The Entrepreneur and His Social Impact PDF

WHAT IS THE ENTREPRENUERIAL MIND? Welcome to the subject Entrepreneurial Mind. This subject will introduce to the concept of entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs think, make decisions, and take actions. We will also learn about the importance of entrepreneurship not only for the econom...

WHAT IS THE ENTREPRENUERIAL MIND? Welcome to the subject Entrepreneurial Mind. This subject will introduce to the concept of entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs think, make decisions, and take actions. We will also learn about the importance of entrepreneurship not only for the economy and society but also how it can be used as a way of thinking and looking at things from a different perspective. So, whether you are an engineering student, a soon to be programmer, a student of the arts, there is much to be learned from this class. The Entrepreneurial Mind Modules will us to discover what entrepreneurship is and who the entrepreneur is. We will have a look into the history of entrepreneurship as a school of thought as a means of understanding what entrepreneurship is. What better way to understand something than to learn about its origins, right? We will also be introduced to how entrepreneurs think. It has been said that entrepreneurs are a class of their own. They are known to be risk-takers and innovators. They are also known to have better focus and persistence than others. What exactly drives entrepreneurs to be that way? These modules will help us achieve better understanding of that not only by learning about the distinct characteristics of entrepreneurs but also, undertaking practical activities that will allow us to put ourselves in the entrepreneur’s shoes. We will learn all this throughout four modules namely: Module on the Entrepreneur and His Roots, Module on the Entrepreneur and His Social Impact, Module on The Entrepreneur and his Journey and Module on The Entrepreneur and his Personal Initiative. WHAT WILL YOU LEARN? At the end of these modules, you will acquire the following essential knowledge and skills on how to: Discuss the different characteristics of entrepreneurs, Discuss the different types of innovation, Identify, screen and evaluate opportunities, and Distinguish pro-active and reactive behaviors of entrepreneurs. With that dear learner, welcome to the Module on the Entrepreneur and His Social Impact! Ma. Crestia Banares (2020). Module on The Entrepreneur and His Social Impact. Department of Entrepreneurship, Bicol University College of Business Economics and Management What Is This Module About? Welcome to the Module on the Entrepreneur and His Social Impact. I hope that the previous module has tickled a bit of your attention and perhaps even your interest in entrepreneurship. I also hope that you have done a bit of research on your own about entrepreneurship in general and have started reading about the interesting lives of entrepreneurs. If you haven’t, there is no better time to begin but now. Why not take five minutes to look at – not your latest celebrity crush on Facbook – but rather to look up entrepreneurs like Richard Branson or Elon Musk. Why don’t we go local! Go and look up Neri Miranda! As your search will show you, entrepreneurs lead very interesting lives. They also have a lot of lessons to impart not just about entrepreneurship but about life in general. I hope that throughout this course, you will continue to take interest and learn from well-known entrepreneurs around the world. But it would be doubly great, if you could learn about those that are not world-renown just yet. Back to our lesson! For this session, we will begin to understand the actions taken by entrepreneurs that set them up for success. We will also discuss how these actions affect the society and economy. In the same vain, our discussions for this session will revolve around the role of the entrepreneur and the impact that entrepreneurship makes. What Will You Learn? At the end of the session, you will learn about the various what kind of an individual an entrepreneur is. More importantly, you will also learn about the significant role that entrepreneurship plays in our society and economy. What Do You Already Know? Let us start the session with this photo of a watermelon and what an entrepreneur would do with it. Now ask yourself this: If you were an entrepreneur, what other product would you come up with to sell other than a watermelon shake? (Thought of something else? Then you might just be on your way to becoming an entrepreneur!) Ma. Crestia Banares (2020). Module on The Entrepreneur and His Social Impact. Department of Entrepreneurship, Bicol University College of Business Economics and Management Let’s Reflect: Now that we’ve had a glimpse of how the concept of entrepreneurship came to be, we can now start to distinguish the difference between businessmen and entrepreneurs. This illustration clearly represents that difference. As shown on the photo, entrepreneurs tend to take it a step further. However, what makes an entrepreneur take that step further? For this session, we look into what kind of an individual an entrepreneur is, what drives him to succeed and how that inadvertently impacts the society. Let’s Study: THE ENTREPRENEUR AS THE INDIVIDUAL THAT STEERS Entrepreneurs identify opportunities in the market. Entrepreneurial ventures are created because opportunities are identified, pursued and exploited. Economies would not run without entrepreneurial ventures. Without individuals identifying and exploiting opportunities economic activities would be limited and would not thrive. Entrepreneurs actively seek our opportunities to pursue and exploit. It is one of the more important skills that entrepreneurs must have. Entrepreneurs process market information. Entrepreneurs identify opportunities by processing market information. At times, it could be a very technical process using scientifically backed data, but more often that not, most successful entrepreneurs identify opportunities by merely observing and having and enthusiastic willingness to learn and understand. Often, they ask themselves questions like: “How can something be made better?” or “How can the customers’ experience happier?”. Take the case of Airbnb founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia who have just moved from New York to San Francisco. Jobless, they were having trouble paying their rent and were looking for a way to earn some extra cash. They noticed that all hotel rooms in the city were booked, as the local Industrial Design conference attracted a lot of visitors. The youngsters saw an opportunity. They bought a few airbeds and quickly put up a site called “Air Bed and Breakfast.” The idea was to offer visitors a place to sleep and breakfast in the morning. They charged $80 each a night. The idea succeeded and the first Airbnb guests were born: a 30-year-old Indian Ma. Crestia Banares (2020). Module on The Entrepreneur and His Social Impact. Department of Entrepreneurship, Bicol University College of Business Economics and Management man, a 35-year-old woman from Boston and a 45-year-old father of four from Utah sleeping on their floor. While the company has had its own share of ups and downs before it finally gained traction, it can safely be said that the rest is history. The most recent statistics show that Airbnb now has over 2 million listings in over 190 countries and 34,000 cities. They do not own a chain of hotels but, Airbnb hosts have hosted over 40 million guests. The company is worth an estimated 25.5 billion, based on the latest round of funding of 1.5 billion. Entrepreneurs bring innovation. More important that identifying opportunities is what entrepreneurs actually do about them. This is when innovation comes in, and this is generally what sets them apart from businessmen and managers. Entrepreneurs don’t stop at simply creating a product but instead innovate and create more value for customers. Entrepreneurs take and accept risks. There will always be risks involved in starting anything new. As it often is with novel things, acceptance is hard to come by. People, generally reject new ideas and do not instantly accept what is being introduced. That is why not a lot of people go on and start a new business. The risks, aside from the risk of the product not being accepted is numerous! However, entrepreneurs, willingly take and accept those risks. It is believed that they’d rather fail trying than have someone else try it before them. Entrepreneurs establish new venture and improve existing ones. With innovations, entrepreneurs establish new ventures. They usually don’t stop at one. The most successful entrepreneurs are often known to be serial entrepreneurs, pursuing and exploiting opportunities and starting new entrepreneurial ventures, one after the other. At the age of 24, Elon Musk launched his first company Zip2 Corporation. It was an online city guide which was later in purchased by a division of Compaq Computer Corporation at $307 million in cash and $34 million in stock options. Using that money, he goes on to establish X.com, which is now known as PayPal. It was later purchased by Amazon for a whopping amount of $1.5 Billion! Being the serial entrepreneur, that he is, he goes on to establish his third company, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation or Space.X with the intention of building spacecraft for commercial space travel. By 2008, SpaceX was well established, and NASA awarded the company the contract to handle cargo transport for the International Space Station—with plans for astronaut transport in the future—in a move to replace NASA’s own space shuttle missions. Ma. Crestia Banares (2020). Module on The Entrepreneur and His Social Impact. Department of Entrepreneurship, Bicol University College of Business Economics and Management  His more down to earth entrepreneurial venture is Tesla Motors, makers of affordable, mass-market electric cars as well as battery products and solar roofs. Musk oversees all product development, engineering and design of the company's products. In April 2017, Tesla announced that it surpassed General Motors to become the most valuable U.S. car maker. Big car makers such as GM, Volkswagen and Nissan have shifted gears in planning bigger production of plug-in cars. There is no doubt that Tesla Motors has disrupted the automobile industry. Entrepreneurs are managers as well as leaders. Entrepreneurs are known to know even the tiniest details of their ventures. A prime example of this is Sir Richard Branson. An article by Business Insider reports that Sir Richard Branson wakes up at 5 a.m. every day. "Getting up and at it early gives me time to get on top of things, and chart my day effectively," as written in a 2014 blog post, by the Billionaire founder of Virgin Group. The article goes on to describe the rest of his day saying he carves out plenty of time to spend with his family and eat breakfast. "Not only does this help them know how important they are to me, but it also grounds me before I start my day," he wrote. Once he's up, he's ready to move. Some of his favorite activities include kite-surfing, swimming, cycling, and tennis. Virgin's website says the founder has a "mean tennis serve." In 2010, he ran a marathon in London while dressed as a butterfly. In 2009, he kite-surfed with a naked model on his back. In February, he hit the waves to compete against former US President Barack Obama. Getting an early start to the day isn't only about exercising. Branson lives on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands, which he bought for about $320,000 in 1979. "Living in the BVI, I like to be online early, so that I am accessible and available to our offices in other time zones," he wrote., saying he can work through his emails before most of the world logs on. He spends his workdays staying on top of business, checking his various social media platforms, reading the news, and keeping in touch with his employees, divulging that his biggest life hack is carrying a notebook to keep him on track. "Being a modern business leader is all about having your finger on the pulse and knowing what you're talking about. I'm always checking in with our Virgin teams," Branson wrote on his blog. He, ladies and gentlemen is 70 years old and has been an entrepreneur on top, in, out and through his vast entrepreneurial ventures since he was 16 years old. Ma. Crestia Banares (2020). Module on The Entrepreneur and His Social Impact. Department of Entrepreneurship, Bicol University College of Business Economics and Management Let’s Think About This: What a life these entrepreneurs lead, right? I hope that you are inspired with the kind of life they lead and the impact they are making. With this in mind, let’s motivate ourselves a little bit more with these questions: 1. Do you think that entrepreneurs are born with these characters? 2. Do you think that it is a matter of nature or nurture? 3. Are entrepreneurs born or made? Let’s Reflect: Before we gin the last section of this module, I’d like for you to take a look at this infographic that represents the impact that entrepreneurship has on our society. Discuss what your thoughts are about this photo. _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________. Ma. Crestia Banares (2020). Module on The Entrepreneur and His Social Impact. Department of Entrepreneurship, Bicol University College of Business Economics and Management Let’s Study: THE IMPACT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP The impact that entrepreneurship has made in the world as we know it today is undeniable. In the first part of this module, we discussed how entrepreneurship has evolved over time. Along that line, we have also seen how that development has contributed to the world we live in today. Let us discuss one by one how entrepreneurship has contributed to the economy and our society. Entrepreneurship Spurs Economic Growth Entrepreneurs create new products and services and this in turn spurs on the creation of other economic activities that would support the new business venture. These economic activities could be job creation, the production of supplementary products and services and other activities that would stimulate economic development. Take for example, a few information technology companies made up the IT industry in in different parts of the world in the ‘90s. The industry soon grew affecting various other sectors. New businesses were also established in support of the industry such as BPOs (Business Process Outsourcing), network service and maintenance providers, hardware and software providers, etc. Even companies that support the lifestyles of those in the IT industries came to be. Restaurants, food delivery services and even fitness centers started operating for 24 hours to cater to employees who worked at different timelines. This entailed more manpower and created more jobs. Entrepreneurship Creates Jobs As new businesses are made, jobs are also created. Starting an entrepreneurial venture, no matter how small it is, requires an entrepreneur to hire people. As the business expands, more jobs are created and would require hiring even more. Inadvertently jobs are also created by entrepreneurs who previously had jobs before opening their business. Leaving their day jobs creates a vacancy. Sometimes, these vacancies require more than one person to fill in the gap left by the entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurships Bring Innovations Necessity is the mother of invention, as the saying goes, and so perhaps its older sibling is innovation. We have come to learn that entrepreneurs succeed because of the innovation they bring in. It could be innovation that come in the form of the products and service they offer, or the way they get the products and services to the market or even how the products and services are made. Ma. Crestia Banares (2020). Module on The Entrepreneur and His Social Impact. Department of Entrepreneurship, Bicol University College of Business Economics and Management  More often than not, entrepreneurs find solutions to problems and by doing so, an entrepreneur brings in innovation in the market and inevitably creates competition. This results to better and often more affordable products and services for customers to purchase. Steve Jobs of Apple invented the iPhone which spurred on innovations on the mobile phone industry. The mobile phone industry today is among the most vibrant and dynamic with us seeing innovations on smart phone almost every day. More importantly, with the competition being so diverse, with smart phone choices ranging to the thousands, who stand to benefit from all this? No other than us, the buying public. Entrepreneurship Creates Wealth Entrepreneurial ventures help generate new wealth not only for the entrepreneur but for the nation as well. Existing businesses may remain focused to serve their current market and may hit the glass ceiling in terms of income. By introducing new and improved products and services entrepreneurs are able to serve new markets and thereby creating new wealth. As previously stated, entrepreneurship creates jobs which in turn provides earnings or higher earnings. This in turn contributes to better national income in the form of higher tax revenue and higher government spending. The government can then use the revenue in struggling sectors and more importantly on human capital. Let’s Think About This: We now understand the different roles that entrepreneurship makes and how it impacts the shape of the world. Let us continue to explore the other possibilities of entrepreneurship by answering these questions: 1. How is entrepreneurship important to society and the economy? 2. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ 3. How does entrepreneurship drive societal and economic change? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________ Ma. Crestia Banares (2020). Module on The Entrepreneur and His Social Impact. Department of Entrepreneurship, Bicol University College of Business Economics and Management  4. Can too much entrepreneurship be detrimental to economic development? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Let’s Try This: At this point, I think that we now have a clear understanding of who the entrepreneur is. Do a little bit of research and find a person in your locality whom you can qualify as an entrepreneur. Write an essay about this person explaining what traits this person possesses and what actions he has taken that makes him/her an entrepreneur. Also include a discussion on the impact he has made in your community. And don’t forget to include what his/her entrepreneurial venture is as well as the kind of innovation introduced. ______________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________. Ma. Crestia Banares (2020). Module on The Entrepreneur and His Social Impact. Department of Entrepreneurship, Bicol University College of Business Economics and Management