of risk, ambiguity, and uncertainty. In particular, the opportunity obsession attribute stood out since I was under the assumption that entrepreneurs should focus on resources, contacts, networking, and money instead of opportunities. In addition to these seven core attributes, there are several desirable attributes that can facilitate entrepreneurial success. These include intelligence, values, creativity and innovativeness, the capacity to inspire, and energy, health, and emotional stability. When it comes to the reading summary, the topic begins by noting that entrepreneurs are leaders from different genders, ages, religions, and backgrounds who do not share a single psychological makeup. The reading also notes that entrepreneurship is not an inherent characteristic that individuals are born with. Rather, entrepreneurship can be learned and developed, leading to the observation that most entrepreneurs need a 10-year apprenticeship in a given field to be successful. The reading also addresses other common myths about entrepreneurship. The final part of the reading shows that intelligence tests cannot be used to evaluate entrepreneurial success. The key point that I have taken from the book is that entrepreneurship is something that can be learned. This provides a rationale for studying this course. Additionally, the case study on Lian illustrates the need for an apprenticeship in industry before branching into entrepreneurship. Importantly, the experience will not guarantee success as an entrepreneur still requires the capacity to learn and grow the business. The weekly lectures have proven to be more valuable than the weekly readings. I have had the chance to listen to well-prepared content that reinforced the knowledge that I had acquired from the readings. The lecture also sharpened my critical analysis skills by showing that I need to go beyond the readings and conduct further research on the entrepreneurial mind. The bi-weekly workshop was just as informative as the lecture and readings. This is because the workshop allowed me to practice what I had learned from the topic with like-minded peers. Similarly, ICT and social media facilitated extensive sharing and communication with peers on how to create personal strategies. As stated, one fact that stood out from the weekly reading was the need for an apprenticeship. I decided to conduct brief interviews with the small business owners that I encountered during the week. The finding was that most of them were middle-aged individuals who had been employed in the same sector. For example, I met a restaurant owner who had worked in the industry before establishing and running a successful business. This confirms the importance of apprenticeship to entrepreneurial success. The inspiration from the reading is that I have the mindset to become an entrepreneur. With relevant experience, I can become an entrepreneur within an organisational setting before branching out and establishing a business. When it comes to creativity and innovation, I have learned that there is no single way of being an entrepreneur. This means that an entrepreneur needs to be creative, resourceful, knowledgeable, and innovative when developing ideas into functional businesses. The reading has shown that risk is inevitable in business. As an entrepreneur, I will not take deliberate risks nor will I avoid risk. Rather, the most effective strategy will involve risk management where they are evaluated, and suitable measures are taken to mitigate their potential impacts. Week 4 An understanding of the mind of an entrepreneur in the past weeks has shown that learning is a critical part of becoming an entrepreneur. This week’s reading focused on the acquisition of practical skills that are essential for an entrepreneur. The emphasis was on creativity as well as the process of converting ideas and opportunities into actual businesses that leverage technologies like e-commerce. Also, the readings offered a clearer description of the characteristics and behaviour of an entrepreneur. The first chapter in the weekly reading focuses on the skills needed to develop an idea into a viable business. The chapter covers the source of ideas, how to generate new ideas, problem-solving skills, innovation, new product development, and the value of e-commerce to new businesses. My assumption was that entrepreneurship is an instinctive process where individuals deal with issues as they arise. Learning about these skills has shown me that a successful entrepreneur requires a lot of knowledge and experience to launch a product successfully. The second topic also adds to the list of characteristics that are required by entrepreneurs. These include the ability to take risks, an internal locus of control, the need for achievement, creativity and innovation, deviancy, and the desire for autonomy. When it comes to reading summaries, the first topic notes that a new venture is reliant on the generation of an idea. These ideas can be found from external sources, or the entrepreneur can engage in a deliberate exercise to come up with new ideas from internal sources. The nature of the business environment means that any new business will encounter problems. The topic provides guidance on how these problems can be addressed. The final section of the topic concentrates how the ideas that have been generated can be developed through different stages before commercialisation. The second topic in this week’s reading addresses the characteristics and behaviour of entrepreneurs. There is a consensus that entrepreneurs possess a unique set of characteristics, but each entrepreneur requires a different set of these characteristics according to their situation. The topic covers recent research on the cognitive models of entrepreneurship. The key learning point from the book review is the importance of identifying trends, ideas, and opportunities. The examples Pierre Omidyar and Richard Branson have allowed me to learn that an entrepreneur needs to be aware of the prevailing trends as they can provide lucrative opportunities. Another lesson from the examples is that as an entrepreneur, I will fail at some point in my ventures. In such scenarios, the critical step will be to learn from the failure and have the intrinsic motivation to try again. I have also learned my entrepreneurship type tends towards being a change agent, and that this tendency can be developed. I found the Week 4 readings to be more involving. One of the most important lessons from the lectures is that there is an abundance of ideas, but there is a challenge in executing them. The lectures also allowed me to understand that the different behavioural approaches to entrepreneurship have weaknesses and strengths. The understanding of the type of entrepreneur I am likely to become, therefore, allows me to see the weaknesses that need to be addressed. The workshops allowed me to take part in discussions that exposed me to different perspectives leading to a better understanding of the readings. Similarly, the use of ICT and social media facilitated interaction and feedback to improve comprehension of the readings. As in the case of week two, I held discussions with small business owners on how they identified and exploited opportunities. I found that most of them were ordinary innovators who used continuous innovation to make a few changes to existing ideas before implementing them. I also used the discussions to try and determine their entrepreneurial types and characteristics. The inspiration from the reading is that an entrepreneur can be successful without resorting to unethical practices. This was important owing to my personal desire to do what is morally right. Advances in technology also provided inspiration. At present, I have better chances of entrepreneurial success than entrepreneurs from past generations. This is because I can leverage e-commerce and websites to market and sell products and services to a global audience at relatively low costs. When it comes to creativity and innovation, I have learned about how to be creative when seeking ideas, solving problems, and using acquired experience and knowledge to recognise opportunities. These skills will be put into practice when starting and running innovative business ventures. A key lesson from the reading is that the nature of entrepreneurship means that entrepreneurs are risk takers. An examination of the characteristics of entrepreneurs and a self-evaluation shows that I have an internal locus of control, desire for independence, and need to achieve. These characteristics mean that I will need to take calculated risks and be prepared for uncertainty to become a successful entrepreneur. Week 6 This week’s readings were in defining, understanding, analysing, and developing business plans. In the previous weeks, I learned about the skills, attributes, and characteristics of entrepreneurs and started to understand the process of converting ideas into viable products and services. This week’s reading provided valuable lessons on a critical step in entrepreneurship which involves communicating the direction that the business will take to both internal and external parties. The main entrepreneurial skill that is covered in the reading is the creation of the business plan. This skill relies on other skills like planning, seeking market information, product design, creating financial forecasts, people management, accounting, sales, and developing comprehensive marketing strategies. Another relevant skill that was covered was when and how to prepare and present the plan to third parties like investors, bankers, and suppliers. The first chapter in the reading addresses the definition of the business plan and its major components. The entrepreneur can opt to prepare the business plan and may seek guidance from external consultants on technical aspects of the plan. As stated, the business plan is addressed to a wide audience who will evaluate the plan and make decisions after the presentation. The reading notes that the preparation of the plan can be an intensive and lengthy process that makes use of all the entrepreneur’s knowledge and experience. The chapter concludes with the typical contents of business plans as well as a discussion on the reason why many plans fail. The second chapter offers a more in-depth coverage of the topic. The reading notes that a business plan is never complete owing to the pace of change in the modern business environment. Other topics cover the use of the business plan to seek venture capital, the disadvantages of outsourcing the development of the business plan, and the need to divide the plan into manageable sections. The key point from the book review is that many entrepreneurs can start successful ventures without business plans. However, the business plan remains an important tool for entrepreneurs because it collects important information and guides the process of converting ideas into viable products and services. The other key point is that the viability of the business model is more important than the financial forecasts. This is an important lesson to me because a business can be profitable in the short run but fail in the long-run because of a poorly designed business model. Another key point is that an entrepreneur needs to evaluate potential investors because they need to bring not only funding but value to the venture. The weekly lectures contributed to my understanding of the importance of business plans. This was essential especially when it came to developing some of the challenging sections of the business plan. The lecture also helped me to learn that a business plan needs to be updated in line with changes in the business environment. The bi-weekly workshops were also essential as they provided me with hands-on experience in developing business plans. This was essential as I believe that entrepreneurship will be a critical component of my career in both the organisational and new venture settings. The ICT and social media were also empowering as I was able to use technology as a tool to get a better understanding of the readings. I conducted industry discussions with entrepreneurs who run small businesses. The finding was that many of them did not require a business plan when starting their businesses. This was because many of them relied on savings to establish businesses in sectors in which they had considerable experience and knowledge. It was worth noting that a few of these entrepreneurs had to develop business plans at later stages of the venture with the main reason being a need for external financing for expansion. When it comes to inspiration, I am confident that I have the skills and knowledge to communicate how I intend to convert ideas into viable businesses. I have also been inspired by the fact that as a business owner, I will have the power to vet potential investors and select the ones who bring value to the venture. A critical component of a business plan is its capacity to attract and hold the attention of the reader. I will leverage the creativity and innovation skills that I have learned to ensure that my business plans are unique and innovative. This will improve the chances of success in managing operations and communicating with business stakeholders. A comprehensive business should address exposure to risks. The development of the business plan will be essential to me as an entrepreneur because I will have guidance on risk exposure and how to mitigate these risks. Week 8 This week’s readings focused on sources of capital and the strategies for growth and dealing with the implications of growth. In the previous weeks, I have learned about the entrepreneurial mind, creativity, characteristics of entrepreneurs, and developing a business plan. The next logical step in the entrepreneurial process will involve getting capital and starting the business. This journal describes the lessons learned from the Week 8 readings. The knowledge gained from the reading is related to the source of capital that are available to entrepreneurs. These sources can fall into the debt vs. equity and the internal vs. external categories. In addition to the traditional source of capital, I have learned that there are government agencies that can assist entrepreneurs who are unable to raise funds from commercial banks. The reading also describes the skills that an entrepreneur needs to develop a business and remain successful while dealing with the pressures of growth. The first chapter in the weekly reading notes that all business require capital and that new ventures are at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing sources of capital. It is essential that entrepreneurs prioritise internal source of finance before seeking external sources that come with disadvantages like the forfeiture of business control, the impulse to spend, and wastage of time. The chapter also notes that commercial banks should be used as a source of short-term capital, and that new firms should obtain help from government agencies. The topic also addresses private placement where an entrepreneur exchanges business equity for capital. When it comes to strategies for growth, the reading includes penetration, market development, diversification, and product development strategies. The reading also addresses the implications of business growth on human resources, management, entrepreneur’s time, and financial resources. Critically, the reading notes that some entrepreneurs opt to avoid growth due to the risks involved. The key point from the book review is that an entrepreneur who identifies a viable opportunity and develops a comprehensive business plan has high chances of acquiring capital. However, the source of capital should be critically evaluated, with the entrepreneur appraising whether it is worth pursuing aggressive growth. The lectures highlighted the content of the readings and provided me with the opportunity to reflect on how involving entrepreneurship can be. This is because entrepreneurs face a lot of difficulties when establishing new ventures. I understood why entrepreneurs share certain characteristics like an internal locus of control, need for achievement, and the intrinsic motivation to keep going despite the many challenges. The bi-weekly workshop provided me with an opportunity to discuss the source of capital that I would prefer. My preference for control meant that I would prefer capital from internal sources that do not require the issuance of equity. The ICT and social media facilitated further reflections on growth strategies and whether the pursuit of growth can lead to business failure. In my case, I would prefer a medium-sized business that is sustainable to a larger-sized business that is exposed to risk and financially constrained. I conducted interviews on the primary source of capital for small businesses that are owned by acquaintances. I found that they started out with personal savings and that they sought additional funds from family and friends as the need arose. Commercial banks were also used as a source of capital whenever there was a short term need for working capital. The inspiration from the reading is that there are numerous sources from which a well-prepared entrepreneur can seek capital. I was also inspired by the fact that growth is not the only measure of success in business ventured. This means I can become a successful entrepreneur if I can start a few ventures that do not have to become the largest businesses in their sector. The reading allowed me to see that creativity and innovation apply to all facets of entrepreneurship. In the case of seeking capital, I will strive to adopt bootstrapping where I will find creative ways to conserve cash and limit the need to borrow from external sources. This is important to me because I need to retain control of any business I engage in. When it comes to risk taking, the focus will be avoiding the risks that come with explosive growth. Attaining sustainable growth in my ventures will be my key priority. Week 10 One of the key lessons that I have learned so far is that I will need to develop my entrepreneurial skills through an apprenticeship in an organisational setting. I have also evaluated my entrepreneurial characteristics and found that I will prefer sustainability over taking risks that might harm a venture. This week’s reading provided were critical as they expanded on the issues of intrapreneurship and social entrepreneurship. The attributes needed for intrapreneurship are similar to those of entrepreneurship, and they include innovation, risk taking, and creativity. However, resistance to change means that an intrapreneur has to have planning, resource management, and leadership skills to drive the organisation towards a change in culture. Social entrepreneurship also requires entrepreneurial skills like innovation, learning, accountability, and problem-solving skills that benefit society. The chapter on intrapreneurship explains the similarities and differences between intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship before noting the obstacles to embracing intrapreneurship in organisational settings. The offers a critical examination of intrapreneurial theory and provides strategies for changing organisational cultures. The chapter on social entrepreneurship offers the different definitions of the subject as well as the types of social entrepreneurship. The chapter also shows how the Timmons Model can be applied to social entrepreneurship. The key point from the reading is that intrapreneurship and social entrepreneurship share some of the core features of entrepreneurship. However, there are significant differences in the mission and setting in which the new concepts are applied. The weekly lecture allowed me to reflect on the barriers that are present in organisational settings. I noted that individuals in leadership positions had greater chances of success in directing resources towards intrapreneurship and social entrepreneurship. This led to the conclusion that I need to acquire knowledge and experience to take up a leadership position and drive change. The workshop also allowed me to reflect on the need to practice social entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship when under apprenticeship. This should allow these aspects to be integrated into future business ventures. Finally, online interaction allowed me to note that the concepts covered during the week are not valued by some peers. This explains the barriers to implementing these concepts in an organisational setting. I interviewed business owners on their thoughts on intrapreneurship and social entrepreneurship. I noted that the need for control hindered their ability to reinvent themselves through intrapreneurship. The size of the business also meant that they had a for profit motive that prioritised economic benefits over social benefits. The inspiration from the reading is that I have acquired sufficient knowledge on how to be a change agent in organisational settings. This will help me to contribute towards reinventing the business and working towards the good of society. I have noted that creativity and innovation are important aspects of intrapreneurship and social entrepreneurship. This made me realise that the successful implementation of these concepts in the firm setting can be a predictor of success in setting up and running a business venture. As stated, employees in leadership positions are the ones who have the power to change organisational culture to embrace intrapreneurship. This means that I will need to be exposed to significant risks if I am to be a leader who can change organisational culture. Week 12 The final weekly reading looks at the entrepreneurial role of the family and the need to create harvest options. The reading focuses on the management of successful ventures, meaning that there is an assumption that the entrepreneurial skills from previous readings have been acquired and put to use. I found the reading to be enlightening in a way that corrected some of my previous assumptions. The entrepreneurial skills discussed in the first chapter include the combination of managerial, entrepreneurial, financial, and operational skills to run a family business. The second chapter requires an entrepreneur to have attributes like patience, the ability to seek external advice, valuation skills, and the capacity to create value. Also, planning skills are critical in this stage as an entrepreneur needs to be prepared to harvest. The first chapter begins by noting that family businesses play a pivotal role in the global economy. Families can take up formal or informal roles when making contributions like business startups, corporate venturing, and the provision of cash and investment funds. The chapter also covers the mindset required for family enterprising, the dimensions of family enterprising, and the advantages that come from family enterprising. The second chapter looks at harvesting strategies. The chapter notes that entrepreneurs need to have a plan on when to leave a venture, realise value, and pursue other goals. The reading provides examples of harvesting options and provides ideas on how to manage the wealth that comes from harvesting. The key point in the reading is that families can provide invaluable assistance in managing a business. The entrepreneur needs to ensure that a business can survive through generations. When it comes to harvesting, the key point is that an entrepreneur should be willing to get value from the business through harvesting. The lecture was enlightening because it challenged my assumptions that the challenges of family businesses outweigh the benefits. I also learned that a business owner should not be attached to the venture and that he/she should be prepared to sell it and earn value for their enterprising efforts. The workshop allowed me to reflect on how I can involve members of my family in my entrepreneurial activities. In as much as they can be of assistance, I realise that I will need to evaluate each member before involving them in my business activities. The use of ICT and social media allowed me to interact with peers and note that they share my concerns about family businesses. However, there was a consensus that the contribution of family business to the economy means that the option has to be explored. I conducted a survey of business owners to seek an understanding of the level of involvement of their families. The interviews confirmed that many small and medium-sized firms rely on the family for initial financing and day to day operations. There was also a deliberate effort to involve younger family members in the business in what can be assumed as a way to ensure business continuity. When it comes to harvesting, I found that there was insufficient planning with many businesses being a source of income that could not be abandoned. The inspiration from the reading is that there are many entrepreneurs who have sold their ventures and gone on to achieve greater success than they would have. This will allow me to recognise a venture as a source of wealth and not a lifetime commitment. The same will apply to employment where I will seek knowledge and experience before seeking new challenges elsewhere. The reading has led to the conclusion that creativity and innovation are critical to family business success. Senior leaders and successor generation should be willing to innovate and be creative even if it means that the business will abandon the strategies that have worked in the past. The rapidly changing business environment also enhances the need for innovation and creativity. The reading on harvesting has increased my willingness to take risks. Before the reading, I would have started a successful venture and avoided rapid growth. However, I am now willing to build a sound business and seek rapid growth to allow me to realise value and acquire wealth. This wealth should then provide a path to other entrepreneurial ventures. Read More