Extraordinary Entrepreneurship - Essay Example

Entrepreneur Name: University: Course Title: Instructor: Date: Entrepreneur Introduction An entrepreneur refers to a person who owns a business or a manager of a business unit who engages in the activity of making money through risk taking and initiative. This is an individual that undertakes several aspects such as novelty, finance and also the acumen of doing business. These are undertaken with the objective of transforming the innovations into goods and services that have economic benefits (Abrams, 2009, p.8). Entrepreneurship refers to the act of someone being an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship has resulted in the springing up of new organisation. It has also led to the revitalization of old organisation into modern ones. This is due to the opportunities that are perceived to come with innovations. The activities that entail entrepreneurship are different. They depend on the type of organisation and also the creativity that has been involved. It also ranges from projects that involve an individual to those that create several employment opportunities. This paper examines the requirements of becoming an entrepreneur, the entrepreneurs and a reflection of personal entrepreneurial strengths and weaknesses. Personal requirements of becoming an entrepreneur There are several requirements for one to become an entrepreneur. To begin with is the requirement for the consideration of one’s personal goals and objectives. This is where one defines him or herself so as to be able to understand what they need and their source of motivation. One ought to come up with business ideas that complement their goals and his or her own personal values in life. In case the business that one aims at engaging in does not reflect these, it might not be a source of satisfaction for the owner. This may lead to failure. This is because of the amount of dedication and care that one have on something that they are passionate about are not of the same levels as when engaging in something that they care less or are less passionate about. Again, the business might not be enabling the owner to have a maximization of the capacity of earning and assets that would support the lifestyle that he prefers (Bilal, 2012, p.17). Another requirement is that one has to be positive and also proactive about being an entrepreneur. Letting the circumstances that are outside the individual come in the process of becoming an entrepreneur lets the opportunities that would have come in to pass. Being positive and proactive means focusing on what the individual knows that he or she can do and taking both the action and also the required momentum towards its achievement. This means that the individual that wants to get to entrepreneurship has to do away with people and influences that are negative. Although it may be good to take criticism positively, it might be in the interest of the individual who wants to engage in entrepreneurship to choose carefully the type of criticism that would be tolerated. This also means taking the step and working hard to get knowledge that would ensure the success of the entrepreneurship (Abrams, 2009, p.5). Another requirement for becoming an entrepreneur would be in the ability of the individual to have the leadership qualities that would aid in propelling the business to the anticipated and expected potentials. Therefore, this means that the individual that wants to become an entrepreneur has to have the capability to build and lead strong teams that would ensure that the goals and objectives of the business are met while at the same time focusing on fully satisfying their customers. This indicates that it does not only require one to be innovative to be an entrepreneur. It shows that to be a successful one, it is a requirement for the entrepreneur to look for staff that shares similar goals and objectives. It is also necessary to lead these members of staff towards the achievement of preset goals and objectives. This indicates the requirement for leadership skills (Harper, 2005, p.14). The ability to be patient and at the same instance persevering is also a requirement that one has to obtain in order to become an entrepreneur. It is worthwhile for the prospective entrepreneur to understand that success in the business activity being taken upon may come instantly or may take longer periods to come by. This calls for patience. It also calls for perseverance especially when success seems to be slow in being achieved. One also has to be ready for all the obstacles that they are going to face. There are also mishaps that would be hard to prevent or avoid. These are such mishaps as failure in some undertakings. The entrepreneur has to be able to continue with the business venture no matter the troubles that they experience. This also calls for much energy and extra self motivation. This would help in ensuring that the business pushes on no matter the situations that are faced (Coulson-Thomas, 2003, p.196). A person who wants to be an entrepreneur also has to be with the capability of taking risks. Entrepreneurship calls for courage on the part of the individual. This also includes the capabilities of adapting to changes in a fast and efficient manner. Here, one has to have or train him or herself to be able to adjust with the adjusting business environment. This means that one has to have their ears on the ground so as to have the knowledge of the market and what goes on there. This is in terms of the fashion, market trends, changes in the tastes and preferences of their customers among many others. This calls for the organisational and planning capabilities so as to be able to plan effectively and efficiently for strategies that would help in averting such dynamics that are associated with the markets. This is the ability to collect resources and analyse them with the aim of coming up with strategies for implementation (Koontz & Weihrich, 2006, p.150-152). Entrepreneurs at work, play and in the media   Jan Cameron: She is a Tasmanian businesswoman that has continued to gain much fame in the founding of an outdoor wear chain, which she later sold and later on invested in a private equity company that she owns. Her road to success began with her company that made sleeping bags which later grew to be the Kathmandu outdoor clothing chain. Her success was contributed by the fact that she engaged in a business that she had more knowledge about. This made it convenient for her to prosper since she understood how to make the handmade sleeping bags and also had the knowledge of her target market (Denholm, 2009). Julia Ross: She is the founder and also the managing director of Ross Human Resources. This is one of the largest recruitment and Human resources firm in Australia. She fell out with her former employer before she ventured into business. The difficulties that she experienced with the losing of her job and husband gave her the motivation that she needed to get into business. This, coupled with courage to enter into a field that is dominated by men brought her the success that she currently enjoys in her venture. This was also necessitated by the fact that she was still new in the Australian system, which gave her challenges that the courage she had made her get through and later become a success story (abc.net, 2003). J. C Williamson: He was one of Australia’s entrepreneurs in the theatrical sector. He was also the founder of the J. C Williamson Ltd, which is currently one of the biggest and most successful production companies. He was born and bred in the United States of America where he started acting while he was young. He later went on with acting in several countries, including Australia. These experiences are what led to the establishment and development of his career. It is also what led him to grow into one of the big investors in theatricals after partnerships with other entrepreneurs of the time (ozvta.com, 2011). Amanda Gome: She is the founder and also the co-owner of a company, the private media. This is among the leading resource and also news publication website in Australia. It is also among the media companies in Australia which are leading in terms of provision of high quality news materials. Before starting the company, she was employed in other media companies such as the Fairfax and the News Limited. She also worked as an editor in BRW, where she also worked as a senior writer. It is the passion and experience in journalism that led her to start up her own media business (saxton.com, 2012). Janine Allis: She is the founder and also the director of Boost Juice Bars which is the largest and also among the fastest growing juice outlets in Australia and the southern hemisphere. She had worked for various companies in the arts, entertainment and advertising industry before she opened up her business. Before starting the juice business, she had tried many other businesses until she realized that there were few healthy fast foods in the markets. She did extensive research in this industry that led to her success in the business. She also had a vision of doing retailing differently that also worked in her advantage (abn.org, 2012). Reflection and action This unit has led to the understanding of the needs and requirements that one ought to have in order to become an entrepreneur. It has aided in highlighting what it entails to become one and what it takes to be it. According to the unit, it is not a must for one to get the entrepreneurship skills from educational institutions only. One can get these skills from the work that he or she has engaged in. the experience obtained can be very beneficial and to his or her advantage. Another way that one can get these skills is through research where one can conduct simple market research on what he intends to start up and get knowledge on the best way to take it on. This unit has further led to the understanding that entrepreneurs cannot be defined by what they do. It has lead to the understanding that entrepreneurship is a combination of traits which can be identified and measured. This means that being an entrepreneur involves a set of behaviours that have the capability of identifying opportunities and making steps towards utilising them to achieve positive results. It has also led to the knowledge of some of the successful entrepreneurs and the strategies that they took in becoming what they currently are. This unit also goes a long way in motivating one to become an entrepreneur and showing that it is possible for anyone to be an entrepreneur. There are a number of strengths and weaknesses in becoming a prospective entrepreneur that have been identified. Among the strengths is courage. With time, there have been a lot of events that have taken place that required much courage to take them on. These occurrences have been faced and solved with the most courage and determination. They have resulted in positive outcomes. Additionally, another strength lies on the ability to take risks. As described, there have been a number of events that have occurred. Other than courage, solving them required lots of risk taking. The risks here are in terms of the decisions that are made regarding the actions that ought to be taken in order to solve them amicably. Additionally, there is another strength which is on the part of leadership. This is exemplified by the successes that have been accomplished in the teams that that have involved my leadership and guidance. The strong leadership skills have also been necessitated by the leadership roles taken up in the place of worship which have been lauded for the inherent success. The research skills that have been acquired in the learning institutions attended is also among the strengths. This is of importance as it could be useful in carrying out research on the possible business that could be engaged in. It could also come handy in researching for customer needs and aid in meeting them expeditiously in order to satisfy their needs fully and keep them. On the other hand, there are a number of weaknesses that could hinder the process of becoming an entrepreneur. One of them is on the part of patience. This is because of the inherent need for quick results and disappointments when they are not achieved in a fast manner. This could be worked on by trying to be patient and getting professional help on the strategies that one could use in order to be more patient. It could also be worked on by reading books and literature that have information on the art of patience and how to avert difficult and trying situations. However, one strategy of tackling this would be through seeking professional help and consequently reading more books and literature on how to persevere situations. The other weakness that has been noted with time is the lack of positivity and always seeing things from the negative perspective. This has been influenced greatly by first of all the negativity obtained and secondly on the type of friends kept. The friends are at most instances negatively critiquing ideas and giving reasons why they would flop. The strategy for dealing with this would be first of all to keep away from the negative friends who give negative thoughts about ideas. Secondly, this would be averted by learning to see things from the positive side as an individual and trying to keep away negativity. This would work well to ensure that the goals and objectives of becoming an entrepreneur are met without much hindrance in terms of negativity and forces that come with being around negative people. Conclusion Becoming an entrepreneur can be a daunting task if the discussed requirements, among many others are not followed. It would be fundamental for one to conduct proper research on the requirements that are necessary before getting into entrepreneurship. However, entrepreneurship is a good way of ensuring financial independence. Most people in the world are working with the hope that they would get self employed in the future and that they would enjoy financial independence. This can be achieved through taking advantage of innovation to come up with businesses that would provide different goods and services from the ones that are currently available in the markets. References Abc.net. (2003). Episode 9, Julia Ross. Retrieved on 7th April, 2012 from http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimensions_people/Transcripts/s822511.htm Abn.org. (2012). Australian Businesswomen Network. Retrieved on 7th April, 2012 from http://www.abn.org.au/site/speaker/janine-allis Abrams, S. (2009). Your Idea, Inc.: 12 Steps to Building a Million Dollar Business–Starting Today. Avon: Adams Media Publishers. Bilal, J. (2012). Nine Steps to Becoming a Transition Entrepreneur: From Employee to Owner. Bloomington: Author House Publishers. Coulson-Thomas, C. (2003). The Knowledge Entrepreneur: How Your Business Can Create, Manage and Profit from Intellectual Capital. London: Kogan Page Publishers. Denholm, M. (2009). Kathmandu Founder and Recluse Jan Cameron Refuses to Feather Own Nest. Retrieved on 7th April, 2012 from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/breaking-news/kathmandu-founder-and- recluse-jan-cameron-refuses-to-feather-own-nest/story-e6frg90f-1225767238970 Harper, S. C. (2005). Extraordinary Entrepreneurship: The Professional's Guide to Starting an Exceptional Enterprise. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Koontz, H & Weihrich, H. (2006). Essentials of Management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishers. Ozvta.com. (2011). Australian Variety Theatre Archive: Popular Culture Entertainment: 1850- 1930. Retrieved on 7th April 2012 from http://ozvta.com/entrepreneurs-s-z/ Saxton.com. (2012). Exclusive to Saxton, Amanda Gome. Retrieved on 7th April, 2012 from http://www.saxton.com.au/amanda-gome/ Read More