Lesson 1 - Intro to Entrepreneurship.pdf

Introduction to Entrepreneursh ip  THE WHOOOOO? Objectives: Define what is an Entrepreneur. Describe the characteristics that differentiates the entrepreneur from other business owners. Explain the Entrepreneurial Process. “All entrepreneurs are businessmen, but not...

Introduction to Entrepreneursh ip  THE WHOOOOO? Objectives: Define what is an Entrepreneur. Describe the characteristics that differentiates the entrepreneur from other business owners. Explain the Entrepreneurial Process. “All entrepreneurs are businessmen, but not all businessmen are entrepreneurs.” What is an Entrepreneur? an individual who creates a new business, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards. commonly seen as an innovator, a source of new ideas, goods, services, and business/or procedures Entrepreneurship refers to the concept of developing and managing a business venture in order to gain profit by taking several risks in the corporate world. is both the study of how new businesses are created as well as the actual process of starting a new business Three Primary Reasons Why People Become Entrepreneurs Be Their Own Boss ➔ They have had a long-time ambition to own their own firm or business ➔ They have become frustrated working in traditional jobs  Pursue Their Own Ideas ➔ They recognize ideas for new products or services, and they have the desire to see those ideas realized Pursue Financial Rewards ➔ This motivation however, is typically secondary to the first two and often fails to live up to its hype  COMMON MYTHS ABOUT ENTREPRENEURS MYTH 1: Entrepreneurs are born, not made. MYTH 2: Entrepreneurs are gamblers. MYTH 3: Entrepreneurs are motivated primarily by money. MYTH 4: Entrepreneurs should be young and energetic. MYTH 5: Entrepreneurs love the spotlight.  7 Characteristics of Entrepreneurs ❖ Versatile Entrepreneurs must be able to adapt or be adapted to many different functions or activities. ❖ Flexible Entrepreneurs understand that ideas must morph over time. Whether tweaking product design or altering food items on a menu, finding the perfect sweet spot takes trial and error. ❖ Money Savvy Entrepreneurs must know how to manage funds and balance the business’ income and expenses. ❏ Keep a steady cash flow ❏ Maintain rigorous bookkeeping of income versus expenses ❏ Keep personal and business costs separate Remember, it’s important to pay yourself a realistic salary that allows you to cover essentials, but not much more; especially where investors are involved. ❖ Resilient Entrepreneur must show resilience to all the difficulties on the road ahead. ❖ Focused Entrepreneur must stay focused and eliminate the noise and doubts that come with running a business. They must always remember why they started the business and remain on course to see it through. ❖ Business Smart Entrepreneur needs to have a good measure of business know-how such as understanding financial reports and implementing a sound business strategy. ❖ Communicators Entrepreneur must learn to be good communicators. This is vital in conveying your ideas and strategies to potential investors to sharing your business plan with your employees to negotiating contracts with suppliers all require successful communication. Entrepreneurial Mindset ➔ is a specific set of beliefs, knowledge, and thought processes that drives entrepreneurial behavior. Those with an entrepreneurial mindset tend to: believe in their ability to succeed and influence their own outcomes, empowering them to take ownership of their lives. have compelling goals that keep them future-focused and intrinsically motivated, driving them to be self-directed, action-oriented, and highly engaged  have an optimistic interpretation of adverse events and see problems as potential opportunities, becoming highly resilient, resourceful, and solution-oriented even within highly uncertain, resource constrained environments be lifelong knowledge seekers with a focus on micro-experiments as learning opportunities to test ideas, cultivating curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking display a high-level of reliability, understanding that following through on simple solutions can lead to unforeseen opportunity  have a humanistic outlook, being other-focused and understanding that one creates value by looking to solve problems for others surround themselves with an intentional community of positive influence and critical guidance  Types of Start-up Firm s ❏ Salary-substitute firms – small firms that yield a level of income for their owner or owners that is similar to what they would earn when working for an employer. Convenience Store Hairstyling Salons Restaurants Accounting firms ❏ Lifestyle firms – provide their owner or owners the opportunity to pursue a particular lifestyle and earn a living while doing so. These firms are not innovative, nor do they grown quickly. Wine bars Tour guides Dance Schools ❏ Entrepreneurial firms – these firms bring new products and services to market by creating and then seizing opportunities. Having recognized the opportunity, the entrepreneurs leading companies of this type create products and services that have worth, that are important to their customers, and that provide a measure of usefulness to their customers that they wouldn’t have otherwise. Google Facebook Entrepreneurial Process ➔ defined as the steps taken in order to establish a new enterprise ➔ a set of procedures and methodologies, followed by entrepreneurs to establish a new business or venture ➔ primarily composed of 5 steps/stages  Steps in the Entrepreneurial Process ❖ Discovery – refers to the recognition of a business idea or the detection of opportunities that could make money for the entrepreneur. ❖ Development of a Business Concept – suggests the preparation of a business plan, which must spell out the various activities that must be done from production to the distribution of the product or service. ❖ Organizing Resources – describes the process of Identifying, sourcing and financing human, non-human and other resources needed for the conduct of the business. ❖ Implementation – the process of carrying out the Business plan. It covers a number of activities including the management of human, physical, technological and financial resources of the business. This includes mechanisms for confronting actual and potential rivals as well as responding to the various opportunities, challenges and developments being posed by external environment. ❖ Reaping the Returns – pertains to strategies related to the expansion of the business firm. This includes mechanisms for addressing conditions in the business environment that may affect the future of the firm References: Pathways to Entrepreneurship by Habaradas, R.B and Tullao, T.S (2017) Other Sources: https://entrepreneurhandbook.co.uk https://www.shopify.com/encyclopedia/entrepreneurship www.investopedia.com https://elimindset.com/entrepreneurial-learning