ENTREPRENEURSHIP - - Refers to the ability of an individual to determine and come up with the proper combination of the resources available in his environment and transform this into an output of either goods or services, and obtain a fair profit at the price the entrepreneur sets. It entails the activities of spotting opportunities, conceptualizing these ideas into business opportunities, identifying and using resources in his environment, making use of these resources to produce products and make profits out of them. It also includes a set of behaviors, skills and attributes conducive to the development of innovation and creativity. As the process of creating something new with value by devoting the necessary time and effort, assuming the accompanying financial, psychic, and social risks, and receiving the resulting rewards of monetary and personal satisfaction and independence. An old concept with a new flavor. Countries, have developed through time, one term of produces, seller and services provider, all lumped into one “merchants.” CHALLENGES IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP 1. Creating the right opportunity - Before embarking into a business, you have to consider the techniques in identifying business opportunity in order to avoid failures. 2. Working long hours, often to pay - If you start a business, you must be willing to invest most of your time until such time that it has become progressive. For the first year of operation of your business you should still be willing to all job connected to your business. 3. Dealing with uncertainty and high risk - This means that there is no assurance as to whether your business will be profitable or not. There will be times that your business will meet its downfall or not giving you the expected gain or profit. Hence your business is at high risk or guaranteed failure in the business 4. Needing to make major decisions that frequently affect others - In every task that we do there is always a need to make great decisions, ▪ Identify the problem. ▪ Analyze the possible solutions. ▪ Evaluate the possibilities that bring you closer to your goal. ▪ Make the decision. 5. Relying on other people for expertise and resources - This means that there is no monopoly of knowledge and skills. We always need the expertise and resources of other people to implement our business plans. 6. Having no previous experience in this type of business - This means lacking past experienced about the business you are starting-up 7. Facing failure at some point - In operating a business, we expect that there will always be a downfall or deterioration of its earnings or profit. Hence, we should be ready to face it and think of good solutions of problems that may cause failure in the operation of the business. 8. Finding the right people for your team - It means selecting the right people for the right job. As a business owner one must know the qualifications of people who will work with him. He must select those who have the knowledge and skills about the business he is going to put up. 9. Raising capital and other resources - before you start-up a business you must have enough capital or assets and other resources needed for the business. This is another challenge for you to consider before starting up a business. 10. Dealing with a sense of isolation and disillusionment entrepreneurs who are feeling isolated probably don’t call it isolation. Instead, they may define it as stress, tension, anxiety, or even just “being in a funk.” state of disappointment that arises from the failed realization of expectations or hopes. Disconnection Contributions of Entrepreneurship to the Economy 1. Entrepreneurship employs the various resources present in the economy - Many of these resources tend to be utilized and unmaximized. Entrepreneurs, therefore, make productive use of otherwise non-productive resources. 2. Entrepreneurs need manpower for their business operations. - They provide employment opportunities to various individuals. Note that when these entrepreneurs hire people, they also bear the burden of providing training for these individuals. Professional growth and skills enhancement are also important contributions of entrepreneurs. 3. Entrepreneurship is the backbone of the economy - If people lose employment opportunities due to economic slowdowns, business would be a logical choice for livelihood. 4. Entrepreneurs is in their ability to innovate goods and services - The root of the word “entrepreneur” means to innovate, and this is precisely what entrepreneurs bring to society. They make life more comfortable and convenient for us. They make products more accessible and easier to use. 5. Entrepreneurs is in their ability to gain international popularity and prestige for their country - When the entrepreneurs are already able to export their products or even bring their businesses abroad. The entrepreneurs’ country of origin becomes known while allowing the country to earn income via stronger currencies. 6. Entrepreneurs is their willingness to take risk, risk that society will otherwise be hesitant to take - These people accumulate great learning experiences, which may be passed on to other businesspeople through seminars, workshops, speaking engagements and others. 7. Entrepreneurs also profoundly inspire budding and potential entrepreneurs. - it is said that only a master can produce a master; likewise, only businesspeople can teach others to venture into business. Successful entrepreneurs become paragons for other entrepreneurs, potential or actual. Advantages of Entrepreneurship 1. An entrepreneur has the opportunity to create his own venture - Being an entrepreneur of a business, you feel free to search for market needs, business opportunities, overlooked resources and creates/devices ways and means to maximize the use of said overlooked resources to meet the needs of certain community. Hence, he being the owner of a business, he is over all boss and business decision comes from him unlike in other business that an employee has to wait for many years in the company to earn his promotion to become the manager and not the entrepreneur/owner. 2. He has the opportunity to be financially well-off - When a person owns the business, he commits himself for the success of his business, continuously seek for more better markets which ultimately downs to more profit thereby making the entrepreneurs richer each day/financially well off. 3. He has the opportunity of knowing himself better - Meaning that being an entrepreneur, man comes to know his innate capability of organizing a business from his imagination, his ability to make a new product out of the raw materials which are available in a locality, can introduce innovations to improve existing products to be financially well off 4. It gives a great amount of freedom - If you are working for a boss and a company, you need to meet all their requirements and only have very little freedom on the job. On the other hand, if you start your own business, you will be able to make your own demands and set your own schedule. You dictate everything you do, giving you a level of freedom that you will not see when you are employed. 5. It can be exciting - Entrepreneurship can be very exciting, with many entrepreneurs considering their ventures highly enjoyable. Every day will be filled with new opportunities to challenge your determination, skills and abilities. 6. It allows you to set your own earnings. - You will be the one setting your own wage and making investments when you own the business. The work that you do would be for something you own, which can be a huge advantage compared to when you are working as an employee for a certain company. 7. It offers flexibility. - You will be the one setting your own wage and making investments when you own the business. The work that you do would be for something you own, which can be a huge advantage compared to when you are working as an employee for a certain company. Disadvantages of Entrepreneurship 1. It requires you to dedicate a huge amount of time. 2. It can be difficult to compete with other businesses 3. It does not guarantee 100% success - Entrepreneurship would make your dreams come true, which does not often happen with traditional employment, but you need to make some sacrifices to make it happen. You should know that this type of venture does not guarantee 100% success. 4. It comes with unpredictable work schedules One major drawback of being an entrepreneur is that more work and longer hours will be required from you than being an employee. While you want to become your own boss, you must first know the amount of effort, time and investment to make your venture successful. Even though there is a lot of rewards coming from it, it also has certain downsides. Social and Economic Impact of Entrepreneurship 1. Entrepreneurship Creates Employment - When a businessman put up a business, he needs to hire or employ at least 2 or 3 people to get things done when the business will progress then he will employ more workers. 2. Entrepreneurship improves the quality of life - Entrepreneurial undertakings contribute significantly to the continuous improvement of living standards. In 1960’s rice fields were cultivated by the plow and carabao or cow. This time rice fields are cultivated by tractors. The palay are harvested by machine too. This is one improvement that contributes to what is called quality of life. 3. Entrepreneurship brings social benefits through government - Government and private employees, business man or entrepreneurs pay taxes and licenses to the government. These are allocated to the different projects and services for communities. These projects and services come in the form of infrastructure, facilities like roads and bridges educational and medical facilities and services: maintenance of peace and orders; equipment and many others. 4. Entrepreneurship utilizes and mobilizes resources to make the country productive - Our country in general, or in province in particular will develop faster if none of our resources are kept idle or unused. For example, our country is noted for its iron ore deposits. If these are processed by metal to supply the needs of industries that manufacture spare parts of cars then we will no longer import. Through this activity will also saving much and we will not import from other countries anymore. 5. Entrepreneurship contributes to more equitable distribution of income and therefore eases social unrest. - Entrepreneurs continuously search, identify and develop raw materials needed for production of goods and services. They are ones who can see economic potential of raw materials and other resources in the rural areas. if they put up an enterprise in the locality, then they are actually spreading the benefits of development to other parts of the country. If business ventures are done in many parts of the country, then social tensions may not arise. 6. Entrepreneurship as a Self-employment decision - The word entrepreneurship refers to what an entrepreneurs does. He is person who organize manage and assumes risk of his own business venture. Behind entrepreneurship is a person whom we call an entrepreneur. He is a man who worked hard to transform a dream for himself into reality. As such he is decided to take control of his life by exploring and testing his own capabilities to make his dream come true by being an entrepreneur thus making himself self-employed in his business venture. CATEGORIES OF THE STUDY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP ENVIRONMENT ENTERPRISE ENTREPRENEUR ENTREPRENEUR - - - A person who operates a business One who organizes, manages and assumes the risk of a business or an enterprise. Other authorities define entrepreneur as a somebody who has an idea for a business or enterprise and is prepared to take risk without the certainty of profit An entrepreneur is somebody who has ideas and makes these ideas happen or come to life. This is why an entrepreneur is sometimes called an inventor or an innovator, which may have some truth into it. An entrepreneur must have some business skills, these skills should not only pertain to ideation, but also to the skills of organizing and running a business. An entrepreneur is somebody who assumes risks. Risks are simply the chances to lose some things. Somebody who knows how to calculate risks and is willing to invest his resources in a business undertaking he himself conceptualized, without the guarantee or certainty of making additional money out of it, much less recovering his investment. - An entrepreneur desires to make profit, there are only two ways by which a person can make a decent living in this world. One way is to be employed and receive a regular income, and the other is to venture into business and generate profits. An entrepreneur is somebody who can spot opportunities, and turn these opportunities into profitable business ventures. THE ROLE OF AN ENTREPRENEUR 1. The entrepreneur takes risks - The entrepreneur does not merely perceive ideas as opportunities but also calculates the risks involved in implementing these ideas. When a business described as risky, it means that the outcome of this business is uncertain. In other words, there is a chance that the business may fail as there is that it may succeed. 2. The entrepreneur produces capital - There are people who are kept from going into business simply because they have no capital. But real entrepreneurs never allow lack of capital to stop them from getting ahead. 3. The entrepreneur introduces innovations - Innovations implies newness, variation, originality or uniqueness. Thus, the innovative person is open to change. The entrepreneur introduces new products, new ways of doing things, new methods of production. He is creative! 4. The entrepreneur organizes the business - The entrepreneur is the person responsible for getting together all resources needed for the business to get started and going. He is the one who thinks of what, how, where, when and how much land, labor and capital are needed to transform an idea into a real functioning enterprise. In other words he is the organizer of the business. 5. The entrepreneur makes decisions - The business situation involves a lot of unknown and uncontrollable factors which may affect the future success or failure of the firm. When the business is still young and small, decision-making is one task that the entrepreneur cannot give to his assistant or to his workers but one that he himself must be responsible for. 6. The entrepreneur plans ahead - The entrepreneur can act in an emergency. She can make a rush decision when the situation calls for it 7. The entrepreneur sells his products at a profit - The entrepreneur is an economic man. As such, he sees to it that his products will sell and bring him money. He establishes relations with customers in personalized manner so that they will choose to buy is products or services again and again. THE 7 GENERAL CHARACTER ENTREPRENEURIAL QUALITIES TRAITS OF AN ENTREPRENEUR/ 1. Entrepreneurs prefer moderate risks - Entrepreneurs are known to be individuals who are not afraid to take risks. However, the risks they take are “calculated.” In other words, they are not so foolhardy as to undertake activities where they know nothing at all about the possibilities for success. They know that doing so is tantamount to gambling or financial suicide. 2. Entrepreneurs take responsibility for their actions - The tendency of entrepreneurs to prefer moderate risks is accompanied by a strong desire to be the one responsible for outcomes or results. The entrepreneur seeks responsibilities for his actions or decisions. He prefers to make the decisions himself and; in the process, he commits his efforts, knowledge, skills and investments. 3. Entrepreneurs are self-confident - Entrepreneurs are well-known for being a very self-confident lot. They tend to believe that they can do better than what other people or what the circumstances suggest they can do. In other words, they tend to overestimate their chances for success. However, this tendency to be overconfident happens only under new conditions or situations where they have no previous experience on which to base their estimates of risk. 4. Entrepreneurs seek concrete feedback on performance - Too many people, feedback on performance can be a source of anxiety because it may bring news of failure rather than success. To protect themselves from such negative feedback, they choose jobs where they can follow certain prescribed rules and tradition and where therefore, they can seldom be criticized for doing wrong. 5. Entrepreneurs are task-oriented - Entrepreneurial people performed better when the feedback given was in relation to how they were progressing in their solution to the problem. On the other hand, non-entrepreneurial people worked better when feedback given was in relation to the way the group members interacted and helped one another during the task. They liked to know whether the solution was right or wrong, or whether they were working fast or slow. 6. Entrepreneurs are achievement-oriented - Entrepreneurs with a high need for achievement possess a unique mindset that sets them apart from others. They are not satisfied with mediocrity, and they constantly seek new challenges and opportunities to grow and develop. They are not afraid of failure, and they view it as a learning experience rather than a setback. - The need for achievement is crucial for entrepreneurs for several reasons. It drives them to set ambitious goals and work tirelessly to achieve them. This focus on achievement helps entrepreneurs stay motivated, overcome obstacles, and push through tough times. 7. Entrepreneurs are creative - An entrepreneur has been found to be a very creative person. She sees something else, something different, something beyond what others see. She imagines new and different things from what are ordinarily seen and felt.
