Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Creation - Essay Example

Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Creation Next Ventures is a UK SAP recruitment agency which provides temporary and permanent recruitment solutions for many of the leading companies in the world. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in London, the company has other branches spread across the United Kingdom to ensure that the services reach as many people as possible (Bernaldez and Kim, 2014). It has 62 employees and becomes one of the best small companies for 2014 of UK (The Sunny Times, 2015). It has also provided a platform for young people to be more vocal, help communities and acquire vital life skills. This essay will critical evaluate the entrepreneur and enterprise activities to demonstrate a thorough and practical understanding of the entrepreneurial process. Entrepreneur: Richard Lacey Lacey, born in 1968 in London, had a passion for business from a young age. At an early age, Lacey had a dream to run a business and help companies in all industries to recruit the best personnel required (Phillips and Gully, 2012). Before entrepreneurship, Lacey worked as a business develop manager in Techpartners International Company and INS for five years, and as a sales account manager in Sysdeco UK Limited for five years (Lacey, 2015). With a wealth of experience in IT sales and networking, Lacey can handle almost any challenge posed by the sales and recruitment sectors. Like all businesspeople, Lacey has experienced the ups and downs of entrepreneurship and understands the demands of entrepreneurship. Fortunately, Lacey has very understanding parents who saw such actions as part of an education and did not interfere with the expression of ideas. Together with the business partner, Darren Rosenfeld, the ambitious men started Next Ventures from 2001 and have overcome many challenges to make it success today (Hemingway, 2013). Lacey’s story is an example of what most entrepreneurs go through when starting entrepreneurship. There are many decisions to make, which are also accompanied by a degree of uncertainty that puts most businesspeople in a dilemma. Some of the main challenges Lacey faced included branding and marketing, delegation, and health and safety (Horn, 2013). Marketing was especially challenging because it was very difficult to convince individuals and organisations that it was worth a try (Solberg, 2013). Based on own experience, Lacey recommends that prospective entrepreneurs join hands with other like-minded individuals to actualise goals and objectives. One can even engage in entrepreneurship as a part-time venture instead of putting all efforts into one business. People can run business ventures during off days, afternoons, holidays or weekends. Entrepreneurs should use social events and platforms to market operations because visibility is important in marketing businesses (Karlsson, 2012). Lacey also states that it was difficult to balance the business with other activities mainly because of inexperience and little guidance and support from relevant people. It is important to have firm foundations before quitting one’s job to go into business full time. Therefore, two founders noticed that there was a gap for a professional and effective recruitment service in the UK, which became an idea that offered IT and other technical recruitment solutions to new and established companies (Lacey, 2015). Lacey and Rosenfeld joined hands to a simple goal - all organisations deserve the best employees, and all should be able to hire from a pool of highly skilled and professional workers. A few months into the first contract, the interest grew from individuals is willing to volunteer and partner, as well as companies looking to be partner by investing in the start-up. At that time, Lacey thought that the venture was simply a duo of two young and ambitious people enjoying the dynamics of sales and recruitment, not knowing that the business was onto a bigger prospect and a whole new concept (Keohane, 2014). Lacey and Rosenfeld have managed to make the company successful by relating to it on a personal basis, and a love for sales and recruitment and IT, and working with the youth. Lacey is a businessperson and a leader, but is not seeking praise or reputation. Lacey wants everybody to discover that switch in life which will inspire natural leadership and entrepreneurship traits. Lacey believes that people should follow hearts because business leadership and innovation comes from discovering passion. Enterprise Next Ventures is a concept which is graceful in the austerity. A few employees work together to provide a full portfolio of innovative and flexible IT staffing solutions, both nationally and internationally to many leading corporations across the world. The firm’s consultants offer clients a sound industry and technology grasp, as well as an unmatchable web of contacts, ensuring that it supplies the right candidates to fully satisfy the staffing needs of the customers (Knudsen, 2014). This is the company’s principle, a model that has allowed it to expand rapidly since it signed the first business contract 14 years ago. Next Ventures tackles many problems such as lack of skills (by teaching young volunteers and employees how to manage a business), the demands of entrepreneurship and a good understanding of staffing. For all the recognition and awards it has received, the business depends on PR, excellent services and good client relationships. If without these, it cannot survive (Knudsen, 2014). Opportunity Business Model Dimensions Proposition To provide the best staffing and SAP recruitment solutions to the most organisations around the world. People Customers Wide range of customers from across the world. From SMEs to large corporations that need the best staffing solutions possible. Team Sales team, technical (IT) team, project management team, and senior management Competitors Michael Page, Reed, Blue Arrow, Hays, Bond Recruitment, Office Angels, Tate, ACME Appointments. Place Local brand with an international presence. The company has branches across the UK and intends to expand to other countries. Process Identify and recruit the best employees with a wide range of skills. Identify staffing needs and develop the best solutions to fulfil them. Each responsibility is assigned to the most qualified and capable employees. Innovative use of IT to create new and adaptable staffing techniques Profit Depends on the customers and the quality of services provided. Steady annual growth of profits Drivers Societal Community engagement, CSR, charity work, and PR strategies. Commercial Excellent profit model supported by skilled labor; diversified investments that compliment the main service (staffing solutions). Legal Adherence to legal and regulatory frameworks; good corporate governance and ethics code; professional code of conduct Technological High degree of adaptability to technological development; innovative application of technology. In 2013, one of the branches in north London suffered a decline in sales after a number of clients complained about poor services. It indicates that employees must work hard to grow the company. Lacey proves that a clear vision, dedication to uplifting communities and a conviction are solutions to the problems in big business can be effective in bringing realistic and immediate change. In addition, IT is growing rapidly and businesses are compelled to embrace it or lose out to those who do (Lyons, 2013). These factors make Next Ventures the right solution at the right time. The company works with clients to develop and improve staffing and, specifically, the recruitment process. Some firms have all the resources to hire the right employees but do not have the right people sitting in the recruitment panels. As a result, companies end up with the wrong staff despite spending considerable amounts of money and time on hiring. However, it does not stop there. The company has identified a deficiency in skills among UK youth, a problem that affects ability to obtain employment and inspire positive change in communities. By motivating communities to create own factions of volunteers who contribute toward developing staffing solutions for technology firms, Next Ventures has offered hope and inspiration for the youth. The firm’s message to young people is that everybody has the capacity to lead. Lacey references Steve Jobs, the innovative and pioneering late CEO and founder of Apple, who managed to inspire – and still inspires – generations of young people to take up business and to use skills and abilities to achieve success (Meyer, 2014). Lacey is convinced that Next Ventures is heading in the right direction, especially considering the numerous awards and recognitions it has received in the past 5 years. For instance, it is regularly ranked as one of the fastest-growing SMEs in the UK (Next Ventures, 2015). Lacey and Rosenfeld are united in the conviction that a clear vision and genuine leadership are more important than official training. Lacey believes that leading means being the first in and the last out, and acknowledging that everybody has the capacity to lead (Crainer and Dearlove, 2013). Bringing out natural leadership involves providing inspiration, confidence, and encouraging people to be passionate and strong. Next Ventures also addresses the bad publicity that young people often receive by handling it confidently using the firm’s own resources and the experience of the employees (Nkongo, 2014). The company has cases of poor leadership and bad decision making, but also of young people who are actively addressing these challenges to unlock potential. When people speak ill of young people, when youths are accused of being socially inactive, the firm responds by citing the clients it works with and the role young people have played in the successes. For most of the workers, Next Ventures is a personal commitment. It is teaching other people new skills and learning from others and encouraging teamwork (Pate, 2014). All the volunteers find time at Next Ventures to be a steep learning curve that provides all skills needed to be successful in various aspects. The founders are blessed with passion and calm, attributes that support biting the bullet and working hard while retaining the original vision. Since the founding the company has evolved from having few branches at major centres in London to opening branches in many parts of the UK (Pech and Turner, 2014). In just five years, the business has experienced considerable growth on an annual basis. With Lacey’s clarity of vision and the commitment and passion of the workers, there could be many leaders at all levels to gain from the model. Next Ventures has inspired many people across the world to take staffing, with news outlets and government agencies showing more interest than ever (Williams, 2013). Organisations understand that staffing is crucial to success. The business partners with other local and international IT and staffing firms to improve the services. IT firms are increasingly showing interest in working with the business to transform methods to be more customer friendly and develop better customer service systems (Rensen, 2012). IT firms have been huge supporters of the business over the past 5 years. The firms also understand that currently the company cannot provide services to all the organisations that need it (Turner, 2013). The firms have been flexible with schedules and systems to allow seamless collaboration so that all parties can benefit. Currently, the company serves a wide range of clients from all over the world, and intends to expand in the next few years to incorporate more services and widen the customer base (Next Ventures, 2015). These conditions mean the business must continue emphasising that solutions are developed with long-term outlooks and provided to clients are solutions that not only meet specific needs, but also support sustainable growth and development (Gupta, 2014). The company’s employees, who come from all over the world, are a group of individuals from different backgrounds, and with different circumstances and ages, who all believe in the basic notion that good technology and staffing are the platform for future growth (Wankel, 2013). The firm also believes that everybody should have an opportunity to apply skills and knowledge to support firms in various industries. However, this is not often the case. Many people, especially young people, usually suffer from a lack of confidence and a poor skill set. Moreover, most organisations cannot access quality staffing solutions for technological services. For most organisations, the staffing process is either too involving or too expensive, settling for second-best most of the time (Strauss, 2012). The company is available for everyone who needs it. It helps firms understand that there are others doing much worse but improvement and cooperation with each other is necessary (Galbraith and Molinari, 2014). Without cooperation, the whole industry suffers. Next Ventures is like a social welfare program that not only takes help to the needy but also provides incentive to achieve it to manage various problems and challenges. It is more than about business which includes socialising and letting firms know that staffing problems are not unique (Schumacher, 2013). The company has learned many since it started operations, but one thing which has remained constant is the belief that with an innovative mix of relevant skills and some grit, a group of dedicated employees can offer services that makes a difference in many organisations’ performances. In 2014, the company put in place plans to open 8 new branches that further the policy of providing services in a friendly and warm setting (Douglas, 2014). What it gets in return are organisations that understand staffing requirements and are willing to stay the course to get the best employees. The company’s model is based on the think locally, act globally motto. This guides all the departments, especially HR. All operations are currently local but it operates with a global mind-set. It wants to develop a remedy for poor staffing in technology firms. People make friends and build new networks at Next Ventures, and it all begins with one excellent service (Bateman and Snell, 2013). There are other UK SAP Recruitment firms that have large-scale logistics, but Next Venture’s objective is to mobilise dynamic young people from all over the world the whole year, no matter the conditions, and teach how to provide excellent services to a wide range of customers. It achieved it once and then noticed that it could do it many times over, and now it is reaping the rewards. Conclusion Entrepreneurship theory and practice are quite different. While theory provides an analysis of different scenarios and how to manage, it does not account for changes that require immediate addressing. A great degree of flexibility is required for any entrepreneur with a good understanding of entrepreneurship theory to apply business principles in the real world. Like all other concepts, entrepreneurship theory and practice differ mainly in sensitivity and adaptability to various situations. For example, an experienced entrepreneur should be capable of tailoring theory to fit the specific needs of an enterprise (Bernaldez and Kim, 2014). Theory can state one thing but practice demands a whole different approach. However, it is important to acknowledge that theory informs practice. Therefore, the degree of manoeuvrability adaptability exercised by an entrepreneur determines who succeeds and who fails. From this paper, it is safe to conclude that Lacey and Rosenfeld have developed and implemented a successful and futuristic channels sales business model that has allowed Next Ventures to grow rapidly and become more profitable each year (Galbraith and Molinari, 2014). The entrepreneurs have demonstrated all the business attributes required to succeed in commerce, and the probability is that Next Ventures will continue growing with stable and effective leadership and management. References Bateman, T. & Snell, S. (2013) Management (3rd ed.), New York, NY, McGraw-Hill Irwin. Bernaldez, P. & Kim, E. (2014) Voluntourism, corporate social responsibility, social entrepreneurship MIRATECH Koreas "Korean VolunTourists Programs" as social enterprise (1. Aufl. ed.), Saarbrücken, LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing. Crainer, S. & Dearlove, D. (2013) Thinkers 50: innovation, leadership, management and Strategy, London, McGraw-Hill Education. Douglas, H. (2014) Social entrepreneurship and enterprise: concepts in context, Prahran, Victoria, Tilde Publishing and Distribution. Galbraith, B. & Molinari, F. (2014) Social innovation and entrepreneurship: case studies, practices and perspectives, Chicago, ACPIL. Griffiths, C. & Crescenzo, B. (2012) My Start-up plan: the business plan toolkit, Cambridge, Harriman House Limited. Gupta, P. (2014) Global innovation science handbook, Christchurch, McGraw-Hill Education. Hemingway, C. (2013) Corporate social entrepreneurship: integrity within, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Horn, D. (2013) Democratic governance and social entrepreneurship: civic participation and the future of democracy, New York, Routledge. Karlsson, C. (2012) Entrepreneurship, social capital and governance: directions for the sustainable development and competitiveness of regions, Cheltenham, Northampton, MA :. Keohane, G. 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