The Underpinning Foundation to Be Successful inEntrepreneurship - Essay Example

What have I learned during the Entrepreneurial program and how can I apply this in my future career? A critical reflection. BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE DATE HERE Introduction During the entrepreneurial program, I learned many different concepts, theories and strategies that will not only develop a more effective entrepreneur, but establish the foundation for a more successful career as an entrepreneur. Some of the most substantial and memorable aspects of learning which I believe can be applied to future entrepreneurship include development of more effective interpersonal skills, learning how to manage conflict, the importance of innovation, self-discipline skills, as well as recognising opportunities when they present themselves. I have learned through this program that a successful entrepreneur must be a productive organiser of activities and strategies whilst also being a compelling decision-maker who not only understands how to accomplish goals, but also effectively lead others to gain their commitment and followership. All of these lessons are described in this critical reflection with examples of how they can be applied to my future career to make me a more efficient and successful entrepreneur. A reflection of personal skills One of the most fundamental lessons that the program provided was the importance of planning in order to maximise both opportunities and strategic direction for a new venture. The literature states that many new entrepreneurial ventures fail due to the fact that entrepreneurs do not fully realise the cause of problems with a new business model (Chwolka and Raith 2011). Many entrepreneurs tend to jump into the new venture without the development of a clear business plan that outlines fundamental aspects that make up a successful business model, such as marketing, financial analysis, operations, long-term strategic management and even human resources. For example, entrepreneurs often do not plan on how to leverage their most important financial and human-related resources to assist a business in succeeding in their desired markets. Entrepreneurs often fail because they do not effectively measure a business’ capabilities and the needs of the market to determine an effective business model scenario that will better position the new venture among competitive forces (Brinckmann, Grichmar and Kapsa 2010). The program, especially group work, taught me the value of planning as measured against theoretical literature about the potential failures of new entrepreneurial ventures. One of my primary responsibilities in the group was to manage financial information, conduct financial analyses, and also plan for tangible costs associated with the new business model the group had determined would be relevant for our established marketplace. I had the responsibility of estimating cost expenditures associated with operational components of the business model and determine long-term versus short-term costs (and revenues) that might be achieved. I quickly realised that in order to align cost and revenue estimates with actual market conditions that could be expected, I would have to consider much more than just operations. I would need to consider the expenditures in human resources (such as training, staffing and recruitment), along with marketing and promotion, and many different aspects that would contribute to positioning the new venture effectively in a competitive market. Ropega (2011) states that many entrepreneurs become apathetic in the planning process, failing to consider all of the different inter-dependent activities necessary to achieve business success. As a result, they do not think of all of the different contingent strategies that could be implemented in the environment where the business will be operating (Ropega). In order to make the group’s hypothetical business model work effectively, apathy and lack of careful inter-divisional analyses, I learned, would seriously jeopardise the competitive advantages that might be achieved in the chosen market. Therefore, when thinking of costs, it might have been simplistic for me to simply plan for expenditures in areas of operations (such as production, distribution or research and development), but that would not have given me (or the group) a holistic view of the entire market and how the new entrepreneurial enterprise might best service its chosen market. Hence, in my role as financial analyst and financial controller, the complexities of how a developed business model’s many different components work dependently became very clear and I realised that planning is one of the most fundamental parts of entrepreneurship underpinning how an entrepreneur achieves market and revenue successes. Planning also gave me a new type of insight about how to improve my confidence as an entrepreneur. Why is this? Townsend, Busenitz and Arthurs (2010) state that entrepreneurs sometimes become over-confident about their ideas or their proposed business models which causes them to charge forward somewhat blindly without carefully assessing a situation or scenario. As a result, the venture is not as successful as the entrepreneur had originally hoped or anticipated. By taking on the role of financial controller and analyst in the group, forced to look at multiple factors of the business model to establish effective controls, I realised that I was thoughtfully and carefully examining each and every dimension of the business that would lead to cost expenditures or production of revenues. This gave me the confidence to become a concise and productive analyst which the literature states is so necessary to achieve entrepreneurial venture success. Hmieleski and Baron (2009) warn that over-confidence and over-optimism can affect making rational and productive judgements related to strategy development and the general direction that the new venture will be taking. Therefore, not only did I learn how to be a critical analyst of the business, I learned how to build progress on goals effectively whilst also establishing organisational productiveness without being over-confident and achieving genuine results. Being the financial controller and analyst gave me a unique perspective of how the organisation operates inter-dependently and how to effectively plan for maximising value in each division that will be supporting the new venture. Also, as aligned with the entrepreneurial effectiveness model, I learned a great deal about the value of interpersonal skills development, leadership development, and conflict resolution. At first, during our group activities, the group was divided about what would constitute an effective and productive business model. My first instinct was to leave the group due to this ongoing conflict, however I became very resolute about solving the group’s disagreements and making the most effective team possible. Podoynitsyna, Van der Bij and Song (2012) state that when entrepreneurs have mixed emotions, it effects making positive decisions about the direction of the new venture. Holding mixed emotions also makes entrepreneurs become more reserved and cautious about their decision-making. This is important to recognise since entrepreneurs need to be tolerant of taking risks and be ready to adopt uncertainty in their decision-making. My determination to make a productive team, rather than abandoning it due to conflict, really assisted in leadership development and staying focused on the task at hand of making the new venture successful. My interpersonal leadership skills were enhanced by carefully and critically analysing what strengths and weaknesses were present in each group member. By being reflective of my experiences with each team member, I found that I was able to reduce conflict by drawing on their most effective and productive behaviours. For example, one group member was very adamant that the new business model required little competitor analysis to be successful and that the ideas the group had come up with for competitive advantage were solid on their own. However, having had experience in planning for multiple contingencies and reading on marketing literature, I felt strongly that this was an oversight that could seriously jeopardise achieving success of the new venture. For example, marketing literature states that when a product or service brand builds a personality that is aligned with consumer lifestyle and attitudes, they are more likely to develop strong, personal attachments to the brand (Zhang and Chan 2009). Rather than arguing the point about the importance of conducting a careful and insightful competitor analysis, I instead recognised that this particular team member had more strength in human resources and the value of human capital. I was able to reduce conflict by applauding these strengths and suggesting that the financial analyst conduct competitive analyses which I believe gave the team member more confidence and also reduced their resistance to conducting an aspect of planning and evaluation that I felt was so critical to the new business venture. Through assessment of strengths and weaknesses, and then applying them to group responsibilities and roles, there was much less argumentation and the group performed more productively. Through this experience, I also learned the importance of self-direction. Rather than having another team member focus on competitor analyses in our established marketplace, I instead took on this role independently. Knowing that it was fundamental for achieving new venture success, and not wanting to continue the escalating conflict and resistance, I thought that by performing the analysis independently and then presenting the team with real statistics and findings about competitor behaviours, they would be more willing to embrace the importance of this planning and evaluation aspect that would be fundamental for achieving entrepreneurial success. I gained legitimate and valuable entrepreneurial experience by blending both cognitive methods and socio-psychological understandings to build a productive team. Petkova (2009) states that entrepreneurs who utilise this strategy, this blended and thoughtful method of leadership, are more successful in a new venture. By drawing on my personal experiences in the financial controlling role and in group dynamics and attitudes, I was able to better problem-solve in the group and gain consensus from important contributors in the group. Creativity and innovation During the program, both through group work and through independent study, I learned that creativity and innovation were fundamental to the success of a new venture. When the team was brainstorming ideas about how best to service our established market, there was much disagreement about how to position the business in the market. I personally felt that it would be crucial to achieve long-term success by coming up with contingency products and services, as well as service ideologies, in the event that market conditions changed. According to Komninos (2002), it is very difficult for businesses to recognise when a product or service has reached a decline stage and it does not become apparent until there is a decline in revenues. Therefore, having been a self-directed learner ready to learn about theories of markets and business independently, I had a unique perspective about the importance of contingency planning, innovation and recognising opportunities to be creative in the long-term. By having this form of tacit knowledge that not all team members shared or experienced, I was able to get the group to be more creative and come up with alternative strategies in the event that one idea reached a rapid decline stage in the market. Many entrepreneurs believe that their idea is so sound and relevant that the enterprise is unprepared to achieve growth long-term. Buchanan and Huczynski (2010) support this theory, stating that contingency planning is one of the most important methods to make sure a business is relevant in the long-term. As the primary financial controller and analyst in the group, without this independent study, I would not have been able to consider the idea of product and service life cycle and the dangers of not being prepared for changing market conditions. When I explained this concept to the group, they were more willing to follow my ideas to be more creative and come up with contingency strategies to make sure the business could have competitive advantage in its chosen market indefinitely (or at least long-term). Therefore, this was a blended type of learning about self-direction and independent study that is important to being a successful entrepreneur whilst also improving my leadership competencies. I realised that in a real business venture, it would be necessary to consult with team members in order to come up with innovative ideas that could better serve the enterprise. Market conditions, in most industries, are often fluctuating and change repeatedly which makes a business need to be more responsive to change and come up with important innovations that can better service the market environment. I was personally able to convince group members of the importance of this strategy, which made me more considerate of placing some elements of the business model budget into the research and development process. By gaining cooperative behaviours of the group toward becoming contingently creative in the innovation process, our business model was better prepared to adapt in the event that the original product and service idea did not meet with market success. Recognising opportunities Through more self-directed and independent study on entrepreneurship and business, I learned that strategic alliances and partnerships were very beneficial to an entrepreneurial venture (Inkpen 2000). I learned that it is unrealistic for an entrepreneur to believe that they understand all dimensions of the business, its supply and value chains, and how to achieve competitive advantage in a chosen market. After reading independently about the strategic alliance or joint venture, I realised that better knowledge transfer might occur through these opportunities; seeking out individuals that could contribute to entrepreneurial success outside of the actual entrepreneurial enterprise. Many partners in the external market have more experience with supply chain elements or have established partnerships already that give discounts on raw materials purchasing or simply quality relationship marketing that makes vendors more responsive to the needs of the business. I feel that my new, self-directed understanding of the long-term value of the strategic alliance or joint venture will prepare me with many fundamental skills in the future: these include how to market the business from a business-to-business perspective and also seize important opportunities to gain comparative advantages over other competition without the foresight to establish such alliances. After reading on the contemporary literature of entrepreneurship and attending the different seminars conducted by real-world entrepreneurs, I realised that seizing opportunities was one of the most critical success factors for a determined and resilient entrepreneur. For example, a small business venture often has difficulty coming up with important financial capital that can expand the business or improve the quality of its services or its product. Many entrepreneurs turn toward venture capitalists as an opportunity to gain important funding that might not be provided by lending institutions. Venture capitalists provide such funding when they are convinced that the entrepreneur understands how to run an effective and profitable enterprise. Therefore, I became considerate about the importance of being able to effectively communicate with external partners (such as the venture capitalist) who will want to have guarantees that they are funding a profitable business model. Hence, through more self-directed and determined study, I realised the importance of relationship marketing as a fundamental means of selling and promoting the new entrepreneurial venture. Morgan and Hunt (1994) state that commitment and trust between partners in relationship marketing is crucial for gaining responsiveness and commitment by the external partner. It is through effective communications and being able to present rationale for why a business model is successful that one will be able to gain funding through venture capitalists and other interested external parties. Entrepreneurial success is dependent on observable skills and behaviours. I believe that by considering the importance of relationship marketing and communications skills development, I, as a future entrepreneur, would be better equipped to gain important funding and express my own competencies as a business owner and manager. I believe that I can apply these lessons and studies about the theory of relationship marketing as a source of advantage in order to better position the business, both financially and from a marketing perspective, to sustain long-term growth and relevancy in my established competitive market. I gained a great deal of personal experience through independent study about the different theories of partnerships, alliances, and communicating a solid business plan that will be highly valuable in a future real-world entrepreneurial venture. Essentially, this program and my own resilience in independent learning equipped me with fundamental knowledge about the complexities of an entrepreneurial venture and how to approach growth and improvement to the business model by critically thinking about multiple dimensions both internal and external. I had not, prior to the program, considered that a business is reliant on considering more than just internal aspects and a true and successful entrepreneur must be able to effectively plan how to create a congruent relationship between internal dynamics and structure with external market conditions and potential external partners that can provide a firm with better experience and knowledge. Applying learning to future career goals As a student currently working toward a Master’s degree in business, what I learned from the entrepreneurial program is substantial and very valuable. I learned about the importance of blending traditional management (such as controlling, planning and organising) and also considering the importance of building human capital to achieve goals. Human resources literature states that collaboration is critical in a decentralised entrepreneurial business model where creativity, innovation production and change are critical to respond to changing external market conditions (Armstrong 2007). It is, ultimately, my goal to establish my own entrepreneurial venture, but with statistics stating that so many entrepreneurial businesses fail, I could not dismiss the importance of building a positive organisational culture that is committed, dedicated and willing to follow an entrepreneur’s direction to achieve long-term objectives. Therefore, I made it a goal to study more information about human resource theories that would contribute to such a culture development as a short-term goal to become an effective entrepreneur in the future. I came to recognise, further, through this program, how to set short and long-term goals that would create an effective and profitable entrepreneurial venture. Once I am able to establish a relevant and potentially profitable business idea, I will be creating a solid business plan that can be submitted to venture capitalists, banks or other alternative lending institutions. The literature by Morgan and Hunt (1994) reinforced that any funding entity is going to want to have credible guarantees that the entrepreneur and the business model constructed are competent to achieve results and profitability. This business plan will be designed against established and respected models that take into consideration many different factors of a business to ensure that such funding agents are convinced effectively that my business idea is sound and workable. Such elements will include gaining statistics on consumer behaviour, the profit potential for the established competitive market, estimated revenue growth based on these findings, along with an in-depth operational plan that takes into consideration marketing, production, supply chain, customer service, and the many different dimensions of an entrepreneurial venture that will determine success or failure. Once this is developed and based on sound findings and professional graphics illustrating the depth of study that went into the business plan, I will find multiple potential funding agents and submit this plan. Once I have managed to gain the funding resources necessary, I will, at start-up of the new venture, focus on recruitment and training practices that will build the most effective team. I have learned through self-directed study in this program that this aspect of building a solid and effective team cannot be dismissed. I will be consulting with many different experts in human resources, through qualitative interviews, that will occur over the next 12 months. I believe that by gaining experience knowledge from interview participants selected in relevant industries to the industry I have selected for my own business, and then applying this to real-world empirical findings from existing studies, I can build a worthwhile and productive human resources model that is so critical to achieving entrepreneurial success. Conclusion As illustrated, the most fundamental learning about entrepreneurship that I learned in this program were staying confident, being willing to embrace risk, being critical and highly evaluative in assessing external market conditions, building effective teams through productive leadership skills and competencies, and then being able to apply these to a real-world business. The dynamics, I learned, of a business are highly complex and requires analysis and critical evaluation of past experiences in order to achieve entrepreneurial successes. The inter-dependencies of operations, marketing, human capital development, external partnership marketing in relationship development, and innovation go hand-in-hand and must be determined and considered in all aspects of managerial planning. I think that this program equipped me with fundamental and valuable knowledge about how to successfully manage and control an entrepreneurial enterprise and will be highly valuable in my future career goals in an effort to launch and grow a successful and relevant entrepreneurial enterprise. Not only did I learn about the importance of seizing opportunities, but how to develop a plan of action, consisting of thoughtful and well-considered objectives, that will lead to the final, long-term goal. Changing market conditions, a need for contingency plan development, and generally being prepared for change, I have learned, are some of the most critical lessons that will be considerably valuable constructive as a future entrepreneur and I am genuinely grateful for this program in providing the underpinning foundation to be successful in this venture. References Armstrong, M. (2007). Handbook of strategic human resource management, 5th edn. London: Kogan Page. 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