TITLE OF THE LESSONS 3:

● The Entrepreneur

DURATION: ​4 Hours
INTRODUCTION:
The operation of a business enterprise can be an extremely challenging job.
Many who dared to try failed, and only few of them succeeded. Their success levels
however are different for some of them became highly successful while some of them
are either moderately or slightly successful. Those who failed also had different degrees
of failure.
This shows us that entrepreneurship is not everyone. But we can determine
beforehand if a person is a good prospect by answering important questions for those
interested in entrepreneurship.

Suitable techniques and procedure:

▪ Practical Exercise/Question
▪ Discussion and Explanation of the Lesson
▪ Additional Readings
▪ Self-Assessment
▪ Key Takeaways

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the student is expected to:
● discuss the significance of knowing oneself as part of being successful
entrepreneur
● identify some character traits that are common among successful entrepreneurs
● emulate the different attributes of an entrepreneur

DISCUSSION AND EXPLANATION OF THE LESSON:

The Entrepreneur
According to Schumpeter (1950), an entrepreneur is a person who converts a
new idea or invention into a successful innovation. He is someone who has ideas,
makes these come to life, has ideation, creativity, and innovation, who assumes risks
and desires to make profit.
HOW EMPLOYEES AND ENTREPRENERUS DIFFER

1. Employees think without starting. Entrepreneurs start without thinking.

Employees’ future growth is octenyl restricted because they doubt their skills
instead of starting positively. On the other hand, entrepreneurs, with a little
knowledge at hand, start their work and do not waste time worrying about
perfecting such skills because of their belief of learning new things ahead.

2. Employees wait for the right time. Entrepreneurs work without waiting for
the time they deem perfect or right.

Different excuses are found by employees for the completion of their task that is
why they keep on postponing their goals. On the other hand, entrepreneurs start
their work because of love, patience, and dedication, which are their three main
boosters. They always grab the opportunity, coming up with variety of plans as
they understand the brevity of opportunities.

3. Employees and Entrepreneurs differ in the aim for promotion

Employees aim for getting a better position and higher salary in the company
while entrepreneurs work hard intentionally for the acquiring of the new ideas to
uplift their business dreams.

4. Employees and Entrepreneur differ in the way their handle their dreams
and plans

Regardless of how extravagant your dreams may be, if you do not plan for it, it
will always remain as dreams. Employees dream their plans. While
entrepreneurs have a solid plan for their dreams as they also come up with a
proper strategy.

5. Employees think ‘Money is everything’. Entrepreneurs know ‘Time is

everything’. Employees and entrepreneurs have different priorities.

Employees invest on money and look for the safe returns only while
entrepreneurs believe that time is money and for them time is everything; thus,
they are ready to work for longer hours with no profits because of their belief in
wealth generation.
6. Employees and entrepreneurs handle frustration differently.

Employees handle frustration by going through some mundane routine and

eventually lose their interest and become arrogant towards their co-workers and
family members. While entrepreneurs think that problems are temporary, they
simply do what they do because they love it.

7. Employees and entrepreneurs handle insecurities and freedom differently.

Employees contract themselves because of future insecurities while

entrepreneurs live life on the edge calculating the right amount of risk to be taken
for every strategy.

8. Employees and entrepreneurs work differently.

Employees work for the approval of their superior, hence more load work pile up
on their side. While entrepreneurs work having a classification of urgent and not
urgent.

9. Employees is under a particular job category while entrepreneurs make

their own profile.

Because employees fall under a particular job, they have to perform tasks
according to their job profiles regardless of their interest. On the other hand,
entrepreneurs perform general tasks thus freely enjoy autonomy and
independence.

10. Employees and entrepreneurs handle mistakes differently.

Employees tend to blame, justify, and complain. While entrepreneurs have a

mindset that they are responsible for all their decisions therefore they just openly
accept their mistakes instead of suppressing it.

11. Employees and entrepreneurs have different outlook about holidays.

For employees, holidays are opportunities to relieve themselves from the stress
they get from office as they unwind for a weekend trip. While entrepreneurs also
wait for holidays, weekend trip help their productivity to increase.

12. Employees break down after failure. Entrepreneurs wake up after failure.
Employees and entrepreneurs handle failure differently.

Failure is inevitable. Not embracing the failure will not give you fresh ideas.
Workers with an ‘Employees mindset’ lose their confidence in struggling period.
They look failure as a dead end. Entrepreneurs see opportunity in every failure.
 After being knocked down, they don’t lose their enthusiasm. They recover and
improve with every fall.

The Environment as a Factor

An entrepreneurship will likely to last grow in a friendly environment. Nature
provides us with examples of what happens to n certain environments. For instance,
giant clams thrive in the ocean, but not in the river. The coconut palm will normally not
grow in Sweden, but in the Philippines. These are so because giant clams were
designed by nature to survive in saltwater, and freshwater river will be hostile to it
because it is not its natural habitat. Coconut trees grow naturally in the tropics and
because Sweden has a cool, temperate climate, they will not survive there,
In the same light, entrepreneurships will survive and grow only in environments
of tree enterprise. Full blooming entrepreneurships cannot be expected to flourish in
economies that are not fully supportive of free enterprise.
Economic environments may be classified as follows
o those fully supportive of entrepreneurships;
o those moderately supportive of entrepreneurships; and
o those not supportive of entrepreneurships.

Figure 3
Economic Environment of the Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs succeed easily because of economies’ full support while the exact
opposite may make the entrepreneurs to have the opposite outcome too.
The Entrepreneurs Personality
Every person’s personality is unique and different from others. Each personality
has a corresponding type of job that fits it.
What Is Personality?
Personality is the pattern of characteristics which is used to distinguish one
person from another. This consist of the traits, values, motives, genetic blueprints,
attitudes, emotional reactivity, abilities, self-image, intelligence and visual behavior of a
person.
Psychologists have made great advances in research about personality. An
interesting study is that one made by John L. Holland (Ivancevich, 2001). His proposal
indicates six personality types. They are as follows:
1. the realistic type
2. the investigative type
3. the artistic type
4. the social type
5. the enterprising type
6. the conventional type

Figure 4
Six Personality Types

Characteristics of Entrepreneurs
o Self-awareness
o Self-motivated
o Courage
 o Confidence
o Positive Thinkers
o Patience
o Decisiveness
o Experience
o Knowledge
o Information-Seeking
o Perseverance
o Drive
o Risk-Taking
o Innovative
o Opportunity-Seeking
o Demand for efficiency and quality
o Systematic Planning and Monitoring

REWARDS OF BEING ENTREPRENEUR

Being an entrepreneur benefits a person in many ways. Some of those are the
following: (1) You can set your own schedule; (2) You believe in what you do; (3) Your
workplace can vary; (4) You are the own boss of your work; (5) You get to see your
work change lives; (6) You become a business leader; and (7) It’s dynamic and exciting.

RISK OF BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR

Like any other profession, entrepreneurship also comes with risks and some of
these are as follows: (1) No guarantee of secured or steady salary; (2) Sacrificing
Personal Capital; (3) Relying on Cash Flow; (4) Unpredictable interest in your product or
service; (5) Trusting Key Employees; (6) Betting on a Crucial Deadline; (7) Committing
Personal time and health; (8) Emotional Risk, and (9) Risk of Scaling.

ROLES OF ENTREPRENEUR

Entrepreneurs Are Innovators

Entrepreneurs usually have observations regarding the rapid changes in

technology and they tend to fill in the voids. As they are aware of the negative
consequences and the losses of some occupations caused by technology, they see
these as opportunities that is why they innovate through creating new products and
services which become advancement in technology. Entrepreneurs look for the needs
of their customers and through innovating, they fulfill them.
Entrepreneurs Create Jobs

These new companies by the entrepreneurs become engines of job creation as

they start new businesses, they will need to hire employees. This makes them at the
leading edge of the economy and source of the energy which drives economic growth.

Entrepreneurs Raise Standards of Living

The process of entrepreneurship wherein entrepreneurs innovate the needs in

the marketplace and eventually use their talents to find a solution and eventually start a
new business and hire employees creates wealth for the population. Research shows
that increase in productivity improve the standard of living for a population resulting to
employees’ efficiency.

Entrepreneurship Creates Economic Growth

Economic growth starts with new businesses generating wealth for the
population and when entrepreneurs invest their own money in developing innovative
products and services.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS

Business management skills

This is ability to enhance your skills of multitasking, delegating subordinates of their
responsibilities and decision-making about the health and profitability of your business.
Teamwork and leadership skills
To be a successful entrepreneur also means taking on leadership roles and working as
a member of a team. This means you will mostly be both a supervisor and you will need
leadership skills in motivating your team.

Communication and listening

Effective communication through active listening during meetings will help you work with
others to build your business. This includes clear messages through emails, content
marketing, social media, and other advertising methods which can bring positive
influence in reaching your target market.
Customer service skills
You need effective customer skills if you want to establish connection with your
customer. Also, it will help you provide the products or services to the market.
Financial skills
Leaning from a financial planner, reading financial guidebooks and using financial
software are ways to help you organize and keep track of the financial processes in
your business.

Analytical and problem-solving skills

Successful entrepreneurs may also have exceptional analytical and problem-solving
skills. This is because there can be many aspects of building a brand or business that
can require difficult decisions, finding solutions to obstacles and using creative thinking
to develop plans and strategies that will help you achieve your business goals.
Critical thinking skills
This addresses to the ability to look at problems, situations, projects, and operations
from different perspectives which helps in decision-making and solving problems.
Critical thinking skills can also help you make changes on strategic planning and
evaluating approaches on improving your business.
Strategic thinking and planning skills
Having such strategic skills and planning skills will help you find ways in beating out
your competition, growing your market reach or implementing effective strategies to
reach your goals.
Technical skills
Usage of software and other digital approaches for managing projects, tracking sales
and revenue and measuring the performance of business growth are being practiced by
entrepreneurs with efficient technological skills.
Time management and organizational skills
This helps to breakdown tasks into manageable to-do lists. Time management skills
also help set deadlines and achieve objectives for yourself and for your team.

Branding, marketing and networking skills

How to improve entrepreneurial skills

While there are many different methods you can use to develop your entrepreneurial
skills, here are some 5 steps you can consider: (1) Take a course; (2) Attend events
and workshops; (3) Seek out experienced mentors; (4) Build your leadership skills; and
(5) Learn few to manage finances.
DETERMINANTS OF A SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

1. Ability to conceptualize and plan.

> They must view all aspects of the business, such as product, price. cost,
inventory, etc. in a related and coordinated manner.

> They must be able to plan for the total operation of the business. His
ability to foresee future problems of their business is an excellent asset.

2. Ability to manage others.

>Management is getting things to be done by others. The entrepreneur

should be able to organize work properly so that employees can perform
their jobs efficiently and effectively. Through this, employees may achieve
the objectives of the enterprise then the entrepreneur has more time for
conceptualizing and planning.

3. Ability to manage time and to learn.

>An entrepreneur is a generalist. Especially if the business is still small,

the owner does everything. He should be expert in time management.

> A real entrepreneur doesn’t actually stop learning. He can do this by

reading, attending seminars or by enrolling in college or special courses
that will enhance the skills he/she has.

4. Ability to adapt to change

>Entrepreneurs, being innovative or creative, quickly respond to changes

for comparative advantage.

REFLECTION/LEARNING INSIGHT:

● Entrepreneurs are a different breed - they think different, act different, and live
different than the rest of society
● Entrepreneurs are focused on moving forward, they are always looking toward
the future. Entrepreneurs are very goal-oriented and know exactly what they
want.
● Business is an art, and not everyone knows to master this art. Some people have
the inborn qualities to be a successful entrepreneur, and others work to develop
these qualities. No matter which of these descriptions best fits you, everyone can
benefit from continuing to improve on these important characteristics.
● Some guides provide clues and one of them indicates that there are two
complementary factors that determine success or failure in an entrepreneurship.
These factors are the environment, and the personality of the entrepreneur.