Entrepreneurship training manual from idea generation to implementation

Prepared for Harari regional state trade and industry bureau

Prepared by Elias Abdulmalik (MBA)

For the purpose of training

Introduction
The purpose of this training is to assist those who are interested to establish new
business or to support already stablished businesses to professionally further develop
their business. many of the literatures are been presented in foreign language in which
most of the trainees found difficulty in which the presented has referred various
materials and prepared this training module in Amharic. The training material equips
trainees with basic concepts of entrepreneurs and will also practically ensures the
trainees applied the basic concept in to practice.

The purpose of the training is stimulating trainees and improve their capability in
thinking the material is prepared to stimulate entrepreneurial thinking skill and it is
trainee centered approach in which all the trainees will be encouraged to share their
thoughts and interact among each other and practically plan their future business before
they finish the course. The course is divided in to four parts in which the training will be
covered with in one week period of time.

Unit one is about developing the concepts of entrepreneurship and enables trainees to
understand key characteristics of entrepreneurship Further in unit two the trainees will
be practically be supported to develop their business plan that they will practically be
able to develop entrepreneurship skill. The business model canvas is used as helpful
tool to practically assist trainees to practically capture all the important areas of a
business, and helps to ensure that the trainee don’t overlook anything.

The third part is devoted to enable trainee understand people inside and outside
organizations external environment and developing a necessary skill to work with
people inside and outside organization

Finally, the trainers will be trained in developing additional soft skill which is connected
with self-development plan such as team work planning skill personal development and
time management skill promotion skill in which this is intended to boost the trainees to
run their confidence and gradually change to improve the behavior of the trainees
towards the achievements of developing entrepreneur skill.

Part one
Entrepreneur the Concepts behavior and challenge

Objective of the chapter

The general objective of the first part is Creating consensus and understanding to the
concept of entrepreneurship and being an entrepreneur furthermore trainees will also
understand the entrepreneurship journey

And specifically, After the end of the first part the trainer must able to

1) describe the characteristics of being an entrepreneur

2) apply the concept of reflective learning throughout the course and beyond for

self-development

3) learn more and reflect their learning on oneself and how this may influence the

entrepreneurial idea in to practice

4) generate ideas from many different sources of inspiration

5) decide on a suitable idea to take forward to intended goal

group discussion

The trainees will be divided in to different groups of up to five members and will be
encourage to take part in discussion session to reflect what they know about
entrepreneurship in their own context and language

the discussion might take 1 hour

They will list down What comes to their mind when they hear the word an entrepreneur
?

What are the characteristics of entrepreneurship?

After the end of the discussion the group presenter will come up with the summary of
their group understanding.

Some of the ideas which was reflected can be

An entrepreneur is a visionary risk-taking individual who is utilizing his/her creative

knowledge and resources to put his/her idea into action.

An entrepreneur is someone who is a creative to be a boss of themselves and wants

their vision come to life in a form of a business.

An entrepreneur is someone who is a creative and risk-taking individual that wants their
vision come to life in a form of a business.

an entrepreneur is a leader in which can handle situations both effectively and yet also
come up with new ideas or solutions in any context

Being an entrepreneur means being able to have that courage to start own business
with limited resources to turn the business idea into reality of being a viable business
that is sustainable and profitable.

an entrepreneur is a person willing to innovate, work hard to turn his or her ideas into
reality, solve problems and compromise

an entrepreneur is someone who is able to carry out his own project through his
creative and innovative ideas, and he is a person who is able to take responsibility in
entrepreneurship and bear the profit and loss in his project

entrepreneurs are people who creates a new business. By bearing many risks and
receiving many rewards. They work hard to reach their goals.
Entrepreneurs are people that help society to solve their problems (implementing ideas

an entrepreneur is a person who wants to open with run their own business, who is
responsible, who want to earn money by his/her skill and who want to be a leader

2 Entrepreneurial characteristics

Entrepreneurial are different characteristics in which they may reflect to their own
unique characteristics however the followings are the most common characteristics
reflected on most literatures

Persistent: They keep striving towards their goal even when faced with challenges and
failure

Adaptable: Whilst entrepreneurs are highly persistent in achieving their goal, however
successful entrepreneurs are adaptable. They know when their business idea needs
minor or major changes to improve their chance of success.

Constantly learning: it is important to continuously learn, it is important to have as much

as information’s in the area of interest it is important to know success stories as well as
failure histories. it is important to know and understand the strength and weakness as
well as factors affecting your success in the external environment.

Creative: it is about creating unique value which able to solve societies problem
profitably which is referred as innovativeness. Creativity can mean many things, it is
about adding value such as how the product or service is designed, or the feel of the
brand through its packaging, style and color choice

Problem solvers: Successful entrepreneurs identify a need for their product or service,
which is often addresses social problems it is also called social entrepreneur. When we
say problem solving, we must understand the gap in the market, and it may be the
existing problem with existing solution but entrepreneur can offer unique solutions or
they may reduce cost and time achieving efficiently.

Visionary: they have dream of growth and change and solving they are courageous.
they understand the problems and then will come up with solution. They know how
they will grow up and reach to the highest level where they aspire. Entrepreneurs can
see an image of the future in their mind and how their business fits with this future.

Discussion 2
After they have clearly understood the above characteristics, the group will again will be
given to think of an entrepreneur they admire.

And they will be asked find an example of how they demonstrate each of the above
characteristics the entrepreneur they admire?

3.Risk and reward

Can we avoid risks? what are the major risks we are facing?

Discussion

Group discussion

Discuss in group the following risks and find out mitigating measures

1) Financial risk we may lose all our investments and we may not able to pay our
loan may be the running cost is higher than we expected or the price of our
product could not be competitive in the market
2) Strategic risk this means if for example our strategy had a cost advantage if we
could not able to produce service or product then our strategy will be at risk, or
we may not achieve the desired quality to solve problems
3) Operational risk our employee we high are not capable or the technology we
implemented might not bring the desired result
4) Internal risk which can be controlled internally we can make effort to reduce cost
or improve quality or adjust technology or improve the administration related
activities
5) External risk is like change in the market demand, or political instability or
economic condition which cannot be controlled internally but can be predicted
and we might consider at the planning stage with mitigation and contingency plan

4. What is calculated risk?

Entrepreneurs look at problems calmly and analytically with the aim of finding solutions.
When entrepreneur find solution will predict every aspect and see the feasibility.

Entrepreneurship involves flexibility this means many successful startups had a very
different aim when they began but latter when they face problem or when they see
better opportunity, they make adjustments.
 Entrepreneurs are persistent about achieving their goals but they are flexible and
adaptable to making some changes where necessary.

Creativity must be about solving problems and finding economic opportunity. There
should be financial reward this means one must have the goal of making profit.
otherwise, entrepreneur will face failure and discouragement. whatever idea you have if
you can not come out with crowd and attract market and able to sell your service or
product profitably then sustainable success will not be granted.

5. Making more effort to become self-learner

We live in an age with more opportunities to learn than ever before. Entrepreneurship is
all about putting theory and ideas into action. As a student of entrepreneurship, it is a
must to become a continuously be engage oneself in continuous learning. to continue
as a habit for life when your business is up and running. An independent learner is
someone who does extra learning to have broad understanding of the business and
detail technical knowledge about the intended business.

It is important to take some time to do more reading or even practical work to learn by
experience. The more you understand a topic, by theory and practice, the further you’ll
be able to develop your entrepreneurial idea.

6. The power of internet

The internet is a great place to access information to help you on your entrepreneurial
journey. Almost anything you can think of could generate a Google result for you to
learn more about, and in a range of formats such as news pages, business reports and
video interviews.

However, as you search for material to help you learn, it is important to think about the
source of the content (i.e., who wrote it) and the age of the content (i.e., when it was
published). These are important because reliable content will help you develop your
business idea, especially when you use the content as examples to investors or
potential customers.

7. Becoming a reflective learner

Reflective learning goes beyond simply reading and completing the content course. It
requires one to really think about what is being said and compare it with your current
experiences, or even test things out in practice yourself!
Here are the steps one can take for reflective learning:

1. Read the content.
2. Think: Can I find an example from my own experience that either supports or
differs from this? Past experience or with my present interest and future goal ?
3. Share any thoughts you may consult friends’ consultants and family who can
support you in advancing your idea
4. Participate: Has anyone said anything very interesting? Is there anything you can
add to their comment?
5. Try it out for yourself: go out and apply to know what you’ve learnt.
6. Think: How did your experience go? What worked well and why? What could be
better for next time and why?

8. Understanding oneself and your interests, likes and dislikes

At the heart of any new business are the entrepreneurs themselves. After all, it’s the
entrepreneur who has the idea and has turned it into reality. Therefore, understanding
more about yourself is important to have an idea about how the business will take
shape and grow. As you explore more about yourself, it becomes helpful to capture an
overall reason you could tell others to explain who you are as an entrepreneur.

Being able to concisely explain your ‘why’ or purpose, in entrepreneurship, will help
others understand more about you and your business, and could lead to investment,
support and/or customers.

Practical individual activity 1:

Your interests
Write down some areas of interests you have. The more specific you are, the better
your chance of making a list of interests reflecting your potential business idea later.
Practical Activity 2:

Likes and dislikes

Now, think of what you like and dislike this later will help you to relate your business
choice to find out the right direction for the kind of business you may like to have, but
also the kind of business that you certainly would want to avoid!

Split a page into two columns – one for ‘likes’ and the other for ‘dislikes’ – and then fill
out each column as much as possible. The following example might give you idea

Likes Dislikes

socializing with a wide variety of people noisy spaces

being outside around nature working early hours in the morning

having meaningful personal conversations being in a place away from many people

Activity 3: strengths and weakness

Split a page into two columns For strengths, answer the question: ‘what am I good at?’
For weaknesses, answer the question: ‘what do I struggle with when I have to do it by
myself?’

Completing the strengths column will give you an overview of how you could stand out.
Your strengths column will reflect the skills and qualities that you naturally excel at. By
comparison, your weaknesses column will help you to get a better understanding of
areas where you may need to work with others. Even though many entrepreneurs begin
their business on their own and therefore need to do everything, knowing where you
could delegate tasks, once you are able to do this, is useful knowledge to have.

Activity 4: Review and reflect

Now that you have a draft overview of yourself, it’s time to consider what kind of ideas
you’d be interested in developing and potentially turning into a business!

Start by comparing the answers you gave in Activity 1 (your interests) to the answers
you gave in Activity 2 (your likes and dislikes). Ask yourself: ‘which of my interests
strongly match several of my likes?’

Next, compare those interests with the strengths and weaknesses in Activity 3. Think
about how your strengths could work with the ideas that are coming forward as the most
promising.

8. generating and filtering ideas

you should have a rough list of potential business ideas ready to explore! The next
stage of the process is filtering

At this point, look back at your answers from the ‘Understanding yourself’ section and
compare this with each of the potential ideas you have written down. It is preferable to
have a small number of ideas to take forward because each idea will take time to
explore and understand. Even the final idea that you decide upon will continue to evolve
and change.

When making the decision about your final three ideas, pick the three which you feel
most passionate about. Then think about how taking these ideas forward is likely to
serve other people.

9.Market research
Market research means collecting information that will help you to understand the
strengths and weaknesses of your business ideas. It helps you to determine which idea
is the most promising to explore further and develop. If you left with one idea at this
point, then market research will enable you to understand how to refine your idea
further.

Your market research will answer the following aspects of your business

1. Market size:

 How many people is my business idea likely to serve?

 Where are my potential customers (i.e., local or national or international)?

2. Market analysis:

 How much is the sector worth? (How much does a typical entrepreneur in
this space earn each year?)
 How many similar businesses already operate here?

3. Trends:

 Has the demand for businesses in my space increased or decreased over

time?
 What is popular with my potential customers?
 Are there any foreseeable risks coming from other sectors or businesses?

As you do market research to find the answers to these questions, more questions will
definitely surface. Research and collect as much information as you can to help you
determine the potential of each of your final business ideas. This will assist you in
choosing which of the ideas you will take forward to develop further.

When is market research enough?

Market research should be treated as a continuous process – as you develop your idea,
launch your business, and even as you run your business. This is because things are
constantly changing, and the entrepreneur who wishes to stay ahead of the game keeps
an eye out for change and adapts with it.

Part two
Refining your entrepreneurial offering

At this point in the course, you should have a general business idea that you’d like to
develop further.

As mentioned above, market research is a continuous process that will help you to
pinpoint your business offering. Potential customers will be drawn to the uniqueness of
your business, and this uniqueness is based on both understanding yourself and
knowing what you have to offer. To be successful, your business needs to show how it’s
different from the competition.

Group discussion why would customers come to us and not my competitor?

It is important to undertake further market research to refine idea. Whilst many aspiring
entrepreneurs would love to serve everyone, starting with a small market and growing
over time will give a better chance of success. This is because larger markets have
more competing businesses, which also makes it harder to communicate why your
business will stand out. Instead, if you focus on a small part of the market, you are more
likely to get their attention – especially if they feel other businesses are not serving their
needs!

2.The business model canvas

The business model canvas is a helpful tool to organize your overall business blueprint.
Developed by Alex Osterwalder, the canvas captures all the important areas of a
business, and helps to ensure that you don’t overlook anything.

2.1The business model canvas: customer segments

Defining who your customers are at an early stage is key to shaping your business idea.
Without knowing your customers, it will be difficult to sell to them.

In the business model canvas, ‘customer segments’ suggests that there may be several
different groupings to your target customer base, even though overall your customers
will have many things in common.

Complete the canvas!

Think about your overall customer base. Who is your ideal customer?

Now, allow yourself to get as specific as possible:

 How old are they?

 What do they do?
 Where do they live?
 Can they make decisions for themselves or would someone else be making
decisions for them?
 How much income do they have?

From there, think about other people around this customer who may also be interested
in your business. These will be your other customer segments.

Once you have identified different customer segments, get as specific as possible about
their age, income, lifestyle etc., using the pointers above.

1. value proposition

What makes customers choose you over your competitor? The value they feel they
have by doing business with you! The value proposition of the business model canvas
means: how does your business differ from the rest?
Delivering value can include: Newness, uniqueness, rareness, performance, using the
latest or traditional methods creating an experience price, convenience.

Complete the canvas!

Think about the products and/or services that you are offering and write them down.
What value would your customers receive from them? If you have a few different
customer segments, perhaps the value received (and product/service received) by each
will be slightly different.

To help you do this, imagine if someone had to choose between taking your products
and/or services, or those of your competitor: what would make them choose yours?

channels

Channels are the connection between your business and your customers. Channels
help raise awareness of your business and helps customers access your business.

Examples of channels include: having a website owning a store renting a stall door-to-
door sales.

Complete the canvas!

How will your customers know about your business? How will they be able to reach you
and do business with you?

customer relationships

This can range from a very personal relationship where both you and your customer
come to know each other very well, to having a business that offers self-service or
automation where you never see your customers.

Complete the canvas!

How do you imagine interacting with your customers?

Can you think of a business you know well which has a very good relationship with its
customers? Sometimes local shops, laundries and takeaways know all their customers’
names, but big companies can be good at relationships too.
revenue streams

Revenue streams relate to how your business will generate income these typically fall
into two different types: one-off transaction payments and ongoing payments. Of
course, you may choose to have b

Complete the canvas!

Think about the type of revenue stream that is best suited for your business. Then, get
more specific about the different ways revenue will enter your business. What will you
charge for your products and services? Will the income differ depending on the revenue
stream?

key resources

Key resources are what you’ll need to help turn your idea into reality These include:
people finance physical assets (such as materials, buildings, vehicles) intellectual
property (such as copyrights and special knowledge). The type and extent of each key
resource will vary depending on your business.

Complete the canvas!

What key resources will you need for your business? Be as specific as possible.

For example, if you’ll need ‘people’, write down what type of job roles or specialist
knowledge these people would have (eg accountant, sales assistant).

key activities

Key activities are the important activities required for the business. These include:
activities relating to how the product/service is made how the product/service is
delivered to customers how the business responds to customer complaints how staff
and suppliers are managed.

Complete the canvas!

What are the key activities for your business idea?

key partnerships

Key partnerships relate to the important collaborations needed to run the business.
These include suppliers, buyers, individuals, and other businesses that you could work
together with for mutual benefit.

Complete the canvas!

 Who are your key partners?

 How will each of your key partners benefit your business?
 How will working together with key partners benefit their business?
The business model canvas: cost structure

The cost structure.

Costs will come from a range of areas. Depending on your business, these include:
rental space website hosting costs incurred to make/store a product staff salary.

Complete the canvas!

 What costs are involved in your business?

 How much will it cost for each activity?
 Which of your resources will be the most expensive?

The legal structure

In most countries there are many business types, but the three main business
structures are these:
  sole trader (where you are self-employed)
 partnership (where two or more people are personally liable for the business,
reflective of their percentage of ownership)
 limited company (where the business is separated from the entrepreneur, and
the business, not the entrepreneur, becomes responsible for liabilities).

Naming your business

Now that you have an overview about your business, it is time to come up with a
name!

Vision and mission statements

If you search online for any business, most likely it will have a vision and mission
statement in its ‘about’ corporate page and reports.

Vision and mission statements summaries what the business is about – its value. This is
an effective way for the business to both communicate with the outside world, and to
remind those working within the business what the business represents.

Vision statement Mission statement

The vision statement is aspirational. It The mission statement is focused on the

clearly communicates what the business present. It clearly explains what the
hopes to achieve someday in the future. business does on a daily basis.

Now, spend some time drafting a vision and mission statement for your business.
Finding a mentor

A mentor is typically someone who has experience with starting a business, or who can
provide other important advice, such as how to manage people or business
relationships. Mentors can improve your learning experience. The support of a mentor
can save you from some mistakes as you develop your idea, and also be a great person
to bounce ideas off and talk through your current business challenges.

A potential mentor could be found anywhere. It is helpful to think about the people you
already know, or would like to know and learn from. Begin by building a friendship with a
mutual understanding first before you ask the person if they would mentor you. When
you ask, be clear about what you’d like support with and why you’d like to be mentored
by this person. A mentor may volunteer their time and expertise, but if you decide to pay
your mentor, make a clear agreement with them about what they can provide.

Mentoring is time-consuming, and the most effective mentoring relationships work

between like-minded people who trust one another. If the person agrees to mentor you,
arrange to discuss with them the expectations that you and they have, set goals, and
agree on how regular the contact between you both should be. Also, consider writing a
confidentiality agreement between yourselves – especially if the idea will need legal
protection!

Raising finance for your idea

Now that you have a better understanding of how much money you may need to get
your business started, the next question you’ll need to think about is: would I need to
raise some finance?

it’s helpful to know some ways in which you could access funding should you need it as
your business grows.

Ways to raise finance include:

  family and friends
 bank loans
 fundraising platforms
 business competitions.

Family and friends

If you can clearly explain your business, this group is most likely to support you and
lend you some money. Depending on the relationship and your discussion to pay the
money back could be quite good. However, keep to your agreement of when you’ll be
paying them back!

Bank loans

This is the common method of raising finance for a business. Interest rates and loan
repayments are typically more strict and higher than borrowing from family and friends.

Fundraising platforms

This is international trend which will soon will be widely be introduced to our countries. it
is a new way to raise finance and uses the power of the internet. Fundraising platforms
typically allow you to ‘pitch’ your business idea online and set a fundraising goal that
you would like to achieve. The rules vary depending on the platform you sign up for.
Some platforms will ask that the business owner offers tiered benefits or discounts in
proportion to the amount that someone invests. Other platforms may ask you to obtain
finance in exchange for equity of the business. If fundraising platforms interest you,
research these and take special note of how they work.

Business competitions

You may come across various business competitions whilst doing some searches
online or in the local area. Business competitions have different rules and requirements
to enter. Some competitions give a specified amount as a grant prize – which means
you don’t need to pay anyone back. Others may potentially offer you a loan at a decent
rate.

Which method of raising finance is most suitable for your idea? Can you think of any
ways to raise finance that were not mentioned?
Effective communication skills for entrepreneurs

Whether you’re looking to raise finance, get suppliers, or obtain customers, public
speaking skills are important for entrepreneurs.

It is about developing effective communication skill the more that you practice this skill,
the better and more confident you will become!

your idea has been through some refinement, you have your business model canvas,
vision and mission statements, and you also have an improved understanding about
yourself ready as support.

You can use these documents as notes when you want to present your business to
raise finance or to grab the attention of customers.

tips to think about as you practice your pitching skills:

 Be clear and understandable – speak slowly and take pauses and breaths – this
will also help calm your nerves!
 Keep to time – especially if your pitch opportunity gives you a specific one.
 Body language – you may sometimes talk and use your hands, but be careful to
not always be using your hands throughout your pitch, as this could be
distracting for the listener. If you are standing, stand with your shoulders relaxed
and arms unfolded. This gives the impression of someone who is open and
welcoming.
 Eye contact – take a glance at different people in your audience as you speak.
This builds a connection.
 Watch yourself – You can stand in front of a mirror and practice pitching out
aloud, or you can record yourself and watch it back. You’ll be able to easily
identify areas that you can improve.

Unit three

This part of the training is devoted to equip the trainee to build relation with other
entrepreneur., it is important to understand external environment and internal
environments and it is important to developing a necessary skill to work with people
inside and outside organization.
In this part , the training will cover:

 self-development and the development of your enterprise

 how the family business model works
 working in a team
 the role of customer service
 networking for entrepreneurs
 marketing basics.

When you finish this week, you’ll be able to:

 recognize, appreciate and apply many different forms of feedback in your

entrepreneurial journey
 understand the crucial role others have in relation to your enterprise
 have a basic understanding of marketing for your enterprise.

Developing your idea further

At this stage in the course, you will have the basics of your business idea outlined in
your business model canvas.

You should review your business model canvas now before continuing with the course,
so that the details are fresh in your mind. Remember the business model canvas can
change as you develop your idea.

The importance of feedback

Feedback is any information you can get from other people about your business idea or
about your way of working. Entrepreneurs can find feedback in many different places.

For example, your first customers may say what they think about your product. Other
experienced entrepreneurs may also be able to give you feedback.

You don’t have to be an entrepreneur to get and act on feedback. Think about the times
you have studied in school or university, and how feedback has helped you improve.
How does feedback make you feel? And why do you think feedback is important for an
entrepreneur?

The family business

The family business has some differences from the models where entrepreneurs set up
the business alone or start it with others who are typically not related. Therefore, if you
are considering starting (or joining) a family business, then this step of the course is
particularly for you!

Working in a family business can be very rewarding. After all, you are around people
you already know well and trust. The business responsibilities can also be shared,
which can help.

There are some things to keep in mind, however, when working in a family business.
Below are the main ones to consider:

Responsibility

Sometimes it is only after working with family members that we find out how responsible
they are for their role in the business. We can’t avoid the possibility that some family
members may prefer to do as little as possible. Because it is family, it may be more
difficult to have conversations about this.

However, if you notice that a family member continues to contribute less than they
should, this issue will need to be addressed to keep fairness and to allow the business
to grow.

Roles and agreements

When working with a co-founder who is not related, it can be easier to suggest having a
business contract that outlines the roles, responsibilities and ownership share. This
level of formality can be difficult to suggest between family members. However, it is
important that there is a written record somewhere that outlines the responsibilities and
share of the business for each member. This is because future disputes could happen,
and having a written record makes it easier to address this.

Family and business

Although you may be working with family members, whilst working in the business, you
should be mindful of business professionalism. During work hours, consider other family
members as business co-founders. This sends a positive image to potential customers.

Can you think of other factors that are important to consider for this kind of business?

Teamwork

At some point in your business journey, there will be others who you will work with to
help your business grow and prosper. These people could range from suppliers to those
who you employ.

Managing these relationships is important, and could make the difference in how your
business develops over time.

Although you are the boss, it is important to keep in mind that as an entrepreneur, your
role is to serve others. Employees, in particular, are more likely to stay and work harder
for your business if they feel happy working for you. They may not be concerned with a
high salary, but will instead feel passionate about supporting the business and seeing it
succeed.

Think about the following attributes as you consider how you can develop teamwork:

 Listening skills: hear what others have to say.

 Clear communication skills: be precise and understandable with your
instructions. Check for understanding.
 Welcome honest feedback from your team.
 Praise team members.
 Develop an understanding about each member’s strengths and areas for
development.

Can you think of other things which are important for working in a team? Share your
thoughts in the comments area below.

Customer service
‘Customer service’ is a term that captures how businesses serve their customers. It can
make the ultimate difference because without customers there is no business!

Customer service could be considered as an experience the customer has when they
interact with your business. If their experience is positive and memorable, they are likely
to return and recommend the business to others.

Customer service not only involves the experience as one searches for your products or
services and the experience of making the actual purchase, but includes how the
business handles customer issues, such as returns, faulty products and complaints.

Networking

Networking is a great skill that entrepreneurs use to build contacts, create business
opportunities, and to learn more information. It is a ‘soft skill’ that improves with practice.

Good networking requires you to be aware of your surroundings and to have good
communication skills. Always keep an open mind about the new contact you have
made. Get to know them better and help them where you can to build a trusting
relationship before asking anything from others. That way, they are more likely to work
with you.

Opportunities to connect with others might come unexpectedly (for example, when
commuting) or be more planned (for example, at an event).

When meeting new people for the first time, it’s important to explain simply who you are
and what you do. It is also important to get a good understanding of who the other
person is, what they do and how they may ‘fit’ into your network of contacts. For
example, they might become a new customer or supplier over time.

It is helpful to have business cards on hand early in your entrepreneurship journey. This
is because after networking with a new contact, it is an easy way to pass on your
contact details so that they will remember you and may be in touch at a later time.

Business cards typically contain information about you that includes:

 your name
 your title
 the name of your business
 the business addresses
  your contact information (telephone and/or email).

It is also important that you ask for some basic details from them too (such as an email
address or telephone number) so that you can follow up and build the relationship.

Marketing basics

What is marketing?

Marketing involves the promotion, buying and selling of the business’ products and/or
services.

It is essentially how the entrepreneur communicates their products and services to the
world. Before you go out and sell your product/service, it’s important to make a plan of
action.

The five Ps of marketing

There are five main areas that you’ll need to consider when creating a marketing plan. It
helps that they all start with the letter P – and so they are collectively called the Five Ps!
Product Price Placement

What features of the When is your product or

product stand out that How much would it cost service available to
would make a customer the customer to buy? customers? Also, where
want to buy it? could they access it?

Promotion People

How could you advertise your product? Who is involved along the way for your
Think about online resources and hard product/service to reach the target
copy material, such as booklets. customers?

Creating your marketing plan

Think carefully about each of the five Ps and write down your plan. At this point, it is
helpful to look into how other businesses promote their products and/or services. For
example, if you would like to use leaflets as part of your marketing promotion, get some
leaflets from other businesses and decide for yourself what you like about them and
what you would change.

Finance

Chapter four
In this chapter, we will cover:

 the importance and method of creating an action plan for entrepreneurs

 how to create a personal development plan
 thinking long term about your enterprise
 the importance of time management
 communication through different formats
 how to continually use resources available as you develop your enterprise.

When you finish this plan, you’ll be able to:

 make your own action plan for the future

 create your own personal development plan
 understand the importance of short term and longer future planning
 recognize suitable resources to assist you with the development of your
enterprise.

What is an action plan?

 An action plan sets out what you’re going to do and when, in terms of developing
your business.

 You can think of it as a calendar with tasks written on each day, week or month.
Your role is to review these each week and put them into action!

 Action plans can vary in length – to cover months to years.

 It is up to you how much detail you’d like in your action plan, and also how you
will set your main goals and when these will be achieved.

 By having an action plan in front of you, it becomes clearer what tasks you need
to do for your business and when these need to be done.
 How do you think an action plan will help your idea?

Creating your own action plan

When creating your own action plan, it’s useful to start with the end goal in mind and
then work backwards to the present day.

It’s also a great idea to have a calendar in front of you as you design your own action
plan, so that you can add important dates and deadlines to the tasks on your plan. This
will also ensure that you have enough time to do everything!

Steps to create your action plan:

1. Think about the main goal you’d like to achieve by this time next year.
2. Once you have that, think about what smaller goals are needed to achieve
this main goal overall.
3. Look at your smaller goals and put them in order – which ones need to be
done before others?
4. Make a note about what you’ll have to do to achieve these smaller goals
and give an estimate about how many days or weeks this will take you
overall.
5. Start to fill in your calendar, writing down your smaller goals and adding a
date for each one as a deadline. Also add the date of your main goal
deadline.
6. Set dates for other tasks to be done to achieve the smaller goals. These
other tasks might include meetings or attending events as you arrange
them.

It’s not necessary at this stage of your action plan to have tasks written for each day of
the week. These are likely to fill up over time. Generally, it is good practice to review
your action plan each week, so that you can remind yourself of the nearest smaller goal
deadlines that you need to work on. As you do this, you’ll think about the tasks that
you’ll need to do for the week ahead.

Whilst these steps above outline how you may create a one-year action plan, the same
steps also apply if you want to create a shorter plan (eg, six months) or a longer plan
(eg, three years).
For a plan that’s more than a year long, start by deciding on the main goal to achieve by
the end of the period. Then, determine the main goal for each year, and apply the steps
outlined.

Personal development planning

Along with an action plan, a personal development plan is a great tool to have for
aspiring entrepreneurs. In fact, a personal development plan is great for anyone
interested in developing themselves further.

The basics of personal development are continued learning and growth.

Personal development planning requires you to really reflect about where you are now
and where you’d like to be in the future. It includes knowing about your strengths,
weaknesses, and areas that you’d like to improve on personally.

Like an action plan, a personal development plan enables you to decide on some main
goals and determine how you’d work towards achieving them and the timeframe you’d
like to achieve them by.

Compared with your action plan, a personal development plan is personal to you. In
many cases, only you will know if you are progressing or have achieved your personal
development goals. Examples include: increased use of positive body language when
communicating with others, and reading more books each month. However, there are
some personal development goals that could be noticed by others. These include:
increased confidence when talking to others, and learning a new language.

In many ways, personal development planning and an action planning support each
other. For example, if one goal in your action plan is to increase your total revenue to a
certain percentage at the end of the year, a supporting personal development goal
might be to improve your pitching skills.

How to Use SMART

Paul J. Meyer, businessman, author and founder of Success Motivation International,

describes the characteristics of SMART goals in his 2003 book, "Attitude Is Everything:
If You Want to Succeed Above and Beyond." We'll expand on his definitions to explore
how to create, develop and achieve your goals:

1. Specific
Your goal should be clear and specific, otherwise you won't be able to focus your efforts
or feel truly motivated to achieve it. When drafting your goal, try to answer the five "W"
questions:

 What do I want to accomplish?

 Why is this goal important?
 Who is involved?
 Where is it located?
 Which resources or limits are involved?
Example
Imagine that you are currently a marketing executive, and you'd like to become head of
marketing. A specific goal could be, "I want to gain the skills and experience necessary
to become head of marketing within my organization, so that I can build my career and
lead a successful team."

2. Measurable

It's important to have measurable goals, so that you can track your progress and stay
motivated. Assessing progress helps you to stay focused, meet your deadlines, and feel
the excitement of getting closer to achieving your goal.

A measurable goal should address questions such as:

 How much?

 How many?

 How will I know when it is accomplished?

Example
You might measure your goal of acquiring the skills to become head of marketing by
determining that you will have completed the necessary training courses and gained the
relevant experience within five years' time.

3. Achievable

Your goal also needs to be realistic and attainable to be successful. In other words, it
should stretch your abilities but still remain possible. When you set an achievable goal,
you may be able to identify previously overlooked opportunities or resources that can
bring you closer to it.

An achievable goal will usually answer questions such as:

  How can I accomplish this goal?

 How realistic is the goal, based on other constraints, such as financial

factors?
Example
You might need to ask yourself whether developing the skills required to become head
of marketing is realistic, based on your existing experience and qualifications. For
example, do you have the time to complete the required training effectively? Are the
necessary resources available to you? Can you afford to do it?

4. Relevant

This step is about ensuring that your goal matters to you, and that it also aligns with
other relevant goals. We all need support and assistance in achieving our goals, but it's
important to retain control over them. So, make sure that your plans drive everyone
forward, but that you're still responsible for achieving your own goal.

A relevant goal can answer "yes" to these questions:

 Does this seem worthwhile?

 Is this the right time?

 Does this match our other efforts/needs?

 Am I the right person to reach this goal?

 Is it applicable in the current socio-economic environment?

Example
You might want to gain the skills to become head of marketing within your organization,
but is it the right time to undertake the required training, or work toward additional
qualifications? Are you sure that you're the right person for the head of marketing role?
Have you considered your spouse's goals? For example, if you want to start a family,
would completing training in your free time make this more difficult?

5. Time-bound
Every goal needs a target date, so that you have a deadline to focus on and something
to work toward. This part of the SMART goal criteria helps to prevent everyday tasks
from taking priority over your longer-term goals.

A time-bound goal will usually answer these questions:

 When?

 What can I do six months from now?

 What can I do six weeks from now?

 What can I do today?

Time management

By creating your own action plan and personal development plan, it will quickly become
very clear that there is so much to do! Managing your time becomes very important as a
result.

Your plans serve as an overview of what you’ll need to do and when. You can use your
diary to record deadlines for the goals you have set, and also record when tasks will be
done. Tasks can be a detailed to-do list for each day of the week.

Good time management will help you to avoid getting overwhelmed (ie, feeling that
there is so much to do that you end up spending most of your time worrying about it
rather than actually doing the tasks). It will help organize your days so that you feel
productive and have time for other important things in your life.

Entrepreneurs are known to have very busy lives – to the extent that they may sacrifice
family time. It is important to keep a healthy balance between business and personal
time, as in the long term too much focus on the business can affect both the business
and your mental health. With good time management skills, you’ll still be able to make
time for friends, family and hobbies while focusing on your business.

To help with time management, get a diary and consider doing the following:

 Divide the day into hours.

 Fill in the hours where you have a set appointment or arrangement, such as
meetings. Set a time for lunch.
  If a family dinner or personal event or activity is on at a certain time, put this in
your diary. If not, create a time in your day to do this.

 Complete the remaining hours with the tasks you need to do for the day.

Building a website

Having a website gives you an online home for your business. First impressions count.

Someone learning about your business for the first time, through your website, should
quickly be able to understand:

 What industry or type of business you’re in

 What your business offers (products/services)
 How they can access your products/services
 How they can contact the business
 Where the business is based (if the business has stores)
 Why they should buy from you

Everything you write, and all the images and colours displayed on your website, should
fully represent your business.

It also helps to have an ‘About’ page to give your customers more information about you
and the background of the business.

There are many web hosting companies which allow you to make a website using very
simple templates, and they are often inexpensive.

Use this part in the course to browse some websites of your favourite brands. What can
you observe with how they display their website?

Social media
Social media includes a whole range of platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and
Twitter. Each platform has its own rules and style that you should consider before
starting to use it.

For example, Twitter has a limited character count, which means that the platform will
limit the number of words you use for each post. Twitter is essentially designed to make
conversation. On the other hand, Instagram is largely visual. Users upload an eye-
catching photo and may write some text underneath. Visitors may ‘like’ your post and
some may leave a comment.

When thinking about using social media to promote your business and connect with
customers, do some research into the different social media platforms available.

Once you have the early stages of your business sorted (such as the name, location,
and what you are offering), start by selecting two platforms to create accounts for your
business.

Focus on learning how to best use the social media platforms to promote your business
and engage with your customers and potential customers, rather than signing up to
many at once. Your main focus should be the quality of your posts and interactions with
other users, both on your account and the Leaflets and posters
\

Leaflets and posters are two types of hard copy traditional formats of communication to
target existing and potential customers.

Leaflets

Leaflets can be handed out at events or posted in the letterbox to reach people. They
are a direct form of communication. Most people have a quick glance over a leaflet
before deciding if they would be interested in your business or not.

Leaflets are a good way to raise awareness of your business, especially if it is new and
therefore unlikely that people would search for you on the internet. Also, some
businesses may not have a website, and so leaflets are therefore great for promotion.
For example, Jasmine’s local coffee shop might send out leaflets in the letterboxes of
the local neighborhood because she will not be selling any products online.

If you are interested in having leaflets for your business, you will need to consider how
many words you will use, the text size, the image, and colors. Your leaflet should be
eye-catching and easy to read. Like a good business website, it must also clearly
communicate what the business does and any important contact details.
Posters

Posters can be placed on your business building and other public spaces, although
you’ll need to check for any permission requirements. If placed on your building, posters
can grab the attention of people passing by, especially if the design is appealing.
Posters typically advertise some sort of promotion or limited time offer.

However, posters can also be used to promote a product or service that you’d like more
people to know about. Including the price is more common for posters than it is for
leaflets, although this really depends on your industry. In Aaron’s children’s soccer
school business, for example, it would be a good idea to display the price per session
and a price for a package on his leaflets and posters.

During this next week, take some time to look at any leaflets that come through your
letterbox or are given to you. Also, take note of any business posters that you see.
Think about how they are designed and make notes in your reflective journal.

Discussion

Now think about which of these ideas you would use for telling people about your
business. Do you think traditional methods such as posters work well, or do you prefer
new methods such as social media?

Should a business like a launderette use the same advertising methods as an internet
shop?