Course Title: ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Instructor's Name: Ma’am Sara

Student Name & ID: Bisma Saleem Siddiqui

(2218-2019
  STAGES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

The five stages of entrepreneurship are as follows:

 Idea,
 Decision,
 Proof,
 Growth, in addition to
 Long-term plan.

What each phase looks like is contingent on the industry, kind of company, style of
entrepreneurship (ie. Risk-averse vs. Risk taker), as well as your decisions along the way. Not
each and every entrepreneur successfully passes through the five phases of entrepreneurship. It’s
a tough journey which will test your resilience many times over. However this is an easy trade-
off for entrepreneurs who like to take risks (whether big or small) as it allows them to take
control over their own career. You just have to survive in order to make it.

Idea

On the business side of development, it is necessary for you to map out how your organisation
will take shape. You should create a business plan which outlines your key milestones as well as
objectives, a comprehensive analysis of who your audience is, how your product/service could
develop over time, risks or setbacks that you may encounter in addition to potential solutions,
and your financial plan. Your financial plan should encompass forecasting at least three years
into the future, your strategy for finding investors (if that’s the route you want to take) as well as
how your financing options might alter at each milestone in your business’ growth.

Decision

This phase of entrepreneurship is all about making strategic decisions as well as executing the
launch. You’ll either be quitting your day job to work towards your dream, or you could launch
your business as a side business if you are a bit reluctant to give up a steady paycheck. If you
make the choice of the latter option, you won’t be able to dedicate as much time to your growth.
Either way, look at the bigger picture of your long-term strategy.

Proof

Make sure that you are flexible as you are working with your first group of customers because
they will give you important feedback in order to assist you with improving or focusing on the
right things. Word of mouth is one of your most valuable assets in terms of getting new
customers so you need to treat them like royalty.

Growth

At this stage, cash flow is fairly stable, however you are still likely rearranging your budget
while waiting for your expansion to spike upwards. Hire the people who have
complementary skill sets to your own in order to make sure you that you are investing in the
correct people in the beginning growth stages. You will still wear a lot of hats as the owner
however your growing team will gradually take those off your head. The concept is to focus
your investment in crucial hiring to off-load tasks where you aren’t as strong, or those which
are extremely time-consuming.

Long-term plan

Careful planning along the way in addition to scalability of processes are your best friend. If you
plan your expansion, it is possible to ensure that you have the infrastructure as well as internal
processes in place to support more business. While viral growth may seem like it would be
amazing, not being able to manage to fill orders because of manufacturing, distribution, or a lack
of staff to process orders can be very stressful.

 ENTREPRENEURIAL PROCESS

Entrepreneurial process can be defined as the steps taken in order to establish a new enterprise.
It is a step-by-step method, one has to follow to set up an enterprise.

There are mainly five steps one needs to follow. These steps are −
  Preliminary steps

 Decision-making steps

 Planning steps

 Implementation steps

 Managerial steps

Preliminary Steps

Preliminary steps are the initial steps one has to follow for establishing a firm. At this stage, the
to-be entrepreneur should be able to make a decision that is going to affect the company.

We can say that an entrepreneur is born at this stage. An entrepreneur searches for business
opportunity and collects information/data from all sources available.

Decision-making Steps

Decision-making steps can be defined as those steps or say the lessons learnt by an entrepreneur
to make decisions efficiently.

In this step, the entrepreneur is seen consulting with DIC (District Industrial Centre) and MSME
(Medium Small & Micro Enterprise). Some of the decisions to be taken are −

 Decision of acquiring fund from banks or financial institutions.

 Acquisition of permission, recognition, application.

 Making of PPR (Preliminary Project Report).

 Decision regarding land, building, plant, machinery, labor, raw material, fuel, energy,
water supply, filtration, etc.

In order to make effective decisions that is adaptable and comfortable for the company, the
clients and all those who are directly or indirectly linked to the decision-making step play a very
vital role.
Planning Steps

Planning is an assumption or prediction of business requirements and outcome in the future. It

provides a space to review the best strategy to run the business by cutting expenses and
maximizing profit.

Some of the planning steps include −

 Planning for infrastructure like plant and building.

 Getting permission and recognition from the government or any other reputed authority.

 Applying for environmental clearance.

 Purchasing of land and licensing of mines, if necessary.

 Applying for electric connection and water supply.

 Planning the final feasibility, technical feasibility, and operational feasibility.

 Study of PPR and preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR).

 Getting loan and/or capital investment.

 Acquisition of machineries and planning for installation.

Now, let us move forward to see how this planning step is further transformed to
implementation steps.

Implementation Steps

Implementation is the execution of plan; it is the action taken to implement the plan so that
something actual happens.

Given below are some steps that will help us get a clear picture of how actions in planning steps
are groomed into implementation steps −

 Acquisition of land, setting up building, and purchasing raw materials.

 Installation of plant and machineries, and arranging human resource.

 Receiving permission and reorganization letter, and receiving capital investment.

 Starting operation and production.

  Arranging fuel, electricity, and water supply.

 Making infrastructural development, i.e. road, hospital, school, residence, etc.

Implementation is the most important and difficult step, during implementation the actuals
come to figure and something of real value is generated.

Managerial Steps

We have seen about the roles and duties of an entrepreneur. Managerial duties are also very
important for an entrepreneur as well as the organization. Some of the managerial duties to be
taken care of are −

 Preparing market policy and strategy.

 Managing promotion of product or services.

 Formulating pricing policy.

 Managing wholesalers and retailers.

 Deciding the profit margin.

 Managing marketing strategy, managing advertisement of product or service, managing

distribution system for efficient distribution.

 Warehouse management.

Each step has its own importance and its own role in the development as well as deterioration of
a company.

 STRATEGIC PLANNING OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Strategic planning is the process of documenting and establishing a direction of your small
business—by assessing both where you are and where you’re going. The strategic plan gives
you a place to record your mission, vision, and values, as well as your long-term goals and
the action plans you’ll use to reach them. A well-written strategic plan can play a pivotal role
in your small business’s growth and success because it tells you and your employees how
 best to respond to opportunities and challenges

If you’re one of these small business owners, it’s not too late to think differently. Your future
success depends on effective strategic planning. It’s a process of looking ahead that should
involve your entire business, and the discussions can lead to meaningful changes in your
business. Strategic planning consists of analyzing the business and setting realistic goals and
objectives. This leads to the creation of a formal document that lays out the company’s views
and goals for the future.

Benefits of Strategic Planning

The strategic planning process can take some time, but it’s beneficial for everyone involved. As
the small business owner, you’ll have a better idea of the goals and objectives you want to
accomplish and a path to do that. For your employees, the process can foster an increase in
productivity—contributing to the success of the business.

Communicating Your Strategic Plan

The strategic planning process should involve your employees. Your employees are involved in
the day-to-day operations and can provide you with a unique view of the company. Employees
can share with you what they think is and isn’t working with the business today, which can
inform your planning for the future.
In addition to your employees, it’s beneficial to reach out to people outside of your company to
get their opinions. Like your employees, vendors have a unique perspective on your industry.
Talk to them about the business, and get their thoughts on how they think the business landscape
can change in the future.

The U.S. Small Business Administration recommends that the strategic planning process be a
flexible one. When you meet with your employees and any people outside of the company,
remember that the discussions should encourage new ideas and thoughts.

Increase Productivity

Involving your employees in the strategic planning process also means they receive a sense of
accountability that can increase productivity. Whether they contributed in the process or were
informed of the business’s goals and objectives after the strategic plan was created, they’ll be
more likely to want to help you achieve those targets.

Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses

As part of the strategic planning process, you’ll examine and analyze your entire business. You’ll
take a look at what your business does well and the areas where it still needs to improve. By
identifying your business’s current strengths and weaknesses, the process gives you and your
employees an opportunity to improve in the future and become a durable business by minimizing
risks.
Although you may have a good idea about what your business excels at and areas that need to be
improved upon, don’t forget to involve your employees. They may tell you something you didn’t
think of.

Setting the Direction of the Business and Fostering a Proactive Business

By the end of the strategic planning process, you and your employees should have a clear
direction of where you want the business to go in the future. These discussions and the planning
process itself help put the business in the best position to succeed in the future.

Strategic planning gives you and your business time to figure out how to grow over the next few
years and how to address new opportunities and challenges. Think about the challenges or issues
your business may face in four or five years and plan accordingly, so your business doesn’t
stumble down the road.

Strategic Planning Misconceptions

There are many strategic planning misconceptions. From not having enough time or thinking it
only benefits larger businesses, to fearing you’ll put your business on the wrong path, there are a
variety of reasons why business owners may be wary of strategic planning. But don’t be alarmed;
strategic planning can help your business—big or small—and the benefits far outweigh any
perceived negatives.

Regardless of the size of your business, a strategic plan is beneficial. Whether you are a small
business or a large corporation with hundreds or thousands of employees, strategic planning
helps you make sure the company is headed in the right direction.

But how do you know if you’re steering the company in the right direction? The beginning
phases of strategic planning focus on research and discussions. The decisions you make during
strategic planning aren’t based on assumptions; they’re based on research and information
you’ve gathered while talking with your employees and people outside of your company.

The strategic planning process may seem daunting at first, but when you understand what’s
involved and how to do it, it’s not that complicated. It takes time, but the amount you invest in
the process pays off when everyone in your company works toward accomplishing the goals and
objectives you’ve laid out.

The process doesn’t stymie creativity either. When you meet with your employees for strategic
planning, you’re asking everyone to have a discussion and brainstorm ideas. The strategic
planning process puts everyone’s minds together to think of creative ideas.

If you go through the strategic planning process once, don’t think you won’t have to do it again.
The strategic plan is a living document; it should change over time. It’s not uncommon for
business owners to create a strategic plan with their employees and rarely—or never—revisit the
document. Reviewing and evaluating your strategic plan regularly will help keep you
accountable and on track to achieve your goals and objectives.