Background & venture
I conducted a personal Interview with one young entrepreneur also a family friend by the name Wendy Robinson. A little bit about Wendy, is that she was born and raised in Kenya, she is the only girl in their family and is the eldest of two children. Upon graduating high school in November 2006, she spent most of her time searching for a job to occupy her time as she waited to join college. In order to keep herself busy during this time she decided to start her own business. She then came up with the idea of Importing and selling kitchen utensils such as pots and cutlery. A business that she owned and operated solely, and through which she was able to pay for college.
Opportunity Identification
Personal skills and attributes:
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She believed in me even when I did not believe in myself. She taught me from a young age to believe in myself even when I was failing and reminded me every time that quitting is never an option or a solution to a problem.”
What piece of advice can you give to other upcoming entrepreneurs?
Do not give up.
Starting is the hardest part of any business, but as long as you have started, do not give up, stay focused and positive that it will work out because if you do not believe in yourself, no one else will believe in you. And also do not combine friendships and your business. Clearly differentiate the two because people you consider friends will take advantage of you and your business because of your friendship.
My interview with Wendy has helped me clarify some of the entrepreneurial stereotypes. You do not necessarily have to start big, as long as you can identify an unmet need/want. Also that age does not matter as long as your idea is feasible and attainable. Start with the resources you have and you will be able to expand slowly with time. Being an entrepreneur also requires a person with attributes such as patience and persistence because it not easy. Lastly, separate friendships from your business as it’s does not work well in most cases, and never give up once you
Jordan interviewing for a part-time job at a fast food restaurant would need to leave a positive impression to the interviewer so that he can get hired for the job. For the interview, there are a couple of traits that Jordan will want to display to the interviewer to show that he has a good personality. First and foremost, he needs to display the characteristics of an extroverted person. British psychologist Hans Eysenck proposed a model of universal source trait which includes the introversion-extroversion dimension and the neuroticism-emotional stability dimension. In the extroversion dimension, a person high on the extraversion scale directs his energies outward toward the environment and other people and would be more outgoing and sociable,
As we enter the 21st century, the world is full of opportunities for entrepreneurs. The opportunity is what many entrepreneurs chase after. Just the idea of starting a business excited them. Entrepreneurs are people who have characteristics of a high need for achievement, a willingness to take moderate risk, strong self-confidence, and a passion for the business. We all question what is the best age for getting started. There is really no simple answer to that question. Most businesses require some background knowledge. A certain amount of time is usually required to gain the education, experience, and financial resources of starting a business. According to the textbook “Small Business Management” by Longenecker, Moore, and Petty, research conducted by Paul Reynolds reveals that the highest percentage of startups is in age group of 25 to 35 years old; Truett Cathy was a natural entrepreneur at the age of 8.
I chose to interview Regina Geis, who holds the administrative role as acting supervisor for the County Mental Health adult day program, which provides services for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Ms. Geis has held this position for 15 months. This is her first managerial position within a human service agency. Her style of management has changed over this short period of time. She feels that she is now more direct with her direction with staff. She stated, “Maybe now I come across as a little bit cold. But I have learned that I now have to use the least amount of words to get my point across.”
If it hadn’t been for her making me learn how to think and learn for myself, I wouldn’t be where I am today. There were many times during my high school days where I needed to be independent in my learning because there were teachers who didn’t teach the lesson properly. While other student were struggling with those teachers I was able to overcome that trial and succeed in those classes. I’ve been told all my life that college is way more independent when it comes to learning than any other time I your life. I believe because I learned at such a young age how to teach myself, I have a greater chance at succeeding than other who have not had the same
To inspire and influence others, a leader must possess many skills and abilities. As motivational speaker Peter Northouse, states, “a leader should be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant” (Northouse, 2013) Moving an entire group of individuals toward a singular goal is a considerable undertaking. Without effective communication skills and a clear vision of what needs to be accomplished, one will feel like they are trying to herd cats rather than leading.
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. Following ones dreams and not giving a second thought to the comment of the people who put us down is what creates a successful entrepreneur. Spending time with people with a positive image and attitude can help one get motivated and realize their goals. Persistence can make everything possible, for persistence is an excellent demonstration of ambition. If one wants something to happen, one must, as a singer one put it, ‘pick themselves up and try again.
STARTUP.com is a masterpiece documentary because of how it accomplishes the virtual aspect of how difficult it is to not only maintain a business but also a long lasting friendship. First let me start off by saying that the easiest thing about starting a business is the “IDEA”. Everyone can come up with ideas on a basic concept that people seem to need, how they will go about fulfilling this need and etc. However again that is the easy part, the difficult part would have to be maintaining this business, keeping it alive/fresh and constantly coming up with new aspects to make their product better than the competition. This is exactly where Kaleil and Tom went wrong.
In the documentary “Call of the Entrepreneur,” three successful entrepreneurs, Brad Morgan, Frank Hanna, and Jimmy Lai, are presented to explain their views on entrepreneurship and in turn leadership. Brad Morgan is the owner of a million dollar dairy and compost company, Frank Hanna is a merchant banker in New York City, and Jimmy Lai is the founder of Giordano department stores and Next Media. A central theme of the documentary is how each of these businessmen displays the characteristics of persistence, patience, and perseverance to overcome frustrating obstacles and become successful. The film defines entrepreneurship and explains how the entrepreneur responds positively to consumer demands and is able to organize and direct others toward a goal only the entrepreneur can see. The film shows that though some entrepreneurs are driven by greed and some are not, the ones that are successful are answering the needs of consumers.
To build any business, you need to strong social skills and feel comfortable meeting new people. This is something I struggle with right now; I am naturally a quiet shy person who does not like to go to networking events or meet new people. I feel like I am socially awkward and have a hard time finding things to talk about. If I want to be able own my own business these are important skills to work on. The things I can do to work on those skills now is to do things such as going one town meeting or event each month and during those events make it a point to meet at least one new person. This will slowly build up my social circle and hopefully, the more I do it the easier it will
The success of a business is greatly dependent on its entrepreneur. An entrepreneur is someone who takes the financial risk of starting and managing a new business venture. In order to be a successful entrepreneur, one must be ready to take a risk and invest one’s own savings into a business. The job requires that the individual be ambitious and committed to working hard in order to achieve the set targets. A successful entrepreneur is able to multi-task and communicates effectively with people, possessing leadership qualities such as confidence and motivation. The individual must play the role of constant motivator and inspire employees to improve their work performance, whilst ensuring a comfortable environment for the employees to work in. According to Schumpeter (1982), an entrepreneur is more of a ‘heroic’ than an ‘economic’ figure; his motivation should not solely be monetary, rather stemming more from inspiration and ambition.
Starting a small business is often one of the hardest things a person can do. Some people start a business out of pure fascination, or even as a hobby. Whether starting a business for personal reasons or simply the grandeur to make loads of money, everybody needs to have a plan. Starting a small business is no easy task and can take days if not months to prepare. The most important aspect to have is the tempura and heart to start a small business, as without passion, no business can succeed. One has to be his or her own boss, make dream, reality and be willing to market and sell a product. It takes a lot of discipline, long hours and hard work, something many do not have. However with the right willingness, passion and dedication a business can be the start of something big.
We learned a lot of things in this course, but I think the most important lesson I learned is that it’s not easy to be an entrepreneur. I was surprised to hear in the first class that 80% of startups fail, but after reading The Art of Start and E-myth Revisited I understood why this happens more often than one might expects. Some people start their own businesses for the wrong reason and some start with wrong mindset. I’ve always thought that if someone has a brilliant business idea and hardworking they will succeed and grow their business. However, now I know that there are many things to consider before starting any business. In fact, there are many strategies that an entrepreneur could follow to achieve success, such as know your customers, work “on” the business, and how
Many people dream of becoming entrepreneurs someday. But it made me realize that there other factors that needs to be taken into consideration. We need to ask ourselves are we ready to take the challenge to the outside world. Not everyone have the vision, innovation and creativity to become an entrepreneur. The individual must have a positive attitude and accept the responsibility, have discipline to meet their goals, and take action when the opportunity presents itself. Many prefer a job security and rely on a weekly paycheck, while entrepreneurs will take risks and doesn 't have that luxury to know the amount of their income.
Entrepreneurship is an important aspect of social, economic and community life. It can be viewed as a critical factor to economic growth as well as a way of addressing unemployment (Nolan, 2003).Entrepreneurs are people who are persistently focused on identifying opportunities, they seek to create something worthwhile while taking into account foreseeable risk and rewards associated with the efforts (Nolan, 2003). Furthermore, entrepreneurs are frequently understood to be individuals who discover market needs and establish new business to meet those identified opportunities. The following assignment will firstly discuss the types of entrepreneurship, secondly it will discuss the reasons people become entrepreneurs, and thirdly it will discuss the importance of entrepreneurship.
When it comes to business, especially when it comes to starting one, I tend to think I know it all. Yet in reality, I don't really even know how to get started, enough to make a business efficient, or even get the doors open enough to make the first dollar. When I first think of working/operating a business, I think of no boss but myself, the rules are made by me and no one else, and that seems like a great plan in my eyes. As well as having all company profit coming directly to me, and I get to decide what happens with it. Although I know there is more to it than that, there is forming a budget, working with customers, knowing when to expand, and when to coast through. I also know that in the world of business, that if you aren't moving ahead, you are moving backwards.