I would say that I have essential characteristics of an entrepreneur, though I still need to work on my commitment to doing projects and ensuring that I see out projects to the end. For starters, I have never indulged in any entrepreneurship activity, and I do not have any experience working with a start-up, but I still think that I can take my time and learn, maybe work a little bit hard on improving my communication skills and abilities to communicate my ideas to friends and potential investors (Post, 2012). On the upside, I am a very cordial person who is patient with people; I love listening to stories about people with a keen interest in a rhetorical analysis of what they say. One day I had a chat with a very successful entrepreneur and all through I was putting myself in his shoes, asking, what would I have done differently? Regarding accountability, I think I am strong enough because I demand very high integrity standards from people I work with, and, I give the same standards. I a well versed with the technicalities of starting a business and the registration process because I helped my cousin to register his fast-food business. I have studied the legislative framework of businesses in my locality, and I can confidently say that I would not expect any problems with that side of the business (“Self-assessment, test your entrepreneurial potential,” n.d.)
Looking around in my hood, I see a lot of opportunities. We are a close-knit neighborhood where everyone knows each other, and it is usually hard to have strangers accepted in the place. That makes it easy for someone from the community to start a business that targets the need of the people. Currently, the schools in the area are not sufficient, because of the increase in population in the last twenty years. I have also noticed that the government run schools have below par quality, and the performance in the last five years has been in a downward spiral. For example, for the first time in the past 50 years, our local area did not send a student to Harvard, because no single student attained the standards. I would love to meet this need by establishing a network of homeschooling, where the issue of quality and education will be transferred to parents and guardians. My understanding is that most adults in my area are well educated, and they know the standards of education that we should demand, and so they will understand the need to create a homeschooling pool. My approach will be simple; built a website application and a mobile app that connects the parents. Here, they will be discussing issues to do with the development of the children, organize group simulative classes (over the weekends) and ask questions.
I usually look at entrepreneurship from the perspective of disruption. We would just be alright without entrepreneurs like there will always be that shopkeeper at the corner shop, who inherited the shop from his grandpa who had run it for fifty years. But that would make the economy static, and there wouldn't be many opportunities for people, as the resources would be limited to what people found already done. Entrepreneurs play the role of imagination and rolling out of new solutions to needs that people did not even know existed. Think about Facebook or Twitter; people did not feel like they missed a social network that would make them connected top friends and relatives across the world. When Facebook launched, may people were excited by the prospect of keeping in touch with high school friends and colleagues, and the company grew exponentially.
The point is, entrepreneurship plays the role of creation of economic units or entities that employ people and solve problems. In science and technology, entrepreneurs work with researchers to develop medications and technologies that make treatment easier. Of course, entrepreneurs make money out of it and employ thousands of people to help them manage the businesses. The consistent innovations done by entrepreneurs lead to economic growth. The growth has a ripple effect on the whole community set up; like reduction of unemployment, opening new opportunities that can be utilized by other entrepreneurs and making life easier for people. The organization of resources to working units creates a need for suppliers, service providers and financiers, in form of venture capitalists and angel investors.
Creating strong relationships is also an important aspect of entrepreneurship. Being strategic and futuristic makes an entrepreneur to know the people he needs to create relationships with and alliances that will help him grow and out-compete the market. That is necessary because entrepreneurship demands character and hard work for survival. Some of the earliest tech companies, that came up with superb solutions and disrupted the market already died out, due to competition. Companies with strong brands and worldwide reach get swallowed by new start-ups. The threat of new companies inspires entrepreneurs to keep innovating and learning.
Apart from skills and know how, I also learned that an entrepreneur needs to be innately motivated and flexible. Sometimes the venture might sink into debts, or become completely unprofitable. Instead of sticking with a loss-making business, the owner can sell it off to a competitor, and venture on a different project. Just like the men who sailed around the world in the 15th century, entrepreneurs are sailing in uncertainty and new waters, so expansive that they may lose sight of the future. That requires them to have a vision and a map of where the venture is going, and sticking with that map despite the challenges that come on the way.
When I gauge myself against successful entrepreneurs, and after taking entrepreneurship tests, I discover that, I can be an entrepreneur if I take my time to learn, and perhaps, if I start with a job in a small venture that is growing. Having that real-time experience is critical, as it makes one appreciate the skills the managers and leaders in fast growing entities (KOVEOS, 2015). The challenges are tough, and one an easily give up, but finding a mentor, as well as being persistent, can spur one to success in entrepreneurship.
Perhaps, if I roll out my homeschooling idea, I will learn hands on and solve the education needs of the people in my locality. It will never be an easy task being an innovator, and external forces can even affect the business negatively, like new legislations or political influence. Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos is a good example of a very hardworking entrepreneur who got into challenges from regulation bodies, and she became very devastated by the company troubles (Luckerson, 2016). Sometimes, the fight back from existing firms is caused by the disruption that an innovative company does.
References
KOVEOS, P. (2015). THE CHALLENGE OF BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 20(03), 1501003. doi:10.1142/s1084946715010037
Luckerson, V. (2016, April 18). Elizabeth Holmes “devastated” over Theranos problems. Retrieved May 29, 2016, from http://time.com/4297840/elizabeth-holmes-theranos/
Post, T. (2012, June 4). Are you an entrepreneur? Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/tompost/2012/06/04/are-you-an-entrepreneur-startup/#6ed460fb1f8e
Self-assessment, test your entrepreneurial potential. Retrieved May 29, 2016, from https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/entrepreneur-toolkit/business-assessments/pages/self-assessment-test-your-entrepreneurial-potential.aspx
